European Venture Capital Journal articles from July 2002

European Venture Capital Journal archives from July 2002

RLPE expands to market new fund. (News: Private Equity).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Royal London Private Equity (RLPE) has hired three former Royal Bank Private Equity professionals to start marketing its first private equity offering. John Dillon has been appointed as managing director of RLPE, with Richard Caston and Duncan...

Abbey National reviews private equity. (News: Private Equity).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Abbey National is reviewing its private equity fund-of-funds portfolio following a substantial fall in profit before tax for the six months to June 2002. The bank will reposition the business and will make substantial write-offs this year...

KPMG strengthens PE practice. (News: Private Equity).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... KPMG has formally launched its private equity group to form a dedicated professional services team focused solely on the needs of the private equity market. Oliver Tant is head of the team of 48 professionals, which includes 11 partners....

Italian players upbeat for 2002. (News: Private Equity).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Italian players predict stability of the private equity market for the next six months and a recovery of the market before year-end, according to the Italy Private Equity Confidence Survey carried out by Deloitte and Touche. While Italian...

EVCA Q1 2002 investment figs. (News: Private Equity).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... No surprises were contained in the publication of European Venture Capital and Private Equity Association's first publication of quarterly disbursement data: new investment rates were low, follow-on investments in support of existing portfolio...

Morley ups private equity commitment. (News: Private Equity).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... There is a rising institutional confidence in the European private equity market with major institutions substantially increasing their commitments. Susan Scollan, head of private equity at Morley Fund Management, the main investment arm of...

Two new funds for Sofipa. (News: Private Equity).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Banca di Roma is stepping up its private equity activity with the launch of two new funds. Mediocredito Centrale (MCC), the merchant banking arm of the Italian bank unveiled the first of the funds this month. MCC's private equity unit, Sofipa...

Italian law to assist PE investors? (News: Private Equity).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Italian private equity players may be taking a less cautious stance with investments in the light of a new law narrowing the number of criminal offences that a company's director is liable for. The introduction of criminal liability for...

TD Capital leaves Europe. (News: Venture Capital).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... TD Capital Communications Partners, the media and communications private equity arm of Canada's Toronto Dominion bank, has closed its London office a year after making its first investment. Managing director Jose Brena led a team of eight...

Russia attracts funds. (News: Venture Capital).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Russia and its neighbouring states are to benefit from a $100 million private equity fund set up by the US government. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is backing a $100 million venture to stimulate investment in the region....

New service for corporate venturing. (News: Venture Capital).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... June saw the launch of a new service designed to promote corporate venturing in the UK. Corporate Venturing UK has been set up by the National Business Angels Network, an organisation supported by the Department of Trade and Industry and...

Atlas Venture cuts fund. (News: Venture Capital).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Atlas Venture has cut Atlas Venture VI LP by 12 per cent, reducing its size from $967 million to $850 million. Following a quarterly cash flow review of its entire portfolio, the firm has also decided to amend the partnership agreements of two...

Viventures: latest VC to reduce fund size. (News: Venture Capital).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Viventures Partners, the venture capital firm launched by Vivendi, has reduced its second fund by 20 per cent. The fund closed at [euro]640 million a year ago and has so far made 21 investments. The firm, which has offices in Paris, London,...

EVCA survey boosts VC cause. (News: Venture Capital).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Venture capital and its importance in developing Europe's growing businesses is the subject of the European Venture Capital and Private Equity Association's (EVCA) latest survey, unveiled at the annual symposium in Athens. This follows on the...

US awaits signs of recovery. (News: Venture Capital).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Signs of recovery in the US private equity market remain scarce with one-year private equity investments recording overall losses of 18.5 per cent, according to Thomson Financial Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association....

Bioscience joint venture launched. (News: Venture Capital).(Rosenblatt, Bridgehead Technologies)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Solicitors Rosenblatt and Bridgehead Technologies, specialist due diligence and consultancy provider for healthcare companies, have formed a non-exclusive relationship designed to provide biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, whether...

Sustainable venture finance examined. (News: Venture Capital).
July 1, 2002... Attendees of a workshop focused on venture capital investing in environmental and social sustainability-orientated projects have agreed to establish a networking portal and a common research agenda. The workshop, held in Fontainebleau, France,...

