Firms and Funds

Vestar Capital Partners is planning to target $4 billion for its sixth buyout fund, according to LBO Wire. Its $3.7 billion fifth fund is 70% invested. www.vestarcapital.com

CIC Partners has formed CIC Advantage Holdings, a new fund focused on growth capital opportunities in the multi-unit restaurant and retail concept spaces. It will be managed by former PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico, former Blockbuster CEO John Antioco and CIC managing partner Mike Rawlings (former Pizza Hut president and current CEO of Legends Hospitality Management).

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), once considered Wall Street’s saviors, may have suffered portfolio losses of as much as 25 percent so far this year due to the global financial crisis, Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note on Friday. Stephen Jen, the firm’s global head of currency research, and Spyros Andreopoulos […]

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Private equity firm Apax Partners will open an office in China by the end of this year, the official China Securities Journal reported on Friday. Apax Partners plans to establish its first China office in Shanghai by the end of this year, followed by Beijing next year, the newspaper said. The move […]

Blackstone Group COO Tony James and CEO Steven Schwarzman delivered the buyout behemoth’s results. Below, a summary of comments from a media call before the official analyst call. Below that, a transcript of Steven Schwarzman's comments. Despite a massive loss, James and crew displayed unflappable positivity on Blackstone’s position while dropping bombs of bearishness on the economy. The loss “reflects declines in values across almost all asset classes,” James said. However, he insisted, “despite a pretty awful market environment, we are still in a strong position.” On Buyout Funds: Returns and Deployment One third of portfolio companies took write-downs this quarter, while two thirds had write-ups or remained flat. There are 40 companies in Blackstone’s current portfolio.

European buyout chiefs will be looking to US policies on taxation and regulation adopted by President-elect Barack Obama when he begins his term of office at the beginning of next year, with a view to how it might impact on European domestic issues. “The danger is that kneejerk support for regulation and a tendency towards protectionism, which has been a feature of the US election, will gain traction internationally regardless of who is elected,” said Simon Walker, chief executive officer of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, shortly before confirmation of Obama’s landslide win was announced. “It would not be right that the private equity industry in the UK, which has adopted a programme of self-regulation, gets swept up in this sentiment and becomes subject to a punitive tax

Need proof that the private equity industry is in a bit of freefall? Just take a look at The Blackstone Group's Q3 financials, which were released earlier this morning. The firm reported a Q3 loss of $502.5 million, compared to a $299.2 million gain in Q3 of last year. This included -$68.3 million for its private equity portfolio, which was mostly attributed to a reduction in the carrying value of its portfolio companies. It also deployed about 35% less limited partner capital. The only bright spot was from the firm's financial advisory practice, which generated

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) notified roughly 3,200 employees this week that they have been laid off, part of previously reported plans to slash 10 percent of the firm’s global work force amid slumping markets, people familiar with the situation said Wednesday. Goldman Sachs declined to […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Private equity firm 3i Group Plc (III.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said first-half revenues from company disposals were down 43 percent as the credit crunch had made it more difficult to sell companies in which it had invested. Realisation proceeds for the group, which owns companies as diverse as lingerie brand […]

GE Capital says it is open for business, despite incessant rumors to the contrary. The mid-market lending group has been labeled as being “on the sidelines” by both competitors and sponsors, but spokesman Stephen White insists that a slowdown doesn’t equal a shutdown. “[We’re] funding less new business than we were in previous quarters and […]