Firms and Funds

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Swedish activist investor Cevian Capital is not pushing reinsurer Munich Re (MUVGn.DE) to sell its ERGO (ERGG.DE) insurance business, Cevian founding partner Lars Forberg said in a newspaper interview. “It’s good that I can make it clear: a split-off of ERGO is currently not an issue. We are not talking about it,” […]

Hermes Focus Asset Management, the public equities investment arm of the UK-based fund manager, is launching a new “cross over” fund and looking to hire two senior professionals with experience in private equity transactions. According to a job ad posted today, HFAM has converted its activist investing operatings into a limited liability partnership and is […]

(Reuters) UK insurer Prudential is in advanced talks with two strategic investors to take a 20% stake in the company. The funds raised would help mount an 8.6 billion pound ($14.93 billion) bid for the Asian business of American International Group, the insurance giant bailed out by the U.S. taxpayer, the Sunday Times reported. Prudential […]

Electra Partners, a UK private equity fund with £1bn under management, has invested to acquire a significant interest in Steadfast Capital Fund I. Electra Partners’ investment and commitment to Steadfast Capital Fund I totals €45m and sees Steadfast become Electra’s German investment partner of choice. Electra Partners already has investment partners in France, with TCR […]

In fact, the firm expects to close 10 to 15 deals in the fourth quarter. Christopher Williams, a founding partner at Madison Capital Funding, called to clarify that after I wrote some apparently ambiguous comments on middle market lending pullbacks. So let it be known: Madison Capital has cash to spend. The firm has not narrowed down its deal criteria over the last few weeks, as I had written. The only change, Williams said, is that Madison Capital is pushing for the absolute latest financial performance numbers on companies. "The last thing we want to do is book a company that we haven't

NEW YORK (Reuters) – It was supposed to be the biggest insurance yard sale ever. The problem is, people are looking but not buying. Insurer American International Group Inc’s asset sales are taking longer than hoped as credit for deals is tough to come by and potential buyers wait for bargain prices and sometimes grapple […]

Jefferies Capital Partners is targeting $800 million for its fifth fund, according to LBO Wire. www.jefcap.com

Private Equity Investors Inc. is raising up to $250 million for its fifth secondaries fund, according to a regulatory filing. So far, it has secured over $112 million in capital commitments. www.peifunds.com

Want to induce a snickering fit among private equity pros? Remind them that China Investment Corp. paid $3 billion for a 9.99% stake in The Blackstone Group, prior to Blackstone’s June 2007 IPO. The investment was worth less than $1 billion as of market close yesterday, and is below $900 million in mid-day trading. Proof, […]

The Private Equity Council today released the latest iteration of a long-term academic study on private equity’s role in the financial market. Not surprisingly, it finds that the industry does not pose significant risks to the financial system at large (particularly when contrasted to investment banks). Here are its six main points, with my gut reactions: 1. Efforts to turn around or strengthen undervalued companies represent a very unlikely source of systemic problems in capital markets. I would agree, if only that’s what private equity was doing prior to the credit crunch. Instead, lots of firms (particularly in the large/mega markets) abandoned buy low/sell high strategy for buy high/sell higher. How many times did we see substantial premiums paid for public companies in the midst of a bull market? How many times did we hear: “This is already a market leader” or “This is a very strong company that we feel could be just a bit stronger?” Very few private equity firms were able to follow the sage words of Rudyard Kipling… 2. Private equity losses are unlikely to be of a cascading nature that could trigger a systemic event. This point here is that PE transactions are financed with less debt than are bank investment holdings. And it’s fair, albeit damning with faint