Capital Stage drops banking to focus on VC. (News: Venture Capital).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 1, 2002... German financial services firm Capital Stage has announced that it will cease its corporate finance and securities-related activities in favour of venture capital investing. Macro Hahn, a member of Capital Stage's board, said: "In Europe, there...

UK SMEs boost buyouts. (News: Buyouts).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... UK SMEs under 10 years old are less likely to suffer family succession issues, than those that have been in business for over a decade, according to Grant Thornton's European Business Survey. This means they are more likely to sell out to a...

Cinven index predicts deal acceleration. (News: Buyouts).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Private equity activity in the UK, France and Germany looks set to increase in the second half of 2002, according to a report by Cinven, canvassing the views of over 150 senior bankers specialising in deals in those regions. Optimism is...

European MBO targets June 1 - 27, 2002.(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... European MBO targets June 1 - 27, 2002 Date Target name 04/06/2002 E-Sense A/S(Kunde & Co A/S) 05/06/2002 Locker Group PLC 05/06/2002 Transys Projects Ltd 10/06/2002 Priory Healthcare Ltd ...

PTP market to re-ignite? (News: Buyouts).(public-to-private segment of market warms up)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... After a quiet start to the year in terms of public-to-private private equity backed transactions - just Alchemy Partners' bid for Cedar plc in January and NeSBIC's withdrawn bid for Beter Bed Holding of the Netherlands in February in the first...

Quester closes fifth VCT. (News: Funds).(venture capital trust)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... UK venture capital house Quester is celebrating the close on its fifth venture capital trust at [pounds sterling]18.6 million. The close is encouraging for the VCT market after vehicles such as Gartmore's Premier VCT and Pathway One VCT were...

CAAM closes fund-of-funds. (News: Funds).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... A year from its launch, Credit Agricole Asset Management (CAAM) has closed its European fund-of-funds on [euro]110.5 million. Under a joint-venture agreement with global fund-of-funds specialist Pantheon, GAAM will invest the Green Way Private...

Mezzanine Management targets emerging markets. (News: Funds).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Central and Eastern Europe is the target of Mezzanine Management's most recent fund, Accession Mezzanine Capital (AMC). The fund, which has held its first closing at [euro]76 million, is the first mezzanine fund to focus on the region. AMC is...

Candover raises [euro]2.7 billion. (News: Funds).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Candover has achieved a final close on its 2001 fund at [euro]2.7 billion, exceeding its [euro]2.5 billion target. The fund has attracted over 100 investors groups worldwide. Colin Buffin, joint managing director, says the successful...

EIB supports Egyptian ventures. (News: Funds).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Egypt has attracted [euro]25 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help develop small and medium enterprises in the region. The funds will be managed by local financial intermediaries including Export Development Bank of Egypt,...

Nordea closes fund-of-funds. (News: Funds).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Nordea Private Equity, the private equity arm of Nordea Investment Management has completed the third and final closing of its maiden fund Nordea Thematic Fund-of-Funds I at [euro]208 million. The fund, which launched last May, has...

GSC closes mega mezz fund. (News: Funds).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... GSC Partners Europe has raised [euro]1.065 billion for its first mezzanine fund, GSC European Mezzanine fund, the largest dedicated mezzanine fund raised in Europe. GSC European Mezzanine Fund was launched in April 2000. It announced its...

Schroders FoFs holds final close. (News: Funds).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Schroder Private Equity Fund-of-Funds has raised [euro]242 million on its final closing. It held a first closing of [euro]172 million at the start of this year (see evcj February 2002 issue), which it invested in a number of buyout funds....

Triton closes top-up fund. (News: Funds).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Triton Group has closed the Triton 1A fund, a top-up to the original Triton fund, which closed in March 2000 at [euro]590 million. The new fund has raised [euro]60 million, bringing total capital under management to [euro]650 million. ...

Government funds for Basque region. (News: Funds).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... New technology is the focus of the IE Digitales fund, which has been launched by the Basque government for investment in technology seed and start-up companies in the region. The fund has raised [euro]62.14 million so far and the government...

