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Valuations of VC-backed firms falls to two-year low but slowdown may be easing
31/08/2001. Valuations of US venture-backed companies fell to a two-year low in the second quarter but the rate of decline has slowed from the previous two quarters, according to the latest report from VentureOne.
Webmergers says worst may be over for internet shutdowns but still more to come
31/08/2001. The worst of the internet meltdown may now be over but there are still plenty more online businesses that are unlikely to make it to the end of the year, according to the monthly Webmergers report. There were 38 internet closures or bankruptcies in August, compared with 39 in July and an average closer to 60 for most of this year.
Chartered accountants say UK government is failing an enterprise culture
31/08/2001. The government is failing in its ambition to make the UK a world-beating environment in which to set up business and to foster an enterprise culture, according to a new survey from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Bush appoints venture capitalist as US ambassador to EU
31/08/2001. President George Bush has nominated Dutch-born venture capitalist Rockwell Schnabel to become the next US envoy to the European Union with the rank of ambassador.
Sweden's Novestra suffers from 'unfavorable market conditions'
29/08/2001. Swedish private equity firm Novestra has announced a SEK214.8m (E23m) loss in the year to the end of June.
Castle Private Equity sees 5.9 per cent fall in NAV
29/08/2001. Swiss firm Castle Private Equity has announced a 5.9 per cent fall in its net asset value in the latest quarter compared with the previous quarter but says the well diversified nature of its portfolio should enable it to withstand much further damage from the current market conditions.
J Sainsbury pension fund looking at first move into private equity
28/08/2001. J Sainsbury Pension Schemes, the £2.7bn fund for the grocery giant's employees, is looking at investing in alternative assets for the first time.
Bank of Scotland to increase investment in private equity
28/08/2001. Bank of Scotland plans to increase its private equity investment following its merger with Halifax as a strategic effort to reinforce its position in the middle market.
Sweden's Ratos announces 'positive' results
28/08/2001. Swedish private equity group Ratos has unveiled a set of 'positive' results for the first half of this year despite difficult market conditions.
Deloitte survey shows UK VC gloom deepening
28/08/2001. UK venture capitalists have descended ever deeper into the gloom in recent months and see little prospect of improvement in the near future, according to the latest Deloitte & Touche Private Equity Confidence Survey (PECS).
Accenture Technology Ventures joins E200m e-millennium fund
24/08/2001. Accenture Technology Ventures, the VC unit of consultancy firm Accenture, has joined the ranks of other European blue chips in backing the E200m e-millennium 1 fund.
Surrey county council pension fund eyes more private equity
23/08/2001. Surrey county council has become the latest UK local authority to explore increasing its pension fund's private equity exposure.
Goldman Sachs closes secondaries fund with $1bn
23/08/2001. US banking giant Goldman Sachs is reported to have closed its new secondaries fund with around $1 billion, more than double the size of its previous fund.
Beeson Gregory writes £8.3m off private equity portfolio
22/08/2001. London-based investment bank Beeson Gregory has written off £8.3m from its private equity portfolio as part of what it described as ‘respectable' results in the light of current market conditions.
NVCA president dismisses talk of VC depression
22/08/2001. Mark Heesen, the president of the National Venture Capital Association in the US, has lashed out at purveyors of VC gloom and presented an upbeat assessment of the industry – in spite of its obvious circumstantial difficulties.
Calpers commits another $385m to private equity
22/08/2001. Calpers, the giant Californian public pension fund, is to invest another $385m in private equity despite the sector's poor returns over the past year, according to internal documents.
WestAM announces first close of its fund of funds
21/08/2001. WestAM, the asset management division of German bank WestLB, has announced the first closing of its global Coreplus fund of funds with more than $180m in commitments.
Dutch NPM Capital sees 41 per cent profit rise
20/08/2001. Dutch private equity firm NPM Capital has bucked the trend for dismal results with the announcement of a 41 per cent rise in post-tax profits in the first half of the year.
Calpers hit by disappointing private equity returns
20/08/2001. Calpers, the giant Californian public employees' pension fund, took a hit from its private equity holdings in the year to the end of June but said the diversified nature of its portfolio helped to contain the damage.
Nordic CapMan Group announces decent results, predicts ‘interesting opportunities'
20/08/2001. Nordic private equity group CapMan has unveiled a decent set of results for the first half of the year and has predicted promising opportunities for investment will increase in the current market environment.
ABN Amro reports ‘satisfactory' private equity performance
17/08/2001. Dutch banking giant ABN Amro has reported ‘satisfactory' results in its private equity business, escaping the embarrassment inflicted on some of its peers by the collapse of technology markets.
Internet economy hits new low with closure of The Industry Standard
17/08/2001. The Industry Standard, one of most striking media successes of the internet economy, has suspended production, laid off most of its staff and put itself up for sale, signalling the end of one of the more remarkable episodes of the boom times of the late 1990s.
Atlas Venture appoints Badavas as new chief operating officer
16/08/2001. Robert Badavas has been appointed as the new chief operating officer at IT and life science specialists Atlas Venture.
Private Equity Holding and Vontobel end dispute
16/08/2001. Swiss funds Private Equity Holding and 5E Holding have finally put their differences with former manager Vontobel Group behind them.
Mercury Grosvenor Trust announces weaker results for first half
15/08/2001. Mercury Grosvenor Trust, the venture trust managed by the former Mercury unit Hg Capital, has announced a fall in earnings per share in the first half of this year to 6.9 pence from 11.4 pence in the first half of last year.
