Weekly round-up: glorified Rolodex?

Last week, unquote" explored the relevance of placement agents in today's industry. Critics claim that the swelling of internal investor relations departments leaves placement agents redundant. But for others, the value-add is clear: "Fundraising isn't just about box-ticking, LPs need to understand the strategy, and how the team works together. This is still a private market and it can't be quantified in the same way that public equities can," says Warren Hibbert of Asante Capital.

Having kicked off 2013 at a value of $13 per coin, Bitcoin reached its highest point in December last year, peaking at almost $1,200 apiece. unquote" investigated the rise of Bitcoin and the staunch interest of US venture capitalists in the cryptocurrency. But is the currency's lack of stability and its uneasy relationship with the regulatory authorities proving too much for European VCs?

US private equity firms are scouring European portfolios for new deals. unquote" reviewed the recent swathe of buyouts that has seen European assets fall into the hands of American players. "US GPs are now aggressively hunting for deals in Europe," says Helen Steers, partner and head of European primary investment at Pantheon. "I think this has partly to do with valuations; they're seeing some value in Europe. Plus the debt markets have come back and they are able to finance deals without problems."

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