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Private equity is ‘low risk' for money laundering, says BVCA taskforce
30/11/2001. The task force set up by BVCA chairman Edmund Truell to examine fund raising guidelines will publish its recommendations today, confirming that the private equity industry is a ‘low risk' sector for money laundering. 
US Skyline Ventures closes healthcare fund on $150m
29/11/2001. US-based Skyline Ventures, a specialist in healthcare and life sciences, has closed its third fund on $150m. The firm said Skyline III had raised commitments from 15 institutional investors, including all of those that had invested in its previous funds.
CGNU to increase private equity allocation
29/11/2001. Giant UK life assurance company CGNU is planning to increase its allocation to private equity from the present level of around one per cent. The firm is believed to have been persuaded to up its exposure by the strong performance of its existing private equity investments, managed by its subsidiary Morley Fund Management.
Royal Bank Private Equity continues its expansion
28/11/2001. Royal Bank Private Equity continues to demonstrate its optimism in the UK market with another three new recruits to add to the 15 it has already taken on board over the past year.
Friends Ivory and Sime Private Equity name Kevin Whittle as portfolio director
28/11/2001. Friends Ivory and Sime Private Equity has named Kevin Whittle as a portfolio director within its portfolio management group.
BVCA welcomes UK government's latest enterprise proposals
28/11/2001. The British Venture Capital Association has enthusiastically welcomed the UK government's latest package of measures designed to promote enterprise. It singled out Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's proposals to extend the taper on capital gains tax relief, more generous share options allowances, and bigger tax breaks on research and development.
Israeli start-ups enjoy 24 per cent increase in investment in Q3
27/11/2001. Venture capitalists have increased their investments in Israeli start-ups in the third quarter, reversing the recent trend of retreating from the troubled market, according to the latest figures from VentureOne.
German VC Knorr Capital Partner invests in listed-VC KIMON
27/11/2001. Consolidation in the German private equity industry continues to gather pace. Venture capital firm Knorr Capital Partners has acquired around 45 per cent of listed VC firm KIMON-Beteiligungen to strengthen its life sciences portfolio.
Unilever may set up a standalone venture capital fund
26/11/2001. Consumer goods giant Unilever is reported to be thinking seriously about setting up its own venture capital fund to invest in and develop interesting ideas that do not immediately fit in with its core businesses.
UK VC confidence at lowest ebb on record
26/11/2001. UK venture capitalists are more downbeat than ever about the prospects for their investee companies, deal activity, and the availability of new funds, according to the latest Deloitte & Touche Private Equity Confidence Survey.
Scottish Widows invests in Pentech Ventures
26/11/2001. Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, one of the largest fund managers in Europe, has given a big vote of confidence in the technology sector with the announcement of a £5m commitment to Glasgow-based early-stage venture capital fund Pentech Ventures.
German private equity firmly on course to defy its sceptics
26/11/2001. The German private equity industry is going through a transitional stage that will consign to memory the frustrations of its early evolution and produce a more sustainable and attractive investment market, according to a report just published by AltAssets.
Schroders SVIIT issues £40m convertible bond to raise extra investment cash
23/11/2001. Schroder Ventures International Investment Trust (SVIIT) has raised £40m by issuing convertible bonds through a private placement to expand the firm's capacity to invest in Schroder Venture funds. Most of it will go into the group's life sciences fund.
European corporate venturing still lags well behind US
23/11/2001. European corporate venturing has grown rapidly in recent years but remains a long way behind the US, according to the first ever dedicated report on the subject from the European Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.
BVCA report highlights positive contribution of private equity on UK economy
23/11/2001. Private equity firms make a strongly positive contribution to the UK economy, according to a report produced for the British Venture Capital Association by Bannock Consulting.
New recruit for the Sofinnova IT team
23/11/2001. Paris-based Sofinnova Partners has announced that Jean Schmitt will join the information technology team, taking responsibility for firms in the wireless application developers (WAD) and telecoms sectors.
