The California Public Employees' System (CalPERS) has made a $500 million commitment to the KKR 2006 Fund, which is expected to close on $15.5 billion. www.calpers.com
Zvents Inc., a San Mateo, Calif.-based social networking company focused on local events, has raised $7 million in first-round funding, according to VentureBeat. VantagePoint Venture Partners led the deal, and was joined by Red Rock Ventures and NetService Ventures. www.zvents.com
Redwood Capital Group has made the following promotions: Robert Dressler to Partner; David Freeland to Vice President; and Janny Lee to Vice President. Redwood is a New York-based I-bank focused on the tech, communications and media industries. www.redcapgroup.com
Dilithium Networks, a Petaluma, Calif.-based provider of converged video solutions for the broadband and wireless markets, has secured $16.77 million of a $25 million Series D round, according to a regulatory filing. Shareholders include U.S. Venture Partners, Motorola Ventures, Deutsche Bank Capital and CM Capital. www.dilithiumnetworks.com
InfoTech Pacific Ventures has closed on $57 million of a $100 million-targeted fund, according to a regulatory filing. The fund is domiciled in Palo Alto, Calif., but operates out of Beijing. Limited partners include Procific and Citgo. www.infovc.com
BinOptics Corp., an Ithaca, N.Y.-based provider of integrated micro-photonic chips for datacom, telecom and optical storage applications, has secured $1.6 million of a $6 million Series C round, according to a regulatory filing. Backers include Draper Fisher Jurvetson, FA Technology Ventures, ArrowPath Capital and ZAD Global Fund. www.binoptics.com
Charles Banks, former CEO of plumbing and heating products company Wolseley PLC (NYSE: WOS) has joined Clayton, Dubilier & Rice as a New York-based partner. www.cdr-inc.com
MediaWhiz, a provider of performance-based online marketing services, has acquired Cincinnati-based Text Link Ads. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal , which was partially financed by existing MediaWhiz investor Lake Capital. www.mediawhiz.com
Aozora Bank, a Japanese lender majority-owned by Cerberus, raised approximately $3.2 billion via an IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The offering priced at 570 Yen-per-share, which was the low end of its 550-610 Yen-per share offering range. www.aozorabank.co.jp/english/
Access 360 Media (f.k.a. Access Retail Entertainment), a Culver City, Calif.