Intrum Justitia goes public again. (News: Exits).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Stockholm market continues to provide returns to private equity investors with the listing of Swedish debt collector, Intrum Justitia. As with the flotation of Alfa Laval last month, Industri Kapital was the beneficiary. Priced at SEK 47...

Euroventures makes partial exit from Hornell. (News: Exits).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Recapitalisation of Swedish firm Hornell International has provided Euroventures with a partial exit. The investor has received SEK76 million ([euro]8.4 million) for its 28 per cent stake in the company. Hornell, which manufactures protective...

TVM sells Comstock Systems. (News: Exits).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... US-German early stage tech and biotech investor Techo Venture Management (TVM) has sold one of its portfolio companies, Comstock Systems Inc, to Hitachi for $20 million. TVM invested in March 2001 and advised on internationalisation strategy...

William Hill finally gets IPO away. (News: Exits).(William Hill Organization Ltd., initial public offering)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Its owners have been trying to float William Hill as far back as 1993 when its then owner Brent Walker Group withdrew plans for a float having secured a five year extension to William Hill's debt. Private equity bidders had been sniffing around...

Management buy-back of Euran. (News: Exits).(Euran Kuluttajatuotteet Oy; Christian Fredman and his family)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Nordea Capital and CapMan have exited their investment in Finland-based Euran Kuluttajatuotteet thanks to a management buy-back of their stake in the company. Christian Fredman, managing director of consumer products company Euran, and his...

GIMV sells stake in IFE. (News: Exits).(Interiors for Europe; Mitiska)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... The Belgian investment company, GIMV, has sold its interest in home furnishing company Interiors for Europe (IFE). Mitiska, a retail holding company also based in Belgium, has acquired the 26.68 per cent stake bringing its ownership of the...

Cautious optimism from Deutsche Beteiligungs. (News: Exits).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Frankfurt-based private equity firm Deutsche Beteiligungs says it is cautiously optimistic about its 2001/2002 earnings after selling two investments and announcing a further disposal is in the pipeline. According to Deutsche Beteiligungs,...

Stockholm exchange leads IPO recovery? (News: Exits).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Sweden's IPO market remains Europe's most promising with two more new additions to the O-list providing welcome exits for private equity investors. Ballingslov International's flotation provides an exit for EQT and the listing of Nobia returns...

Innova Capital sells BusinessPoint. (News: Exits).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Polish fund Innova Capital has exited its 1997 investment in business out-sourcing firm BusinessPoint. The company has been sold to SwedGiro, a strategic investor specialising in out-sourced services in Scandinavia, the Baltics and Poland. ...

MTI exits Aquaculture Vaccines again. (News: Exits).(MTI UK, Aquaculture Vaccines Ltd.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Technology investor MTI has realised its second successful investment in UK company Aquaculture Vaccines Ltd (AVL). The company has been acquired by Schering-Plough Animal Health Corporation, a global research-based pharmaceuticals company, for...

Red Lemon runs out of juice. (News: Exits).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Scottish computer games developer, Red Lemon Studios, has gone into voluntary liquidation after an unnamed major client failed to pay an outstanding debt. The company was backed by 3i, Scottish Equity Partners, the Strathclyde Investment Fund,...

El gets new partner. (People Moves).(Enterprise Investors, Tod Kersten)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Tod Kersten has joined Polish private equity firm, Enterprise Investors (EI) as partner. Kersten will focus on exits from EI's portfolio and will be responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with existing and potential investors...

Corporate venturing appt. (People Moves).(Nick Cox, director, Corporate Venturing UK)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Nick Cox has been appointed director of Corporate Venturing UK, a new organisation set up to promote corporate venturing in the UK and to create a national market for those seeking corporate venturing deals -- see venture capital news this...

HMTF appoints Kissinger. (People Moves).(Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst Inc., Henry A. Kissinger)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst has appointed former US Secretary of State and chairman of Kissinger Associates and Kissinger McLarty Associates to its Europe Strategy Board. HMTF also announced Richard Fisher, managing partner of Kissinger...

RBPE team moves to RLPE. (People Moves).(Royal Bank Private Equity, Royal London Private Equity)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Royal London Private Equity (RLPE) has expanded its mid-market private equity team with three Royal Bank Private Equity professionals. John Dillon has joined the group as managing director with Richard Caston and Duncan Johnson joining as...

