European Venture Capital Journal articles from May 2008

European Venture Capital Journal archives from May 2008

Ghost town: retail sector hit hard as economic turmoil squeezes wallets and closes shops.(EDITOR'S NOTE)(Editorial)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Private equity is in a sombre mood right now. The deep well of debt, once seemingly bottomless, has dried up, and the public markets, never private equity's best friend, have become less hospitable than Chelsea FC's...

KKR comes in 2bn [euro] under target.(LONDON)(Kohlberg Kravis Roberts)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... US buyouts powerhouse Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has closed its third European LBO fund on approximately 6bn [euro], less than the 8bn [euro] it was aiming for. The fund is still larger than the 4.5bn [euro] European vehicle it raised in...

PE-backed IPOs outperform rivals.(LONDON)
May 1, 2008... The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) has released new data which shows that private equity-backed IPOs outperform other IPOs by more than 9% one year after their public listing. The research, which was...

Parisian sunrise.(PARIS)
May 1, 2008... Sun European Partners, a division of US private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, has opened offices in Paris and Frankfurt as the firm continues to grow this side of the Atlantic. Sun first set-up shop in Europe in London in July 2004- the...

Permira sells Debitel in 1.6bn [euro] deal.(FRANKFURT)
May 1, 2008... UK LBO giant Permira has sold German mobile service provider Debitel to internet company Freenet for 1.6bn [euro]. Permira will take a 2570 stake in the publicly-listed Freenet, which now becomes the third largest provider of mobile phone...

TPG makes first Russian investment.(MOSCOW)
May 1, 2008... Texas Pacific Group (TPG), the US private equity firm, has completed the largest ever private equity deal in Russia by paying US$800m (508.8m [euro]) for a 50% share in pharmaceutical distribution company SIA International. Igor Rudisnsky,...

Euromedic on the block for 1bn [euro].(BUDAPEST)
May 1, 2008... Warburg Pincus is close to selling Hungarian healthcare firm Euromedic International in a deal reported to be worth between 700m [euro] and 1bn [euro], making it the biggest private equity sale in Europe this year and the largest ever in...

Russian renaissance: as deal flow dries up in the West, emerging markets continue to perform strongly, particularly Central & Eastern Europe and Russia. Denis Samsonov reports from Moscow on the strength of the Russian private equity market.(NEWS ANALYSIS)(Industry overview)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The appetite for Russian private equity has reached new heights with a maiden fund smashing its target by US$160m. Renaissance Private Equity, a division of Moscow-based investment bank the Renaissance Group, closed...

Loan sharks: private equity takes advantage of leverage fire sale as Deutsche Bank follows in Citigroup's footsteps and prepares to sell a US$5bn portfolio.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2008... Deutsche Bank is preparing to sell a portfolio of leveraged loans, thought to be worth a total of between US$5bn and US$8bn, just weeks after Citigroup sold about US$12.5bn worth of LBO debt to a consortium of three US private equity firms...

The gloves come off in Clear Channel dispute: it promises to be a brutal slugging match as one of the largest deals in private equity history explodes into a multi-million dollar law suit.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] And now the squabbling ends and the fighting begins. After a sustained bull run for private equity houses, the dispute that has erupted between Bain Capital, Thomas H Lee Partners and the consortium of banks who had...

Escaping the heat: with Western economies feeling the burn from the sub-prime fallout, the Middle East is looking like an oasis for private equity money.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With the shockwaves of the sub-prime crisis still being felt in markets around the world, and the US economy expected to be weak through the first half of 2008--and possibly for most of the year--investors would be...

Spark books a seat on isango: Internet holiday website raises first VC round since launching.(VC DEAL OF THE MONTH)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Isango!, an online travel agency which has become a market leader in under two years, has closed its first institutional round on US$8m. The round was led by London's SPARK Ventures which committed half of the...

Entrepreneurs ignore IP protection: research reveals that passion, not money, is the main motivator for new business owners.(SURVEY)
May 1, 2008... Entrepreneurs in the UK are not concerned about protecting intellectual property (IP) and do not see it as a barrier to success according to a survey carried out by VentureNavigator, the online service for small businesses, startups and...

