Firms and Funds

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wachovia Corp has begun early merger talks with several suitors, according to published reports, all of which spurned Washington Mutual Inc prior to that lender’s seizure by the U.S. government. Wachovia, the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, began preliminary talks with Citigroup Inc, the New York Times said on Friday, citing […]

It’s just about that time for Arlington Capital Partners. The firm is preparing to raise its third buyout fund, according to a source. Arlington hasn’t issued memorandums yet, but the unofficial target is in the ballpark of $700 million to $750 million. Arlington used UBS as its placement agent for prior funds, raising $452 million for its debut and $585 million for the follow-up. This time Arlington will use Credit Suisse, since its main man at UBS, Mark Bourgeois, departed for Lehman Brothers in March. Obviously the future of Lehman’s placement agent business is in flux, so Arsenal turned to CSFB.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The plan to sell Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc’s investment-management unit has been delayed due to wrangling over how to run the business and pay fund managers, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the talks. A Lehman spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Lehman, now bankrupt, wanted to announce […]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), one of the few publicly traded U.S. alternative asset managers, said on Thursday it will not pay a third-quarter dividend, citing a need to preserve capital. The New York-based manager of private equity and hedge funds joins other financial companies to […]

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Quadrangle Group LLC, a private equity and investment firm specializing in the media and communications sector, said on Thursday it had opened a Hong Kong office to help it do more business in Asia. Quadrangle, which has more than $6 billion of assets under management, said the Hong Kong office will […]

By Myles Neligan LONDON (Reuters) – British private equity group 3i Group Plc (III.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reduced new investments by nearly 40 percent in the first five months of its financial year in response to tougher credit and equity market conditions. In a statement on Thursday, 3i said it invested a total […]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Merger talks between Morgan Stanley (MS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and regional bank Wachovia Corp (WB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) have ended as Morgan focuses on a partnership with Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday. Morgan […]