Angela Sormani
The Blackstone Group has appointed Paul Costello as non-executive chairman for Australia and New Zealand. Costello was most recently general manager of Australia's Future Fund. He will report to Tony James, Blackstone's president and Michael Chae, who heads private equity for the firm in Asia-Pacific and is also responsible for the firm's limited partner relationships in the region.
Four new underwriters are supporting the initial public offering of BrightSource Energy, a solar company, according to a new version of the company's prospectus filed with regulators. Barclays Capital, Lazard Capital Markets, Robert W. Baird & Co. and Raymond James & Associates have joined the underwriting consortium, which is led by Goldman Sachs & Co., Citigroup Global Markets and Deutsche Bank Securities, the filing shows.
Permira has made a binding offer to acquire Genesys, an expert in contact center technology software, from Alcatel-Lucent in a transaction valued at $1.5 billion. Technology Crossover Ventures and certain co-investors of the Permira funds will also participate in the transaction.
The Blackstone Group and ACM Projektentwicklung have agreed a strategic partnership whereby investment funds advised by Blackstone will acquire, indirectly through a holding company, a 44% minority stake in Leica Camera to support Leica’s international growth plans.
Macquarie Group and Indian lender State Bank of India are drawing up plans to raise $1 billion to $1.5 billion for their second fund to invest in infrastructure assets and companies in India, Reuters wrote.
Barclays PLC's investment banking has said it is making a private placement of 30.62 million shares, or 6.84 percent of Spain-based travel and tourism firm Amadeus IT Holding with a group of qualified investors, reports Reuters.
Research report hints at the end of the boom in the nascent bio-based chemicals industry, which has received $3.1 billion in venture funding over the past seven years.
Pan-Asia buyouts fund Affinity Equity Partners has acquired a majority stake in Australian meat products firm Primo Smallgoods in a deal that values the company at A$740 million ($758 million), Reuters reports. Affinity will take 70 percent of the firm, with the Lederer family that founded Primo retaining 30 percent, said Reuters.
Sprott Resource Corp said on Tuesday it was exploring a sale of Waseca Energy Inc, a 81 percent owned oil subsidiary that has tripled the value of its oil and gas properties since the end of 2010, Reuters reports.
Third Rock Ventures has launched SAGE Therapeutics with a $35 million Series A financing. SAGE's efforts focus on advancing a pipeline of new, critically needed treatments for some of the most disabling central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, pain and traumatic brain injury (TBI).