Secondaries

Private equity secondaries news from around the globe

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• Investec loans DFJ Esprit £8m for management of 3i’s old VC portfolio 15 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Investec Private Bank has provided an £8.2m (€9.5m) loan to Encore Ventures, a new division of European venture capital firm DFJ Esprit, to cover fees as it oversees 3i’s old venture portfolio.

• 3i mulls UK government assets bid 11 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. FTSE 100-listed private equity firm 3i is considering bidding for UK government assets being sold to reduce debt, according to Reuters.

• Bridgepoint to bid for Lloyds portfolio 10 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Mid-market private equity firm Bridgepoint has joined the race to acquire a portfolio of company investments from Lloyds Banking Group. According to the Financial Times, the firm is the latest to put in a bid for the portfolio, following 3i and Coller Capital.

• Adams Street hires Coller Capital principal 05 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Diversified private equity player Adams Street Partners has hired Pinal Nicum, who joins from the industry’s biggest secondaries player, Coller Capital. Nicum is now a partner in Adams Street’s London office, working in the firm’s secondaries team.

• CIC takes position in previously closed Apax fund 03 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Chinese sovereign wealth fund the China Investment Coporation has invested €685m into UK private equity firm Apax Partners’ €11.2bn buy-out fund, according to reports.

• Guggenheim Partners puts $75m to work through its Indian FoF 02 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Guggenheim Partners, the asset management firm which acquired the India-focused private equity fund of funds business of Thomas Weisel Partners in 2008, has completed several transactions in the Asian frontier market worth a total of $75m, according to VCCircle.

• Hollyport Capital to launch new secondaries fund 01 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK secondaries firm Hollyport is to launch its third secondaries fund, despite a “difficult year” for private equity investors. The firm said it would be launching the Hollyport Secondary Opportunities III Fund in the near future.

• Unigestion reaches €135m first close of latest secondaries fund 27 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. Geneva-based asset manager Unigestion has held the first close of its latest fund. Total commitments for the Unigestion Secondary Opportunity II have so far reached €135m, with the firm expecting to reach the target size of €150m in the near future. The hard cap has been set at €200m.

• Direct secondaries firm Saints Capital makes hire for European deals 19 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. Direct secondaries firm Saints Capital has hired Niko von Huetz, the former investment director at venture firm Add Partners, as director of European investments.

• Asset manager Neuberger Berman in $200m direct secondaries deal 21 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Asset manager Neuberger Berman has acquired a portfolio of 21 private equity investments from a European family office for $200m.

• F&C reaches €30m first close of European PE secondaries fund 15 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. F&C Private Equity, the private equity fund of funds division of F&C Asset Management has reached a €30m first close of its Aurora secondaries fund. The fund is to predominantly target European private equity buy-out and mezzanine funds and co-investments. Investors include UK and Dutch pension funds.

• Partners Group closes secondary fund at €2.5bn 15 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Swiss alternative assets manager Partners Group has closed its Partners Group Secondary 2008 fund on its hard cap of €2.5bn, above its target of €2bn. Limited partners in the fund include corporate and public pension plans, insurance companies and family offices.

• OIC to establish secondaries programme with PCG Asset Management 04 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. The Oregon Investment Council, the manager of the $49bn Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, is planning to establish a secondaries programme in which it will pick up the private equity interests of fund investors.

• LPs to refuse re-ups for new funds in 2010 03 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Over three quarters of limited partners will refuse commitments to new funds from their current managers in 2010 over concerns about inadequate GP reporting, conflicts of interest, and fund terms and conditions, according to Coller Capital’s latest Global Private Equity Barometer.

• CIC to take €800m stake in €11.2bn Apax buy-out fund 03 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Chinese sovereign wealth fund the China Investment Corporation has offered to invest up to €800m in UK private equity firm Apax Partners' €11.2bn seventh buy-out fund, according to the Financial Times.

• AIFM directive set to cap secondary market 27 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Under the EU’s proposed regulation of the alternative investment industry, the private equity secondary market for limited partners’ fund interests is likely to suffer, Covington & Burling lawyer Simon Currie told the Financial Times.

• Fresno County buys $40m fund stake from Swiss Re 13 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Fresno County Employees’ Retirement Association has bought a $40m fund interest in the Colony Distressed Credit Fund from global re-insurer Swiss Re, according to reports.

• Brenninkmeijer family to buy out investors in Englefield Capital 10 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. UK private equity group Englefield Capital has seen the Brenninkmeijer family, a major investor in the firm, approach other investors with an offer to buy them out, according to the Financial Times.

• VC firm Apposite Capital makes hire for North American primary and secondary investments 05 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Apposite Capital, the healthcare specialist venture capital firm, has nabbed Dr Eric Shiozaki from life sciences venture investor Burrill & Company as an associate director of North America.

• Portfolio Advisors raises secondaries fund well over target as investors expect market uptick 05 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Portfolio Advisors, a Connecticut-based private equity funds of funds manager, has tied up fundraising for its first secondaries vehicle collecting $1.1bn, surpassing its original $600m goal.

• Conversus sees secondaries buyers up their bids 02 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Conversus Capital, the Euronext-listed private equity fund of funds, has said that secondaries buyers have raised their bids for limited partners’ fund interests.

• Secondaries player JP Morgan Private Equity to raise £40m 30 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. JP Morgan Private Equity, a private equity secondaries fund listed on the London Stock Exchange, is targeting a capital raise of £40m (€44.8m) with the placing of 2015 zero dividend preference shares.

• Spanish PE firm Nazca Capital spins out from Fortis Bank 23 Oct 2009. Source: AltAssets. Nazca Capital, a Spanish mid-market private equity firm, has completed a spin out from Fortis Bank and agreed with fund of funds AlpInvest to future investments.