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Partial exit for Duke Street as Apax Partners acquires 28.9 per cent of Focus Wickes
29/11/2002. Apax Partners has acquired almost a third of Focus Wickes, the second largest DIY retailer in the UK. The deal represents a partial exit for Duke Street Capital, and is likely to close in the first quarter of 2003. 
JP Morgan Partners' mega-fund closes at around $8bn, $5bn under target
28/11/2002. JP Morgan Partners Global Investors fund has finally closed at around $8bn, with just $1.7bn from outside investors.
The Carlyle Group hires Dr Michael Rogowski for European advisory board
28/11/2002. Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group has announced the appointment of Dr Michael Rogowski, president of the Federal Association of German Industries, to the advisory board of its E1bn Carlyle Europe Partners fund.
Nordic private equity firm CapMan expands life sciences team
28/11/2002. Nordic private equity firm CapMan is expanding its life sciences activities in Finland and Denmark with the appointment of Dr Bjorn Nordenvall.
Latest Deals: 20-26 November 2002
27/11/2002. The AltAssets weekly round up of deals done in Europe and North America. This week there were 126 active investors in 56 deals and four exits across 16 sectors…
Darby Overseas Investments and Stratus Investimentos to sponsor Brazilian mezzanine fund
27/11/2002. Washington-based Darby Overseas Investments and Brazil's Stratus Investimentos have announced that they are to form a partnership to sponsor a local currency mezzanine fund in Brazil – the country's first.
Deals update: US healthcare leads the way as activity creeps upwards
27/11/2002. Private equity-backed investment activity crept higher in the latest week (to the end of 26th November), led by a rash of deals in the US healthcare sector.
Accel partner questioned by Finnish National Bureau of Investigation
27/11/2002. Accel Partners' general partner Kaj-Eric Relander has reportedly handed himself in to the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, on suspicion of ‘gross violation secrecy of communications' at Sonera Corp, where he was formerly chief executive.
3i backs E100m buy-out of Dutch container operator
27/11/2002. Pan-European private equity firm 3i has maintained its breathless investment pace of recent weeks with the E100m buy-out of Rotterdam-based United Transport Tankcontainers in a E100m deal.
Spanish private equity fundraising and investment plummets in H1 2002
26/11/2002. Spanish private equity activity took a steep dive in the first half of this year, according to the latest figures from Web Capital Riesgo.
Hicks Muse leads consortium in E110m acquisition of Polish cable TV assets
26/11/2002. US buy-out giant Hicks Muse Tate & Furst (HMTF) has led a consortium of private equity firms in the E110m acquisition of the cable TV assets of Polish firms Aster City Cable and Elektrim Telekomikacja.
Former president of AFIC warns of fierce competition in French large buy-out market
26/11/2002. Dominique Peninon, formerly president of the French venture capital association AFIC, has warned that growing competition at the top end of the French private equity market is leading to higher prices for big buy-out deals.
Pentech Ventures strengthens investment team with spin-out expert
26/11/2002. Scotland-based venture firm Pentech Ventures has hired technology-transfer specialist Sandy McKinnon to look for spin-out opportunities.
New UK report highlights economic benefits of private equity
25/11/2002. The UK's private equity-backed businesses grow more quickly and create more jobs than their FTSE 100 and 250 peers, according to the British Venture Capital Association's latest economic impact survey.
JP Morgan cuts back on private fund placement team
25/11/2002. JP Morgan Chase has cut its fund placement team size from 20 to seven, with jobs lost in both the US and the UK.
Trinity closes ‘record' Irish early-stage tech fund at E140m
25/11/2002. Irish venture firm Trinity Venture Capital has announced the close of its second fund, Trinity Venture Fund II, with E140m of commitments. The fund will focus exclusively on early- and growth-stage technology companies in Ireland.
Eric Archambeau leaves Benchmark Capital
25/11/2002. Eric Archambeau, general partner at Benchmark Capital and co-founder of its European fund, is reportedly to step down to form a new firm, Arch Ventures.
The Carlyle Group names Lou Gerstner as chairman from start of 2003
22/11/2002. IBM chairman and towering US business personality Lou Gerstner has been unveiled as the chairman-elect of private equity giant The Carlyle Group. He will take over from Frank Carlucci, who becomes chairman emeritus, on 7 January next year.