BoS boosts French team. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Bank of Scotland corporate banking has announced the appointment of Olivier Boyadjian to head its 15-strong structured finance team in France. The Paris-based team provides leveraged finance and acquisition finance products to the French market...

Manduca joins Morley. (People Moves).(Philip Manduca, Morley Fund Management)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Philip Manduca has been appointed head of Morley Fund Management's new alternative investment division. The new division will include existing hedge and private equity funds and investment trusts. Current assets in these existing product areas...

Charlemagne Capital recruits. (People Moves).(Christopher Fitzwilliam-Lay)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Central and Eastern Europe specialist, Charlemagne Capital has appointed Christopher Fitzwilliam-Lay to its sales and marketing team. He will report to the recently appointed group marketing director, Nicholas Edwards. Fitzwilliam-Lay has...

BVCA moves. (People Moves).(British Venture Capital Association)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... New offices for the British Venture Capital Association. The BVCA can now be found at: Tower 3, 3 Clements Inn, London, WC2A 2AZ Tel: +44 (0)20 7025 2950 Fax: +44 (0)20 7025 2951

Auriga Partners appoints. (People Moves).(Auriga Partners, Francois Lainee)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Francois Lainee has joined French firm Auriga Partners as partner for information technologies, following the close of Auriga II, the firm's most recent fund raising exercise. His main responsibility will be the assessment of investment...

Duke Street appts German head. (People Moves).(Duke Street Capital, Ervin Schellenberg)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Duke Street Capital has appointed a new head of German private equity. Ervin Schellenberg has joined as director, responsible for the firm's German private equity business. He will be joined by Marco Herbst and John Harper in the German arm of...

Ashurst expands. (People Moves).(Ashurst Morris Crisp, Rainer Eichholz joins as a partner)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Rainer Eichholz has joined Ashurst Morris Crisp as a partner in the firm's German practice. He joins from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, where he was managing director in the global debt division. The appointment continues a period of...

Pantheon boosts Brussels team. (People Moves).(Daniela Konrath)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Daniela Konrath has been appointed as senior investment professional in the firm's Brussels office. As a member of Pantheon's dedicated European primary investment team, Konrath will be responsible for researching primary fund investment...

PPM Ventures moves. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... PPM Ventures has moved to a new London office. The team can now be found at: 1 New Fetter Lane, London, EC4A 1HH Tel: +44 20 7822 1000 Fax: +44 20 7822 1001

RBS boosts team. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed Francois Guichot-Perere as portfolio management director for leveraged finance, France. Guichot-Perere will report to Michel Chabanel, head of leveraged finance and he will be responsible for all...

Rutt to Carlyle. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Carlyle Group is expanding its German presence with the appointment of a new managing director, Heiner Rutt. He will lead the firm's buyout operations in Germany, working on new investments in existing and future funds and will be based in...

Delta grows. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Russian-based Delta Capital Management has appointed Kirill Dmitriev and Egor Sirota as investment managers. Dmitriev was previously deputy general director of Information Business Systems in Moscow, responsible for building the key management...

Robeco appoints. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Robeco Private Equity has expanded its management team with the appointment of Dancker Bijieveld as managing partner. He joins from the private equity group of ABN AMRO Bank where he was senior vice president. Robeco Private Equity manages...

Gillbanks to GMT Communications. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... GMT Communications Partners has appointed Jonathan Gilibanks as vice president of the investment team in London. GMT initially recruited Gilibanks in 2001 in an advisory role at PEPcom GmbH, GMT's German cable TV investment. Prior to...

Chung transfers with E&Y. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Pauline Chung, a director in Ernst & Young's private equity group, is to relocate from London to Frankfurt, where she will work with the head of German private equity initiatives for the firm. Chung has been with the UK practice for six...

3i's Queen chairs BVCA. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Michael Queen, finance director at 3i, has taken over the chairmanship of the British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) from Edmund Truell, CEO of Duke Street Capital. Queen was previously vice chairman of the BVCA and Richard Green, MD...

