Private Equity and Venture Capital News

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• Law firms launch investigations into Infogroup deal 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. With yesterday’s media reports that CCMP Capital has agreed to buy Infogroup Inc corroborated by an official statement, at least three law firms have stepped up to announce they are investigating the veracity of the deal.

• Carlyle ramps up debt business with new hire 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Morgan Stanley’s former sales and trading chief, Mitch Petrick, will join private equity firm Carlyle to head its distressed debt and leveraged finance business in the US and Europe.

• Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz bailed out by private equity 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz has turned to US private equity firm Colony Capital to help repair her finances, according to reports. Under the terms of the arrangement, Colony is to become Leibovitz’s sole creditor, and will help to market her portfolio of photographs, which include the infamous Rolling Stone magazine cover featuring a naked John Lennon with Yoko Ono, taken hours before his murder.

• PE firms line up for Marsh & McLennan’s Kroll 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. A number of major private equity houses have entered first round bids to take control of Kroll, the corporate investigations unit of global insurance broker and consultancy company Marsh & McLennan, for around $1.3bn, the Financial Times reports.

• PE-backed waste management firm Biffa to sell landfill gas business for £350m 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Private equity-backed waste management group Biffa has put its landfill gas business up for sale at a price of £350m (€387m), according to reports.

• Harrah's catches break with $5.5bn debt maturity extension 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Harrah's Entertainment Inc, the afflicted casino operator owned by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and TPG, has agreed with its lenders to have the maturity on $5.5bn in loans delayed until 2015.

• Citadel launches $150m East Africa co-investment fund 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. North African private equity firm Citadel Capital is launching a new $150m co-investment fund for Africa, according to reports. The fund, which will be the firm’s first co-investment vehicle, is to focus on East Africa, where the firm has pledged to invest $200m to $400m over the next two years.

• DoubleVerify raises $10m to keep eye on online ads 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. New York City-based online advertising verifier DoubleVerify has closed $10m in series B financing in a round led by Institutional Venture Partners. The financing will be used to fund company expansion in response to increasing demand.

• HgCapital discusses £150m UK laundry equipment company purchase 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK private equity firm HgCapital is in exclusive talks to purchase John Laithwaite, a commercial laundry equipment supplier, according to reports. The deal could be worth up to £150m (€165.6m).

• KKR nabs Sen from Citi for India office 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. KKR has hired the former south Asia CFO of Citigroup, Abhijit Sen, making him responsible for two roles within the private equity firm’s Indian office.

• CalPERS appoints former Barclays exec as chief operating investment officer 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. The California Public employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has appointed Janine Guillot as the pension fund’s chief operating investment officer.

• Aureos Capital invests $10m in Nigerian leasing company 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Emerging markets private equity specialist Aureos Capital has invested $10m in Nigerian leasing company C&I Leasing, taking the firm’s total investment in the African country to $40m.

• Israeli venture capital fundraising down 72 per cent in 2009 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. The downturn hit Israel’s venture capital market hard in 2009, with domestic funds only managing to muster $229m, a sharp drop of 72 per cent from the $803m raised in 2008.

• Cath Kidston to sell business to private equity 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK vintage designer Cath Kidston is in talks with US buy-out firm TA Associates to sell a stake in her retail chain, in a deal that values her business at £100m (€110.8m), according to the Guardian.

• ABRY to take broadband business RCN private in $1.2bn deal 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Internet and cable TV company RCN Corporation will be acquired by ABRY Partners, a Boston-based media-focused private equity firm, having agreed to a $1.2bn buy-out.

• CCMP Capital to buy Infogroup for $460m 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. New York private equity firm CCMP Capital has agreed to buy Infogroup Inc, a data and marketing services business, for approximately $460m, according to the Wall Street Journal.

• Coller Capital in pole position for HBOS portfolio 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. HBOS is lining up the sale of its portfolio of investments, which include Vue cinemas and coffee chain Caffè Nero, with the sale expected to fetch £500m (€555m) – a stark contrast to the portfolio’s peak estimated value of £1.4bn (€1.55bn), according to the Sunday Times.

• Open Sky Technologies Fund lands first close 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Germany’s Triangle Venture Capital Group and the European Space Agency (ESA), a body that sets out to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and promote investment, have held the first close of their €100m-targeting joint fund.

• Gresham bolts on celebrity management firm 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Mid-market firm Gresham Private Equity has grown its share of the UK’s celebrity management sphere with the bolt-on of Michael Kay & Company’s entertainment element, which looks after TV personality Philip Schofield.

• 3i, N.I. Partners partner for care company purchase 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. 3i and N.I. Partners, the private equity division of the NATIXIS group, have agreed to invest in Vedici, the fifth largest acute care company in France.

• LA's SouthWest Water going private 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Los Angeles-based water utility SouthWest Water Company has agreed to be taken private by JP Morgan Asset Management and Water Asset Management for $275m cash.

• TransMedics raises $36m for organ transplant system 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. TransMedics Inc, a medical device company focusing on delivering a solution for organ transplantation, has closed a $36m financing round led by Foundation Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB).

• New Zealand angel investment hits NZ$50m in 2009 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. New Zealand start-up companies received a boost from angel investors in 2009, as the amount of capital from high net worth individuals grew to NZ$50m ($34.5m). The figure represents a 72 per cent increase on the previous 12 month record of NZ$23m ($15.8m) invested in 2008, based on data collected by New Zealand analysts Young Company Finance.