Credit Suisse launches private equity fund for Germans through Golding Capital Partners
21/11/2002. Credit Suisse Germany has given Munich-based fund of funds Golding Capital Partners the mandate to manage a new private equity fund of funds named CS Venture I, which will enable German high net worth individuals to invest in private equity.
Deutsche Bank considering DB Capital management buy-out
21/11/2002. Deutsche Bank is in exclusive talks with the management team of its captive private equity firm DB Capital Partners about the bank's E1.5bn portfolio of late-stage direct investments.
Permira to sell Homebase to trade buyer for £900m
21/11/2002. Pan-European private equity firm Permira has sold its majority stake in UK do-it-yourself chain Homebase to Great Universal Stores for £900m.
Florida State to launch $300m venture programme
21/11/2002. Florida State Board of Administration has announced that it is looking for managers for a new venture capital programme which will have an ‘initial allocation' of $300m.
3i considering move into investment management service
20/11/2002. Pan-European private equity firm 3i is considering the possibility of managing banks' or corporates' venture capital holdings, stretching its activities beyond its core business of making and managing direct investments.
UK Catalyst and Big Issue join forces to launch ‘social business' venture fund
20/11/2002. UK sector-focused private equity firm Catalyst has announced that it is to team up with The Big Issue, a company best known for running a magazine sold by the homeless, to launch a fund focusing on the ‘social business' sector.
Latest Deals: 13-19 November 2002
20/11/2002. The AltAssets weekly round up of deals done in Europe and North America. This week there were 118 active investors in 51 deals and four exits across 14 sectors…
US venture-backed exit activity still miserable
20/11/2002. Just when it seemed US exit conditions could not get any worse, the third quarter produced the most lifeless venture-backed IPO market since well before the bubble years of the late 1990s.
US Healthcare Ventures closes seventh fund on $354m
19/11/2002. US Healthcare Ventures has closed its seventh fund on $354m. The fund will focus on early-stage investments in biopharmaceuticals, although about ten per cent will be allocated to later stage businesses.
US Liberty Media pulls out of acquisition of Casema from France Télécom
19/11/2002. Debt-burdened France Télécom's Casema may be up for grabs in the private equity world once again, as Liberty Media has pulled out of the $755m deal.
Duke Street Capital strengthens buy-out team
19/11/2002. Pan-European private equity firm Duke Street Capital has announced two new appointments to its London-based buy-out team. Corinne Margerit joins from CSFB and Oliver Mayer joins from Rhone Capital to become investment managers.
Blackstone agrees TRW purchase from Northrop Grumman for $4.7bn
19/11/2002. US buy-out giant The Blackstone Group has finally reached agreement with Northrop Grumman Corporation for the purchase of TRW Automotive at a value of $4.7bn. The deal is one of the largest buy-outs for years and the biggest ever undertaken by Blackstone.
Diageo exploring other options for Burger King sale after TPG refuses price
18/11/2002. Drinks giant Diageo has been forced to explore other options for the sale of Burger King after the supposed buyer, a private equity consortium led by Texas Pacific Group, said it could not proceed at the $2.26bn price agreed in July.
Preliminary ruling suggests CalPERS will have to reveal fund performance data
18/11/2002. The California Public Employees' Retirement System may have to reveal the performance data of its private equity investments unless it can prove the information is a trade secret. A judge has ruled that the data ‘is not a trade secret and is disclosable'.
3i Barometer makes grim reading for European business outlook
15/11/2002. The business outlook across Europe for private equity-backed businesses looks unrelentingly grim, according to the latest 3i Barometer.
3i and Veronis Suhler team up to acquire Telemedia directories business
15/11/2002. Pan-European venture group 3i has teamed up with Veronis Suhler Stevenson to buy directories business TeleMedia Nederland for E500m in cash.
UK MBO activity nudges upward in Q3 2002 but will not reach 2001 levels
15/11/2002. Modest good news in the UK MBO world; the total value of the UK buy-out market for the third quarter of 2002 jumped to £5.5bn from £3.7bn the previous quarter, according to new figures from the CMBOR/ Barclays Private Equity/ Deloitte & Touche MBO review.