Fears grow for Venture Capital investment: entrepreneurs braced for tough year ahead.(EARLY STAGE)
May 1, 2008... Small, private companies in the UK could find the year ahead a challenging one according to Modwenna Rees-Mogg, managing director of Venture Index. Following a year which saw investment in British enterprise reach a record high of 85m...

GLE becomes largest early stage backer in Europe: YFM acquired by London focused VC investor.(VC CONSOLIDATION)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] YFM Group, one of the most active venture capital groups in the UK, has been acquired by GLE Group, the UK angel and early-stage investor. The acquisition has made GLE the largest provider of equity to small and...

More money, less problems: the less capital invested in biotech companies, the lower the returns says research.(BIOTECHNOLOGY)
May 1, 2008... More money is the key to making good returns on investments in the biotech sector says a survey by HBM Partners, the Swiss venture capital house. It looked at all trade sales of venture-backed biotechnology and specialty pharma companies...

DN on target for 100m [euro].(VENTURE CAPITAL)
May 1, 2008... DN Capital, the UK-based software and digital multimedia venture capital firm, has reached a first closing on its second fund, Global Venture Capital II (GVC II). The London-headquartered VC has raised just under half of its 100m [euro]...

Advent breaks mid-market record: global buyouts house smashes target as 160 investors commit to GPE IV.(BUYOUTS)(Advent International Corp.)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Buyouts player Advent International has closed is sixth private equity fund on 6.6bn [euro]. The largest mid-market buyout ever raised, GPE VI will continue Advent's strategy of investing in mid-market and...

MTI raises 32m [pounds sterling] for university fund: VC to be given first refusal on Manchester Uni tech deals.(SEED)
May 1, 2008... UK venture firm MTI has reached a first close on University of Manchester spin-out vehicle UMIP Premier Fund, raising 32m [pounds sterling] of a final target of 50m [pounds sterling]. The fund will have first approval on any investment...

Warburg raises US$15bn for Fund X: New York-headquartered VC and growth capital firm closes tenth vehicle.(CLOSE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] US private equity giant Warburg Pincus has closed a US$15bn global fund. As with the firm's previous funds, its latest and tenth offering--WP X--has a focus on early-stage, growth and late-stage businesses across...

Shackleton closes venture secondaries fund: UK firm raises 25m [pounds sterling] and buys 13 investments from 3i.(EARLY STAGE)
May 1, 2008... UK venture secondaries firm Shackleton Ventures has closed its second fund on 25m [pounds sterling] and made its first acquisition with the purchase of a 13-strong investment portfolio from 3i for an undisclosed amount. Shackleton...

Advent raises 1bn [euro].(CEE)(Advent International)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Advent International has closed a fourth Central & Eastern Europe fired on 1bn [euro]. Investments will be carried out by teams in four countries in CEE, with a focus on companies requiring 30m [euro] to 100m [euro] of equity investment. ...

CVC close on US$4.1bn.(ASIA)
May 1, 2008... UK buyouts house CVC Capital Partners has raised US$4.1bn aimed at investment in the Asia Pacific region. CVC Capital Partners Asia Pacific III is the largest ever fund raised in the Asia Pacific region, with target nations including...

Carlyle targets distressed deals.(DEBT)(The Carlyle Group )(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... The Carlyle Group has closed its second distressed debt and corporate opportunities fund on US$1.35bn. Carlyle Strategic Partners II (CSPII) will invest in the debt and equity of financially distressed companies. The fund will seek to...

CEE fund oversubscribed.(MEZZANINE)(Central and East European )(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Mezzanine Management Central Europe has completed the final closing of its second Central and East European mezzanine fund, Accession Mezzanine Capital II. The fund was oversubscribed and closed at 261m [euro], exceeding the hard cap level of...

IK buys mirror company.(SECONDARY)
May 1, 2008... Industri Kapital has acquired Flabeg from German private equity fund EquWest for an undisclosed sum. Flabeg is a supplier of specialist mirrors to the automotive and renewable energy industries. EquiVest, which is owned by CBR Management,...

