European Venture Capital Journal articles from April 2009

European Venture Capital Journal archives from April 2009

The rebirth of European venture capital: as Easter approaches and spring begins, can VC investing make a comeback?(EDITOR'S NOTE)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Amongst all this doom and gloom, any sort of good news is jumped upon like a politician on a bandwagon. That's why the release of a report by US data gurus Cambridge Associates which revealed that venture capital...

A month of write downs.(LONDON)
April 1, 2009... It was a bad month for London-based buyout houses as investments were written down and written off. The biggest casualty of the recession so far is UK-listed private equity firm Candover Investments, which announced it is to stop investing...

Coller to raise new fund.(LONDON)(Coller Capital Ltd.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... It's not all bad news as Coller Capital announced it is looking to raise vehicle number six. Speaking at Reuters Private Equity and Hedge Funds Summit, Alex Sao-Wei Lee, a principal based in the firm's Singapore office, said the firm was...

AIG sells solar plants.(MADRID)
April 1, 2009... UK mid-market firm HgCapital has acquired three Spanish solar plants from AIG Financial Products Corp, for 300m [euro]. HgCapital's Renewable Power Partners Fund was responsible for the investment which will see HgCapital controlling 35...

Hudson receives US$400m boost.(COPENHAGEN)
April 1, 2009... Renewable private equity fund, Hudson Clean Energy Fund, has received US$400m from the Danish labour market pension scheme, ATP. The pension fund, currently valued at US$72.2bn and led by CEO Lars Rohde, has plans to increase its...

KKR and Permira faced with debt bottleneck.(FRANKFURT)(Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.)(Lavena)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... Private equity giants KKR and Permira have hired advisors to counsel them on how to cut the 1.8bn [euro] debt held by the firms' holding company Lavena from their purchase of German broadcaster ProSiebenSatl. Lavena Holding 4 currently...

ARX acquires pet chain.(WARSAW)
April 1, 2009... ARX Private Equity Partners, formerly known as DBG Eastern Europe, has acquired a majority stake in Polish pet products retail chain, Kakadu for an undisclosed sum. The majority acquisition was acquired out of the firm's DBG Eastern Europe...

Cerberus edges closer to Fiat/Chrysler deal.(MILAN)
April 1, 2009... In a further step to solidify the proposed alliance between car makers Fiat and Chrysler, Chrystler, which is 80.1% owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, has said Fiat will not assume any of its debt. Under the...

The new world of restructuring: fixing capital structures has never been more complicated as efforts to shore up struggling businesses requires new ways of thinking.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
April 1, 2009... The range of restructuring open to sponsors of distressed assets is seemingly growing at a rate that is converse to the growth rates of Europe's economy. As more and more businesses are forced to change their capital structures, new and unusual...

Investors looking for experts: the time of the generalist private equity manager is over.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
April 1, 2009... Having a finger in every pie makes sense when the economy is booming, but as times worsen investors are looking for focus. The leveraged buyout market is in a state of paralysis that has left private equity dealmakers questioning the very...

Wasting time in Brussels: Aimee Donnellan reports on the EU's open hearing on private equity regulation.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
April 1, 2009... In its bid to avoid binding regulation changes, the private equity industry has promised to work with law makers and politicians to establish a unified principles-based rule book. To this end, the EU Commission's open hearing on private...

Taking control: sovereign wealth funds are becoming more active as financial downturn forces change.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sovereign wealth funds, for so long passive investors, are on the threshold of a new phase in their development. The global economic crisis has forced the world's financial institutions into new and often unusual...

Job seekers allowed; while some firms are cutting staff numbers, others are looking to exploit the growing pool of talent created by the wave of banking redundancies.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The private equity industry is challenging times. With the banks severely curtailing their lending to businesses, many private equity firms--large buyout funds in particular--are finding it nigh on impossible to...

How to handle an investor meeting; Aimee Donnellan has some useful pointers for GPs.(NEWS ANALYSIS)(general partner)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When the economy is booming LPs are only too happy to hear from their GPs on a sporadic basis. But as the economic turmoil takes an even tighter grip on the buyout market, a grip that has left firms like KIGR,...