Three private equity firms bidding for European satellite operator Inmarsat
14/11/2002. Three more private equity firms – Apollo Advisers, Apax Partners and Permira – are in with a chance to benefit from the sale of non-core businesses by debt-burdened European telecom companies. The firms will be submitting final offers for satellite operator Inmarsat by 22 November.
US energy specialist Lime Rock Partners closes second fund ahead of target on $320m
14/11/2002. Lime Rock Partners, a US private equity firm specialising in the energy sector, has closed its second fund on $320m, comfortably ahead of its initial target of $200m.
Black-owned aloeCap launches R500m private equity fund in South Africa
14/11/2002. Financial and investment services company aloeCap, a black-owned and managed firm, is to launch a private equity fund targeting R500m. AloeCap has already gained commitments of R100m and the fund will invest exclusively in black economic empowerment transactions.
Canada's CPP announces three more commitments to private equity funds
14/11/2002. The CPP Investment Board has continued its spending spree with three more investments in private equity funds: JP Morgan Partners, Thomas Weisel and Paul Capital. The commitments bring the total that will be drawn down for investment over the next several years to almost CAN$5bn.
3i announces fall of 14.4 per cent on total returns
14/11/2002. Pan-European private equity firm 3i has unveiled a mixed set of half-year results for the period ending 30 September, reflecting difficult market conditions but containing an encouraging rise in realisations.
Horsley Bridge reduces size of seventh fund by around 25 per cent
13/11/2002. US-based fund of funds Horsley Bridge has reduced the size of its latest fund by $500m, around 25 per cent of the total. The fund closed in 2001 with just under $2.1bn.
Unigestion hires ex-Citigroup director as head of institutional sales and marketing
13/11/2002. Swiss asset manager Unigestion, a major investor in private equity, has announced that it is to appoint Michael J Larsen as head of marketing and business development as part of a move to strengthen its presence in the European asset management market.
Latest Deals: 6-12 November 2002
13/11/2002. The AltAssets weekly round up of deals done in Europe and North America. This week over 120 investors were involved in more than 50 deals across 13 sectors, and there was one exit…
UBS Capital announces further write-downs
13/11/2002. UBS Capital, the private equity arm of the eponymous Swiss bank, has unveiled a pre-tax loss of CHF418m (E285m) in the third quarter, CHF304m (E207m) more than in the same period last year.
Deutsche Beteiligungs to sell stake in Edscha to The Carlyle Group
13/11/2002. German private equity firm Deutsche Beteiligungs has sold its 15 per cent stake in automotive supplier Edscha to the Carlyle Group. The vendor said the sale had yielded a return of more than 25 per cent on its investment.
Ex-LDC senior director Bernard Dale joins Hotbed
12/11/2002. Bernard Dale, formerly a senior director at LDC, is moving to become a director of new venture firm Hotbed.
Ex-CEO of Ford Motors joins One Equity Partners
12/11/2002. Jac Nasser, the CEO of Ford Motors who was ousted after just 34 months in the job last year, is to join private equity arm of Chicago-based Bank One.
Foreign investors to gain easier access to Chinese venture capital industry
12/11/2002. The nascent promise of the Chinese venture capital industry for foreign investors looks set to become more accessible.
European private equity firms expect higher-than-historic failure rate to continue
12/11/2002. European private equity managers expect the abnormally high failure rates of investments to persist for the foreseeable future, according to a new survey by ICOSR.
Italian CDB Web Tech writes down E10m on investments
11/11/2002. The high-tech bubble is still claiming its victims. Italian venture capital CDB Web Tech has announced it is to write down E10m on its investment portfolio in the third quarter of 2002 and warned of more to come.
AIM under threat from EU regulatory burdens
11/11/2002. More bad news for the UK venture capital industry: the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) may be under threat from regulatory burdens imposed by the EU, according to a report by Grant Thornton.
BVCA issues final draft of its new valuation guidelines
11/11/2002. The BVCA, the UK's private equity industry body, has taken another step forward in its efforts to improve transparency in the sector with the publication of a new draft of its valuation guidelines.
Swiss LogiSpring strengthens investment team
11/11/2002. Geneva-based venture capital firm LogiSpring is to strengthen its investment team with the appointment of Jean-Yves Quentel.