Pret founder sells hotel.(LEISURE)
May 1, 2008... The founder of UK sandwich chain Pret a Manger, Sinclair Beecham, has sold his latest venture, the "upmarket budget" hotel The Hoxton, generating a 3.33x return for his venture backers Hotbed and Bridges Community Ventures. Hotbed, the...

SHS exits plaster business.(BIOTECH)
May 1, 2008... German VC SHS has sold its shares Novosis to Schweizerhall Holding of Switzerland for an enterprise value of around 90m [euro]. Novosis develops and produces therapeutic plasters and implants for transdermal and parenteral drug delivery.

Riverside reaches Summit.(HEALTHCARE)
May 1, 2008... Graphite Capital has sold Summit Medical to rival private equity firm The Riverside Company. Summit designs, produces and distributes medical devices and accessories primarily in the orthopaedic sector. Graphite invested in the business in...

Irish software business sold.(TECHNOLOGY)
May 1, 2008... Auctomatic, an Irish software company, has been acquired by Canadian company Liver Current Media for over 3.2m [euro]. Patrick and John Collison, 19 and 17 years old respectively, founded the company early last year but were forced to look...

Healthcare Homes sold by August: Bowmark buys care provider as healthcare pipeline continues to flow.(SECONDARY)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] London-headquartered mid-market firm August Equity has sold Healthcare Homes Group (HHG) to Bowmark Capital in a 75m [pounds sterling] secondary buyout. Healthcare Homes is a Colchester, Essex based elderly...

3i milks Senoble exit: French dairy products maker back under total control of family.(MINORITY STAKE)
May 1, 2008... Buyouts house 3i has sold its minority stake in Senoble, a French family-owned producer of dairy products, after seeing its turnover almost double in four years. The Senoble family, led by Marc Senoble, now owns 100% of the business after...

Waterland cashes in on Lowen sale: secondary buyout sees German arcade owner sold to AXA Private Equity.(LEISURE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dutch investment firm Waterland Private Equity has ended its investment in German amusement arcade operator Lowen Play by selling its majority stake to fellow buyouts house AXA Private Equity for an undisclosed sum....

Wendel sells French publisher for 1bn [euro]: Editis acquired by media giant Planeta.(MEDIA)
May 1, 2008... Wendel, the French buyouts house, has sold portfolio company Editis, the second largest publisher in France, for 1bn [euro] to Planeta, the Spanish media group. Planeta had to fight off the advances of French publisher...

Matrix makes 5x.(CONSTRUCTION)
May 1, 2008... Matrix Private Equity Partners has refinanced building business Holloway White Allom in a 17m [pounds sterling] package that includes 12m [pounds sterling] of debt and 5m [pounds sterling] of the company's surplus cash. This is the second...

Boosey exit for HgCapital.(TRADE SALE)
May 1, 2008... UK mid-market firm HgCapital has sold Boosey & Hawkes, a publisher of classical music, to Imagem, the music publishing fund of Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP and CP Masters BV and one of Europe's leading independent music publishers, for a...

GMT sells AT.(FINANCIAL SERVICES)
May 1, 2008... GMT Communications Partners is to sell Asiakastieto (AT) to alternative investment firm Investcorp. The sale will generate an IRR of 70%. AT is Finland's largest provider of business and credit information with 74% market share and 23,000...

ISIS in 45m [pounds sterling] sale.(DAYCARE)
May 1, 2008... ISIS Equity Partners has sold kidsunlimited, to Lloyds TSB Development Capital in a 45m [pounds sterling] deal. kidsunlimited is based in Wilmslow, Cheshire and is the UK's fifth largest operator of children's nurseries. ISIS first Invested...

Lowell sold by Cabot.(CONSUMER DEBT)(Lowell Holdings)(Exponent Private Equity)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Exponent Private Equity has bought Lowell Holdings from by Cabot Square Capital. The deal value was reported to be between 150m [pounds sterling] and 200m [pounds sterling]. Lowell buys consumer debts from a range of blue-chip organisations...

