DACH
GERMANY - Close Brothers appoints MD
Close Brothers Corporate Finance has appointed Sven Guckelberger as a new managing director to its restructuring and debt advisory group.
EUROPE - Sun Capital loses managing director
Philip Dougall, managing director of Sun Capital Partners Europe, has resigned after six years with the firm.
GERMANY - Warburg seeks buyer for Easycash
Reports indicate that Warburg Pincus has hired UBS to find buyers for credit cards payment processing company Easycash, with the sale expected to be worth anywhere up to EUR 300m.
GERMANY - JC Flowers-backed Hypo prepares for profit plunge
Hard-hit real estate lender Hypo Real Estate, which is backed by US buyout house JC Flowers, has announced that profits are likely to see a "high three digit million" decrease in the second quarter of 2009 amidst a weakening real estate loan market.
GERMANY - Frog doubles SiC stake
London-based venture firm Frog Capital has doubled its stake in portfolio company SiC Processing AG, a producer of wafer cutting fluids used in silicon wafers, through the purchase of holdings from other shareholders.
GERMANY - HTGF et al. invest EUR 500,000 into wwg
High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Holtzbrink Ventures and business angels Oliver Jung and Torsten Oppermann have invested EUR 500,000 into online gaming company wwg worldwidegames GmbH.
AUSTRIA - Consortium backs mobil data with EUR 2.3m
Wiener Wachstumsfonds and tecnet equity have invested more than EUR 2m into mobile working company mobil data IT & Kommunikationslösungen GmbH, with part of the funding being used to acquire sector rival Tempore Zeiterfassungssysteme.
GERMANY - GI Partners puts Acentic up for sale
According to reports, GI Partners has mandated Cavendish Corporate Finance to find a buyer for on-demand content provider Acentic GmbH, with the price tag thought to be up to £100m.
EUROPE - Marwyn to launch recovery fund on SFM
Investment and advisory group Marwyn intends to launch a UK-based recovery fund on the Specialist Fund Market (SFM) of the London Stock Exchange, The Marwyn Alternative Capital Fund, which will be aimed at businesses suffering depressed valuations as...
SWITZERLAND – HealthCap leads CHF 6m Lumavita funding
New investor HealthCap has led a CHF 6m extension to biopharmaceutical company Lumavita's series-A financing round, alongside historical backer Endeavour Vision.
GLOBAL - KKR may not float
Reports suggest that private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) is rethinking its plans to float on the NYSE.
GERMANY - Augusta hires Paul Kim for leverage finance team
Merchant bank Augusta & Co has appointed Paul Kim as assistant director.
GLOBAL - Barclays accepts BlackRock's offer for BGI
Barclays' board of directors has accepted BlackRock's offer to acquire its asset management division Barclays Global Investors (BGI), with the price tag thought to be around $10bn.
GERMANY - Earlybird leads EUR 3.3m round for Music Networx
Earlybird has alongside existing investor including DuMont Venture and Klaus Wecken invested EUR 3.3m into live music marketing company Music Networx. Earlybird committed approximately EUR 2m of the total deal value.
EUROPE - Cipio holds first close of Fund VI on EUR 61m
Secondary direct player Cipio Partners has held a first closing of Cipio Partners Fund VI on EUR 61m, targeting EUR 200m.
EUROPE - Bridgepoint appoints Stephen Green as partner
Private equity firm Bridgepoint has appointed Stephen Green as partner and head of its European financial services sector team.
GERMANY - Carlyle acquires 29.34% of Personal & Informatik AG
The Carlyle Group has acquired 30% of listed Personal & Informatik AG (P&I), a supplier of software solutions for human resource management.
GLOBAL - LPs suggest trouble ahead
A quarter of all private equity fund managers will go out of business and a tenth of investors could default on capital calls; industry LPs reveal their sombre side.
Back to the Roots
German private equity is fighting a battle on several fronts and a number of disturbing trends have emerged over the last few months that could shape the industry for years to come. Mareen Goebel reports
Secondaries Salvation
The swathe of money pumping into secondaries will prove a savior, not a bubble. Cash-rich specialists can help teams looking to spin out of distressed parents, as well as borderline LPs pushed over the edge this autumn as GPs call in capital. By Kimberly...
From self- to over-regulation
Dr Markus Schackmann and Dr Angelika Yates of Luther examine the proposed EU Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers and its expected impact on the German private equity industry