Baring announces first close of new Asia fund
15/08/2001. Baring Private Equity Partners Asia has announced the first closing of its new fund to invest in Asian technology firms with commitments of $206m, just over halfway to its $400m goal.
UBS Capital unveils pre-tax losses of CHF351m
14/08/2001. UBS Capital, the private equity arm of the giant Swiss bank, has unveiled pre-tax losses of CHF 351m, compared with losses of CHF 282m in the first quarter.
Polaris Venture Partners close fourth fund at $900m
14/08/2001. US fund Polaris Venture Partners has announced the closing of its fourth fund at $900m, proving that funds with solid track records can still find money.
US VC investment tumbles in Q2 but rate of decline slowing
14/08/2001. Equity investment in venture-backed companies plunged 21 per cent to $8.2bn in the second quarter compared with $10.4bn in the first, according to the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers Moneytree survey.
Merrill Lynch cancels private equity conference as part of cost-cutting
13/08/2001. US banking giant Merrill Lynch has cancelled its prestigious private equity conference and informed prospective attendees it will be rescheduled some time in the first half of next year, according to the Financial Times.
Morgan Grenfell Private Equity edges closer to closedown
13/08/2001. The troubled Morgan Grenfell Private Equity group looks set to be folded into Deutsche Bank Capital Partners instead of being set free for its longed for buy out, according to the Financial Times. Deutsche is understood to have knocked back proposals to press ahead with the buy out.
Initial closing for Miramar IT fund
10/08/2001. California-based Miramar has overcome a difficult fund raising market and announced an initial close of its debut information technology fund at $62m.
US buy-out giant Hicks Muse announces shake up and retreats from Latin America
09/08/2001. US buy-out giant Hicks Muse Tate and Furst has alerted investors to a major personnel shake-up and a partial retreat from Latin America. The firm plans to downgrade its Buenos Aires and New York operations, with the loss of one-time heavy-hitter Michael Levitt, and to strengthen the Dallas and London offices.
Savage Holdings to manage OPIC's $350m Africa fund
09/08/2001. The US government's overseas investment agency (OPIC) finally looks set to realise its long-held ambition for a sub-Saharan African infrastructure fund with the appointment of Savage Holdings to lead a consortium managing the $350m project.
Lloyds TSB Development Capital strengthens Midlands team
08/08/2001. Lloyds TSB Development Capital has strengthened its new business team in the Midlands with the appointment of Andy Lydon in the Birmingham office.
Lattman named new president of Switzerland's VC association
07/08/2001. Massimo Lattman, a general partner of Zurich-based Venture Partners, has been named as the new president of the Swiss Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (SECA), according to Swiss VC newsletter Venturix.
Morgenthaler closes seventh fund on $850m
07/08/2001. US venture capital and buy-out specialist Morgenthaler has announced the closing of its seventh fund at $850m, some way ahead of its original target of $700m.
US VC fund raising activity plunges in second quarter
07/08/2001. US second quarter venture capital fund raising plunged 42 per cent on the previous quarter and 68 per cent on the same period a year earlier, according to the latest figures from Venture Economics and the US National Venture Capital Association (NVCA).
Israeli private equity investments slump in Q2
06/08/2001. Investment in privately held start-up companies fell by 30 per cent in Q2 according to a report out yesterday by IVC Research Centre in Tel Aviv. $513m was invested in 137 Israeli start-ups during Q2, compared to $641m in 155 companies in Q1 this year.
Duke Street hires debt expert
03/08/2001. Duke Street has bolstered its newly formed debt management arm with the appointment of Leona Campbell as associate director.
Dot.com death rate drops to slowest for months
02/08/2001. The remorseless obliteration of dot.com companies slowed significantly in July to suggest that the worst may now be over for the shattered sector, according to the latest report from Webmergers.
JP Morgan cuts back Neuer Markt team
02/08/2001. US banking giant JP Morgan has responded to the crumbling conditions on Germany's once-stellar Neuer Markt by cutting back its equity capital markets team, according to Financial News.
Israeli Q2 VC-backed high-tech investments drop
02/08/2001. Venture capital investments in high-tech Israeli businesses fell 12 per cent in the second quarter, lending credence to the warnings last month from the industry that there may be troubles ahead.
Aberdeen Development Capital announces strong results
02/08/2001. Aberdeen Development Capital, the private equity investment trust, has provided a glimmer of light amid the more general gloom with a bright set of results.
US VC Q2 investments fall 12 per cent on quarter, 61 per cent on year
01/08/2001. US venture capital investments in the second quarter dropped 12 per cent on the previous period and were a massive 61 per cent lower than at the same time last year, highlighting the scale of the retrenchment going on in the industry at present.
German private equity investment steady in first half of year
01/08/2001. German private equity investments in the first half of the year held steady in the face of a deteriorating economic environment, according to the latest figures provided by the country's venture capital association.
Jerusalem Venture Partners continues US expansion with two new appointments
01/08/2001. Jerusalem Venture Partners has continued its expansion into the US market with two heavyweight appointments.
Deutsche Bank results hit by private equity write-down
01/08/2001. German giant Deutsche Bank suffered a E700m write-down in its private equity and property portfolio in the second quarter, contributing to a disappointing set of interim results.
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