Closed for business: the retail sector has been hit hard by the credit crunch and things are set to get even worse. But for some private equity players, this could be the perfect time to buy.(FEATURE: RETAIL)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For a brief period last summer, private equity investors in the UK and European retail sector were forced to pause for breath, take stock and reevaluate what they had been up to for the past few years. The...

Trouble at till: as consumers reign in their spending, the high street is bracing itself for a volatile few months, with many high-profile businesses, some backed by private equity, are expected to fall by the wayside.(FEATURE: RETAIL)
May 1, 2008... Weakening house prices in countries such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK are already affecting consumer confidence in these markets, and the effect on consumer spending is likely to worsen as house values slide. Yet high street...

How to get a job in private equity: in times of economic crises, some of the first jobs to go are those in the investment industry. Robert Stokes looks at how private equity practitioners can expect to fare in these challenging times.(FEATURE: RECRUITMENT)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Private equity has traditionally regarded itself as immune to some of the effects an economic downturn can have on other corners of the asset management community. It's fairly traditional now for investment banks,...

Investing in people: private equity has been a long-time investor in the recruitment sector, and it is increasingly turning its back on generalist consultancies in favour of specialist outfits.(FEATURE: RECRUITMENT)
May 1, 2008... Recent private equity deals in the recruitment sector point up more recession-proof business models and strategies as more generalist people providers lose their appeal to investors seeking superior returns. Swift Technical Group, a market...

In the public interest: EVCJ talks to Anthea Harrison, investment director at quasi-government organisation NESTA, to find out how public money can help encourage new UK technology.(PROFILE)(Interview)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, the National Lottery endowment set up by the UK Government to support innovation and creativity across the country. A wide-ranging remit, it also...

California scheming: leading private equity houses could be hit hard if a Californian bill targeting sovereign wealth funds is passed. But critics of the bill, including public pension fund CalSTRS, argue that it is misguided and unlikely to achieve its aims.(ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While the growing influence of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) has triggered concerns across North America and Europe, in California there are plans to target SWFs via pension fund investment in private equity. The...

Non-dom tax bomb: the UK Government has declared war on non-domiciled residents and insisted they pay a 30,000 [pounds sterling] levy, posing a genuine threat to the future of the British private equity industry.(LEGAL & REGULATORY)
May 1, 2008... Of all of the emotive three-letter words used in contemporary British society "tax" is arguably not the most exciting. But new rules governing the way that non-domiciled residents are treated in the UK has created a lot of nervousness that...

EIF names new CEO.(FUND-OF-FUNDS)(European Investment Fund appoints Richard Pelly and Jean-Marie Magnette)(chief executive officer)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The European Investment Fund (ELF) has two new faces at the highest branches of the organization following the double appointment of Richard Pelly as CEO and Jean-Marie Magnette as deputy CEO. Pelly succeeds...

Linthwaite returns.(PEOPLE)(CT Investment Partners LIP appoints Peter Linthwaite)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Peter Linthwaite, former CEO of the British Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (BVCA), has been appointed managing director at CT Investment Partners LIP (CTIP), the investment team in charge of the...

Yorkville UK hires new head.(PEOPLE)(Yorkville Advisors UK appoints Paul Strzelecki)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Yorkville Advisors, a US private equity firm specializing in structured finance and direct investments, has named Paul Strzelecki as managing director and partner for its UK arm, Yorkville Advisors UK. Strzelecki will head up the firm's London...

Wellington names new venture partner.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] German VC Wellington Partners has added Loic Le Meur, the web entrepreneur behind Ublog, to its venture partner program. Le Meur has founded and sold four internet companies, making him one of the leading figures...

EnerCap hires renewables expert Antalik.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EnerCap Capital Partners, a renewable energy private equity fund focused on Central and Eastern Europe, has appointed Miroslav Antalik as an investment manager. He joins from Ceska Sporitelna bank, where he was head...

Octopus extends investment team.(PEOPLE)(Octopus Ventures appoints Paul Humphries and Alliott Cole)(appointment of Mark Fowler at Octopus Private Equity)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Octopus Ventures, the specialist investor in early stage businesses valued at between 2m [pounds sterling] and 10m [pounds sterling], has appointed Paul Humphries as investment director and Alliott Cole as an...