Grindheim to Industri Kapital. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Trygve Grindheim has returned to Industri Kapital as deputy director. Grindheim worked at Industri Kapital for five years and was involved in executing Industri Kapital's transactions on the Norwegian and Danish markets. His focus will be...

Van Cuylenburg joins Pond Venture. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Pond Venture Partners, the UK early-stage technology venture capitalist, has appointed Peter van Cuylenburg as a venture partner and a member of its advisory board. He will help identify emerging technologies appropriate for Pond Venture...

Koenig to head RBS German lev fin. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Royal Bank of Scotland has promoted Jochen Koenig to become the head of its leveraged finance team in Germany. Koenig will be responsible for the bank's leveraged buyout activities in Germany and European German-speaking countries. He takes...

Anthony joins Ariadne. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Lionel Anthony has joined Ariadne Capital's board. Anthony's venture capital pedigree extends back to 1976 at the Coal Board Pension Funds' in-house venture capital facility that went on, with Anthony's assistance, to became independent and...

New COO at Pi/VCR. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Pi Capital and VCR, a UK business angel network, are due to merge pending regulatory approval and have appointed a new COO, Andrea Bonafe, in anticipation of this change. Bonafe will report to CEO David Giampaolo and she will manage the...

Dicks joins Private Equity Investor. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Peter Dicks has joined Private Equity Investor plc, the investment trust that invests principally in early to pre-IPO stage IT companies, as non-executive director. Dicks co-founded Abingworth, one of the UK's first venture capital...

DKC appoints Kabcenell. (People Moves).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Nicholas Kabcenell has joined Dresdner Kleinwort Capital as regional director in its Central and Eastern Europe team. Kabcenell will be based in Budapest and will be responsible for Hungary and neighbouring countries. Kabcenell will work...

Environmental due diligence: adding value. (Cover Story: Environmental Due Diligence).(Cover Story)
July 1, 2002... Providers of environmental due diligence must be pragmatic and focus on the business aims of the transaction, not just its environmental considerations. David Rothnie reports For many years now, environmental consultants have been the...

US VCs battle through tough times. (Cover Story: US Review).(Cover Story)
July 1, 2002... Ralph Christoffersen, a venture capitalist with Morgenthaler Ventures, has visited 120 prospective biotech companies since last autumn. His thorough due diligence process involves interviewing management, revenue potential, and taking a close...

Working your way out of trouble. (Cover Story: Debt).(Cover Story)
July 1, 2002... As M&A and buyout activity has dropped off in the first half of 2002 attention has moved to restructuring the deals that earned last year's fees. M&A and buyout deal volumes for the first quarter of 2002 were slow and no one was surprised;...

Still searching. (Company Profile: Quester Capital Management).(Company Profile)
July 1, 2002... Closure of a fifth Venture Capital Trust (VCT) and finalising documentation on its first institutional fund raising exercise in ten years has ensured a busy 2002 so far for Quester Capital Management. Quester VCT 5 raised just [pounds...

Transys Project Limited. (Deal of the Month: Transys Project Limited).(Aberdeen Murray Johnstone Private Equity funds management buyout)
July 1, 2002... When Aberdeen Murray Johnstone Private Equity was introduced to Transys Projects Ltd, an experienced niche rail engineering and consultancy business, operating in a sector with billions of pounds of UK government money headed its way the...

Dr Kurt Kinzius. (Face-to-Face: Dr Kurt Kinzius).(Candover Investments to set up German office)(Company Profile)
July 1, 2002... In recent years Germany has been the European country that promised most and delivered least. With the appointment of Dr Kurt Kinzius, previously responsible for corporate development and M&A at the Mannesmann Group, Candover hopes to tap some...

Seeking Buyers June.(companies seek to sell divisions, stakes or entire company)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2002... Seeking buyers June Seeking buyers includes listings of all European companies that have announced plans since May 22, 2002 until June 24, 2002 to sell divisions, stakes or their entire company. It also includes purported sales efforts...

Announced June Deals.(listings of private equity and venture capital transactions involving European targets)
July 1, 2002... Announced June deals Announced deals includes listings of private equity and venture capital transactions involving European targets that were announced from May 24, 2002 to June 24, 2002. The listings are ordered by target nation, and...