Carlyle raises over US$1bn; US powerhouse closes funds for Middle East and mezzanine.(DOUBLE CLOSING)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] New York-headquartered LBO firm the Carlyle Group has taken in US$1bn in a double fundraising. The buyouts house raised US$500m for its first ever Middle East and North Africa (MENA) fund, and US$553m for its...

Index bucks downturn: UK venture house closes third fund in three years.(EARLY-STAGE)
April 1, 2009... Renowned for its backing of internet phone company Skype as well partaking in the US$1bn exit of software giant MySQL, London-headquartered Index Ventures has challenged the downward trend of venture capital fundraising, with the closing of its...

Bookham founder launches 100m [euro] fund.(TECHNOLOGY)(Rockley Group )(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... Angel investors the Rickman brothers have launched a 100m [euro] fund for investment in UK technology companies. Led by Andrew Rickman, founder of optical components group Bookham, and his brother Robert, a former director at fund manager...

ACG launches fund V.(FUND-OF-FUNDS)(ACG Private Equity )(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... French fund-of-funds, ACG Private Equity (formerly Altium Capital Gestion), has launched its fifth fund, ACG Europe V. The fund aims to raise 250m [euro] and will target investors in Europe, the Middle East, and North America. It will...

Hotbed to raise 10m [euro] EIS.(TAX RELIEF)(Enterprise Investment Scheme )(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... Investment network Hotbed has launched a 10m [pounds sterling] Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) designed to give investors a 22% saving on their capital gains tax (CGT) in the two years to April 2008. The firm plans to raise up to 10m...

Matrix looking for 15m [pounds sterling].(VCTS)
April 1, 2009... UK VCT manager Matrix Private Equity Partners (MPEP) has launched Matrix Income & Growth 2 for investment in management buyouts. It is looking to raise 15m [pounds sterling] in a C share offer, which will be used to invest alongside the...

Apax checks out of supermarket chain: co-op buys Somerfield for 1.565bn [pounds sterling].(RETAIL)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Global buyout house Apax Partners has made 400m [pounds sterling] on the sale of Britain's sixth largest supermarket chain Somerfield to the Co-Operative Group. The deal was valued at 1.565bn [pounds sterling]...

Advent Venture and LDC oversee 72m [pounds sterling] merger; TV tech companies combine for HD TV specialist.(TECHNOLOGY)
April 1, 2009... London-based VC firm Advent Venture Partners has sold part of its stake in Snell & Wilcox, a UK-headquartered technology company, in a 72m [pounds sterling] deal with Pro-Bel, a larger Reading-based rival owned by LDC. Advent Venture has...

Dunedin sells Fernau Avionics.(AVIATION)
April 1, 2009... Mid-market outfit Dunedin has sold its 2007 investment in Fernau Avionics, a UK designer and manufacturer of navigational aids, for 32m [pounds sterling] to Moog Controls Limited, a subsidiary of Moog Inc. Dunedin backed a 17m [pounds...

Montagu puts Kalle up for sale.(SAUSAGES)(Montagu Private Equity )(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... UK buyouts firm Montagu Private Equity is looking to sell German sausage skin maker Kalle. Kalle was acquired the private equity house in September 2004 in a 140m [euro] secondary buyout from CVC. The company, which has facilities...

NVM realises Pivotal.(HEALTHCARE)
April 1, 2009... UK small cap investor NVM Private Equity has sold Pivotal Laboratories, a provider of laboratory support for clinical trials, in an exit which has generated a 2.2x return and an IRR of 27%. York-based Pivotal has been acquired by ACM, a...

Into Africa: China's US$5bn sovereign wealth fund for African investment is the latest move in the long history of trade between the two. Amanda Williams Palmer reports on the China-Africa Development Fund.(PROFILE)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] China and Africa may seem unlikely bedfellows, but the two have been trade partners since antiquity. As early as the second century BC, the Egyptian Queen Keliaomotela wore a coat made of silk from the Han Dynasty of...

The scramble for Africa: China is not the only country seeking out investment opportunities.(PROFILE)
April 1, 2009... Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are not immune to bad markets. In the past 12 months, Alaska, Alberta, Ireland, New Zealand and Norway's sovereign wealth funds have lost an average of 14%, with Ireland topping the table with a whopping 20% loss....