Chief of France's PAI Management warns of lower European private equity returns
11/11/2002. Amaury-Daniel de Seze, chief executive of the biggest French private equity group PAI Management, has warned that difficult exit conditions might mean lower returns for the European private equity industry despite encouraging signs of increased investment activity.
German Q3 private equity investment keeps sliding
08/11/2002. The private equity industry in Germany remained firmly attached to its downward path in the third quarter of 2002, according to figures released by the German venture capital association, the BVK.
European venture firm b-business partners appoints Lennart Johansson as CEO
08/11/2002. Pan-European venture firm b-business partners has appointed Lennart Johansson as chief executive officer to replace Hans-Dieter Koch, a b-business founder.
Vivendi's Houghton Mifflin goes to Thomas H Lee and Bain Capital
08/11/2002. The long-drawn-out process of Vivendi Universal's sale of its US publishing arm, Houghton Mifflin, has finally been closed.
European Triton Fund to buy Tetra aquarium and pond supplies from Pfizer for $239m
07/11/2002. European private equity fund The Triton Group is to buy New York-based Pfizer's Tetra aquarium and pond supplies business for $239m. The transaction is expected to close at the end of the year.
Diageo reveals doubts about $2.3bn Burger King sale
07/11/2002. Drinks giant Diageo has revealed it may have to abandon its proposed $2.3bn sale of Burger King to a consortium of private equity firms because of a deterioration in market conditions. The firm's announcement follows news that the consortium was having difficulties raising some of the financing for the purchase.
HarbourVest closes non-US fund of funds above target on $2.8bn
07/11/2002. After an exhaustive fundraising process, global private equity firm HarbourVest Partners has held a final close on its HarbourVest International Private Equity Partners IV at $2.8bn. The fund's initial target was $2.5bn.
Germany's Wellington Partners hires media manager Michael Wölfe
07/11/2002. Munich-based venture firm Wellington Partners has hired the former director of sales at ProSieben Media as a venture partner. Michael Wölfe will support the firm's 20-plus portfolio companies, particularly with sales and marketing.
3i backs E425m buy-out of Swiss SR Technics
06/11/2002. Pan-European private equity firm 3i has teamed up with Star Capital Partners Limited to back an E425m management buy-out of SR Technics, a service company providing comprehensive technical support for aircraft, engines and components, from SAirGroup.
Venture capital investment in Europe continues its steep slide
06/11/2002. The third quarter of 2002 failed to bring any good news for the European venture capital industry, with the number of venture capital transactions falling for the seventh consecutive quarter. Total investment for the latest quarter was less than 30 per cent of the total for the same period last year, according to new figures from Ernst & Young and VentureOne.
Bain Capital makes third European chemicals acquisition in a week
05/11/2002. US buy-out firm Bain Capital has completed its third acquisition in the European chemicals industry in little more than a week with the purchase of a handful of units from French chemicals specialist Rhodia.
US Q3 venture capital fundraising plunges 75 per cent on year
05/11/2002. US venture capital fundraising continues to suffer as firms stand back from a largely unwelcoming market place to wait for an unwinding of the massive funding overhang. Third quarter fundraising totalled just $1.7bn, down 75 per cent on the $7bn recorded in the same period last year, according to new figures.
Deutsche Bank holds talks with NIB over private equity portfolio sale
04/11/2002. Deutsche Bank is reported to have held talks with Dutch bank NIB about a possible sale of some of its unwanted private equity investments.
BC Partners extends healthcare interests with E640m purchase of Swiss group
04/11/2002. Pan-European buy-out firm BC Partners has extended its already significant healthcare interests with the E640m purchase of Swiss private hospital group the Hirslanden Group from UBS.
Guy Hands' Terra Firma holds first close on debut independent fund
01/11/2002. Terra Firma Capital Partners, Guy Hands' fledgling buy-out firm, has held a first close with E1bn of commitments for its first independent fund since spinning out from Japanese bank Nomura.
Riverside to hire ex-president of Dexter Corporation as ‘partner, portfolio management'
01/11/2002. In a bid to ensure that buy-out firm The Riverside Company's portfolio companies are well looked after, the US firm has created a new post – ‘partner, portfolio management'.
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