CapMan to launch public equities vehicle.(PEOPLE)(appointment of Jukka Ruuska)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Jukka Ruuska, president of the OMX Nordic Exchanges and the Stockholm Stock Exchange, has been appointed by CapMan to head up the buyout firm's business development project to establish an equity fund investing in publicly listed Nordic...

Bridgepoint adds two to advisory committee.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Bridgepoint has made a double appointment to its European Advisory Committee in the shape of Barbara Kux and Dr Hubertus Erlen. Kux has been a member of the management committee of Royal Philips Electronics...

Accel adds Atlas alumni.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... The London office of US VC Accel Partners has named Sonali De Rycker as a partner. She joins following a spell with Atlas Venture, and before that was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in New York, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business...

Fleming Family & Partners move across London.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... FF&P Private Equity, along with FF&P Asset Management, FF&P Unit Trust Management, FF&P Services has moved to: 15 Suffolk Street, London, SW1Y 4HG, telephone: +44 (0)20 7036 5600, fax: +44 (0)20 7036 5651, website: www.ffandppe.com

August promotes two.(PEOPLE)(August Equity promotes Aatif Hassan and Keith Davidson)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] August Equity has promoted Aatif Hassan and Keith Davidson to investment directors. Hassan has been with August Equity since 2005 and is responsible for originating and executing deals across all four sectors with a...

Apposite appoints investor relations manager.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Apposite Capital, the UK private equity firm set-up in 2006 to invest purely in the healthcare sector, has appointed Valerie Auffray as investor relations manager. She will manage the firm's overall investor...

Sunstone adds venture partner in Helsinki.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... Nordic venture capital investor Sunstone Capital has recruited Pekka Vartiainen, the former head of Nokia Mobile Phones Americas in the US, as a venture partner to be based in Helsinki. Vartiainen has a career in the mobile phone industry...

Darby names new Vice President in Warsaw.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Darby Overseas investments, the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton investments, has named Sean Glodek as a senior vice president in its Warsaw office. Glodek will source and execute investment opportunities for...

KKR targets European debt expertise.(LEVERAGED LOANS)
May 1, 2008... John Empson has left JPMorgan and will join sponsor KKR to run its leveraged loan business in Europe. He is the first European hire to the private equity giant's capital market/capital raising team, where he will report to Craig Farr and...

Permira hires JPMorgan veteran for NY office.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... UK LBO outfit Permira has appointed John Coyle, the former global head of the financial sponsor group at JP Morgan Securities, as a partner and the co-head of Permira's New York office. Coyle will run the office alongside Ton Lister,...

DuetGroup hires CEO.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] London-based alternative asset management firm Duet Group has named Osman Semerci as chief executive and partner. Duet was established in 2002 by Main Schibl and Henry Gabay with US$10m and today manages over...

TowerBrook hires London MD.(PEOPLE)(TowerBrook Capital Partners appointed John Sinik)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... TowerBrook Capital Partners, the London and New York-based private equity firm, has recruited John Sinik as a managing director based in TCP's London office. Sinik has worked for nine years in leveraged finance and joins TCP from UBS,...

Graphite adds to fund-of-funds team.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Graphite Capital, the UK mid-market buy-out and fund-of-funds manager, has recruited former JP Morgan Private Equity fund of funds managing director Dana Haimoff as a partner. Haimoff has held senior positions in...

CGI gets new chairman.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dunedin, the UK mid-market private equity house today, has installed Christophe Guillot to the position of chairman at portfolio company CGI, a UK manufacturer and supplier of specialist fire resistant glasses. ...

BNP names new PE head.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Daphne Dussauge has been appointed head of corporate development at BNP Paribas Private Equity. She will be responsible for ensuring the development of the offering as well as the selection and distribution of...

Willis opens in Poland.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Insurance broker Willis has hired Marius Stolarski to head up its new Central and Eastern Europe M&A practice from Warsaw, Poland. Stolarski recently returned to Warsaw after a lengthy secondment to both Willis'...

Butler adds two.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] French distressed private equity firm Butler Capital Partners has hired two new senior professionals to its team. Lionel Mestre (above), a graduate of Dauphine University, joins as a director, after 10 years with...