Feeling the pressure: the new market conditions require new ways of operating, and private equity fund-of-funds are being forced to adapt to succeed.(FEATURE: FUND-OF-FUNDS)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Managers of fund-of-funds (FoFs) are under no illusions that this year will be a tough one, with a slump in fund raising by buyout houses and far harder conditions facing traditional private equity investors like...

Consolidation on the cards: the fund-of-funds market is not immune from the consolidation trend tipped to sweep the private equity industry.(FEATURE: FUND-OF-FUNDS)
April 1, 2009... Some consolidation in the fund-of-funds (FoF) industry appears to be virtually inevitable, given the squeeze on investment in the asset class by LPs and the decline in fund raising for new LBO funds. "There will be consolidation because I...

Under the weather: it fought off the financial storm for as long as it could, even closing a 2bn [euro] LBO in the twilight of 2008, but the French private equity market is awakening to a very harsh dawn.(FEATURE: FRANCE)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the most active markets in Europe over the last few years, France seemingly didn't disappoint in 2008. "We have seen the same slowdown as other markets, but the market in 2008 in France was relatively...

A bright future for venture: a US$700m exit by Sofinnova gives hope to European VCs.(FEATURE: FRANCE)
April 1, 2009... At a time when good news is scarce, the sale by Sofinnova Partners of French aortic valve replacement device developer CoreValve to US trade buyer MedTronic will do much to cheer its limited partners. At a price tag of US$700m, the deal sees...

Committing to carbon reduction.(LEGAL AND REGULATORY)
April 1, 2009... Private equity firms could be hit by penalties if portfolio companies don't meet the requirements of new regulation aimed at improving the green credentials of British industry. Steven McNab, environment partner at Travers Smith, looks at the...

Public markets failing small companies: sub-100m [pounds sterling] business unfairly valued.(DATA ROOM)
April 1, 2009... Over one-third of executives of listed companies regret floating on the stock market. A survey by corporate finance advisers BDO Stoy Hayward also reveals that the majority of respondents--a mix of quoted business execs, institutional fund...

Buy and build remains strong: absence of exits fuels M&A.(DATA ROOM)
April 1, 2009... Private equity firms' interest in buy and build strategies did not waver during 2008, according to the latest research from European mid-market private equity firm, Silverfleet Capital. The report revealed that during 2008 there were 362...

Industry at lowest ebb since 2001: new statistics reveal economic turmoil.(DATA ROOM)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
April 1, 2009... The European buyouts market has sunk to its lowest level for seven years after investment in 2008 reached a total of only 43.9bn [pounds sterling], a 60% fall on the previous year. A total of 1,200 deals were completed in Continental Europe...

Fund raising slides by a fifth: venture show signs of resilience.(DATA ROOM)
April 1, 2009... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] The European private equity industry saw fund raising plummet by 20% according to preliminary data from EVCA's Investors' Forum 2009 in Geneva. In 2008, private equity fired raising fell from 81.4bn [euro] in 2007 to...

The Chinese are coming; UK braced for rash of M&A activity.(DATA ROOM)
April 1, 2009... While US and European buyers remain handcuffed by the debt freeze, China is only too willing to scoop up the bargains. Two thirds of Chinese companies are planning to buy over the next two years, according to the latest survey conducted by...

Returns slump: short-term results are bleak, but mid- to long-term stats remain positive.(DATA ROOM)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... With a difficult exit environment and downward pressure on valuations overall horizons in private equity fell 24.9% = in 2008, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters' in association with EVCA. The latest benchmark analysis shows...

Hands off.(PEOPLE)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] UK buyouts firm Terra Firma, which recently wrote down two of its investments by 1.365bn [euro] and handed back 80m [euro] of performance fees to investors, has announced that founder Guy...

Adveq builds in Europe and Asia.(PEOPLE)(appointment of Darren Wong and Tim Creed )(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Private equity fund-of-funds Adveq has expanded its management team with the appointment Darren Wong and Tim Creed as executive directors. Wong, who has eight years' experience in private equity investing, will...

Greenpark responds to deal surge.(PEOPLE)(Greenpark Capital)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As the volume of secondaries deals sores to US$20bn, London-based secondaries specialist Greenpark Capital has appointed its third new investment director in just six months. Eric Pathe will join the 12-strong...

LPEQ gains 14th member.(PEOPLE)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... LPEQ, the group formerly known as iPEIT, has its first Spanish member with the addition of Dinamia Capital. Listed on the Madrid Stock Exchange since December 1997, Dinamia is the 14th member of LPEQ, the group established in 2006 to...

Palamon adds VP.(PEOPLE)
April 1, 2009... London-based mid-market private equity firm Palamon Capital Partners has appointed Ricardo Caupers as vice-president. Caupers joined Palamon from the Boston Consulting Group, where he was principal in the London office. Prior to this, he...

Pantheon promotes.(PEOPLE)(Brian J. Buenneke)(Brief article)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Private equity fund-of-funds investor Pantheon, has promoted Brian J. Buenneke from principal to partner. Buenneke, who is based in the firm's San Francisco office, is a member of Pantheon's US primary investment...

Baird expands advisory team.(PEOPLE)
April 1, 2009... Employee-owned international private equity firm Baird has appointed Jonathan Harrison as director of business services. Harrison has over 12 years' experience in investment banking and was formerly head of business services for EMEA at...

BVCA focuses on energy.(PEOPLE)
April 1, 2009... The BVCA has launched an Energy Environment and Technology Group that will consist of 12 industry practitioners. The newly launched group will aim to provide guidance and advice to government, investors, and companies that are active in the...

Management Capital recruits partner.(PEOPLE)
April 1, 2009... Munich-based private equity firm Management Capital Holding has appointed David L. Wisowaty as partner. Wisowaty recently completed the sale of Geometry Financial Partners, a firm he founded that provided integrated business and personal...

Number 25 for HIG.(PEOPLE)
April 1, 2009... Nearly two years on from launching its first European dedicated fund, HIG Europe, the European affiliate of US buyout firm HIG Capital, has added the 25th member to its UK investment team with the appointment of a new London-based director. ...

Benson Elliot hires in Germany.(PEOPLE)
April 1, 2009... Private equity real estate firm Benson Elliot has appointed Philipp Braschel as principal. He will be responsible for leading the company's investment strategies in Germany. Braschel joins the company from Goldman Sachs' Real Estate...

Hotbed appoints head of business development.(PEOPLE)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Private investor syndicate Hotbed has appointed Steve Howard as head of business development. Howard joins Hotbed after five years at Credit Suisse, where he was responsible for business development within its UK...

New MD for Close Bros.(PEOPLE)
April 1, 2009... Close Brothers, the UK corporate finance adviser, has appointed a new managing director to its French office. Francois Wohrer will be based in Paris and be responsible for coverage of advanced manufacturing. He will hone in on companies in...

CVC calls in ex-Vodafone chief.(PEOPLE)
April 1, 2009... UK LBO powerhouse CVC Capital Partners has appointed former Vodafone COO Sir Julian Horn-Smith as senior advisor. Horn-Smith will be responsible for working with the telecoms, media and technology team. The recently recruited advisor...

Alvarez & Marsal add nine.(PEOPLE)
April 1, 2009... Turnaround specialists Alvarez & Marsal has unveiled its latest recruitment wave with the appointment of nine advisors in its European financial institutions advisory services (FIAS) team. First up is Naeem Bashir Ahmad, who has been made a...

Restructurings.(BUYOUTS)
April 1, 2009... Bite TARGET NATION: LITHUANIA SPONSOR: MIDEUROPA PARTNERS Lithuania-based mobile operator Bite bought back 95% of a 110m [euro] tranche of senior subordinated notes due 2017, after it completed a tender offer to buy back the notes...

Seeking buyers.(Table)
April 1, 2009... Seeking buyers includes listings of all European companies that have announced plans since February 19, 2009 to March 18, 2009 to sell divisions, stakes or their entire company. It also includes purported sales efforts that have appeared in...

Announced deals.(Table)
April 1, 2009... Announced deals includes listings of private equity and venture capital transactions involving European targets announced between February 19, 2009 and March 18, 2009. The listings are ordered by target nation, and alphabetically and have...

The specialists: how maintaining a single sector focus can help investors steer a course in these troubled times, by Jeff Montgomery, managing partner at GMT Communications Partners.(COMMENT)
April 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AS we all adjust to the new paradigm for private equity (PE) investing, it goes without saying that GPs' and LPs' investment strategies are under closer scrutiny than ever before. While LPs remain committed to the...