Private Advisors appoints three MDs.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Private Advisors, a US-headquartered private equity and hedge fund investment firm, has expanded it London office with the addition of three managing directors. Matthew Baker, Jennifer Buckley and Rickard...

Endless opens in London.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Turnaround specialists Endless has named Del Huse as managing director and head of its newly opened London office, which adds to the firm's existing complement of offices in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Belfast....

Citadel names Asian and European head.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... Multi-alternative asset management group Citadel Investment has recruited Nick Taylor as a senior managing director and head of principal investments for Asia and Europe. He joins from Credit Suisse, where he co-founded and led one of Credit...

SJ Berwin promotes eight to partner level.(PEOPLE)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... UK law firm SJ Berwin has made six new partners in the latest round of promotions. Four of the new partners are based in the firm's London office, with the remainder in Germany and Italy. The new partners are Shaistah Akhtar, litigation,...

CVC brings in new telecoms head in London.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... UK LBO firm CVC Capital Partners has made Lorne Somerville the new head of telecoms (TMT). Somerville will join as a partner based in CVC's London office and will lead the firm's TMT practice. He joins from UBS where he was the joint global...

Weil Gotshal brings in two partners.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] US legal outfit Weil, Gotshal & Manges has added two new partners to its London office. Tony Horspool has joined the firm's global restructuring group, and Stuart Hills has joined the banking & finance team. ...

Celerant names PE and M&A head.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] UK management consultants Celerant has appointed David Axon as head of private equity and M&A. Axon joined Celerant from global accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton where he was the partner responsible...

Lehman sets-up sovereign role.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... US investment bank Lehman Brothers has appointed Makram Azar to the newly created role of global head of sovereign wealth funds. He is currently head of consumer, retail and media for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Based in Dubai, he will...

CalPERS loses CIO.(PEOPLE)
May 1, 2008... Russell Read, the chief investment officer for the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), has resigned to pursue his long-standing interest in environmental and cleantech investing. George Diehr, investment committee...

Public offerings in Q1 down by almost 10bn [euro].(IPO NOT OK)
May 1, 2008... The outlook is bleak for new offerings according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in its latest IPO Watch Europe survey. With a combined IPO offering value of 1,992m [pounds sterling] in Q1 2008, almost 10x lower than the amount raised...

Secondary boom comes to an end: exit values tumble as economic turmoil hits hard and firms are forced to wait for liquidity with the public markets closed for business.(DATA ROOM)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Private equity exit values dropped to 23.8bn [pounds sterling] in 2007 despite increasing by volume as the credit crunch hit secondary buyouts hard in the second half of the year. The latest statistics by data house CMBOR reveal that last...

Healthcare is hot: private equity takes refuge in the medical sector as credit crunch begins to hurt, as the lower mid-market looks set to capitalise on the LBO drought.(DATA ROOM)
May 1, 2008... The healthcare sector has been voted as the best area for private equity to invest in this year as the investors flee for safety in the wake of the economic downturn. Traditionally regarded as a safe-haven for investment, healthcare is...

Real estate fundraising to top US$100bn: Blackstone fund contributes to US$25bn raised in Q1 as record year predicted for 2008.(DATA ROOM)
May 1, 2008... Private equity real estate funds are on course to raise more than US$100bn in 2008 reports Private Equity Intelligence, the London-based data provider. In the opening quarter of 2008 alone, US$25bn has already been raised, with Blackstone...

LPs turned off by the mega-funds: investors to increase allocation to mid-market and special situation vehicles.(DATA ROOM)(limited partners )(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Large buyout funds are out of favour with limited partners (LPs) says a report by placement agent Capital. The coming year will see LPs increase allocations to small and mid-market funds, special situations and growth/capital funds, whilst...

M&A deals up in 2007.(TECHNOLOGY)(mergers and acquisitions)(Brief article)
May 1, 2008... Technology M&A deal values rose by 44% in 2007, from 88bn [euro] in 2006 to 127bn [euro]. The total number of deals completed was up by 24% to 713 from 577 the previous year, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. The mid-market continues to...