Quester to launch UK venture capital trust with £25m target
22/11/2001. UK-based venture capital firm Quester is to launch its fifth venture capital trust at the start of December with a target of £25m.
Private equity placement agents go in Merrill Lynch shake-out
22/11/2001. Merrill Lynch's giant restructuring exercise has reportedly reached its private equity placement business, claiming three senior executives and a number of other associates.
Adveq to expand into Germany and names new MD
21/11/2001. Swiss-based fund of funds firm Adveq has appointed a new managing director and announced plans to expand into Germany from the start of next year.
MTS Health Partners has first close of fund at $110m, names new chairman
21/11/2001. MTS Health Partners, a US-based merchant bank specialising in healthcare investments, has announced the first closing of its fund at $110m. It has also named Andrew M. Paul, a former senior partner at Welsh Carson Anderson and Stowe, as chairman.
Lexington holds first close of its latest $2.5bn secondaries fund
20/11/2001. Lexington Partners, the giant US secondaries player, is reported to have held a first closing for its latest fund, Capital Partners V.
Red Herring announces more lay-offs and scales back conferences
20/11/2001. Another of the symbols of the glory days of the dot.com era appears to be struggling for its life. Red Herring, almost the last survivor of the magazines that were launched in the tail-wind of the US VC boom of the late 1990s, is reported to be laying off more than a quarter of its remaining staff and scaling back its conference activities.
European exits emerge from the gloom
20/11/2001. It's not exactly Christmas but the exit picture in Europe has brightened a little in recent days to suggest that there is still life in the private equity firmament.
Final closing and new investors for Jerusalem
19/11/2001. Jerusalem Venture Partners has closed its latest fund at $400m after luring new limited partners in what is arguably a tough fund-raising climate.
Myners to relinquish Gartmore chairmanship
19/11/2001. Paul Myners, author of the government-backed review of institutional investment, is expected to leave his position as executive chairman of Gartmore Investment Management after fifteen years at the top, according to the Financial Times.
Al Gore joins Metropolitan West Financial to focus on private equity strategies
19/11/2001. Al Gore, former US vice-president and failed presidential candidate, has joined LA-based Metropolitan West Financial to develop the firm's private equity strategies in biotechnology and IT.
European biotechs still attracting VC cash but IPO window may be closed for years
19/11/2001. European biotech firms continued to attract a generous slice of private equity funding in the first half of this year despite the deterioration in the investment climate in recent months.
Blackstone reportedly holds first close on latest fund near $4bn
16/11/2001. US private equity firm The Blackstone Group has reportedly defied the fund-raising ice age and held a first closing for its latest fund at $4bn.
Index Ventures names AOL chief technology officer to advisory board
16/11/2001. Index Ventures, the pan-European venture capital firm, has bolstered its advisory board with the appointment of Barry Appelman, the chief technology officer of America Online.
CapMan slow to invest and exit, but upbeat about next year
16/11/2001. In common with many other private equity players, CapMan's latest results show little new investment, plenty of follow-on investment and no exits for the third quarter.
3i appoints Fred Steingraber as non-executive director
15/11/2001. UK-based venture capital firm 3i has appointed its first non-Brit to its board of directors, reflecting its ongoing determination to establish its global credentials. Fred Steingraber, chairman emeritus of AT Kearney, joins with effect from the start of next year.
TVM closes life sciences fund at E336m, ahead of original target
15/11/2001. Techno Venture Management, the German-US venture capital firm, has closed its TVM V Life Sciences Ventures at E336m, well ahead of its original E250m target.
UBS Capital records Q3 loss of CHF112m, restricts direct investments
14/11/2001. UBS Capital, the private equity arm of the Swiss banking giant, has decided on an organized retreat from direct investment after producing another sizeable loss in the third quarter.
UK government prepares to scrap 20-partner rule
14/11/2001. The UK government has taken a step closer to scrapping the cap on the number of partners permitted in limited partnerships by acknowledging the historical ceiling of 20 is redundant.
DB Capital Partners appoints Seikowsky as head of German private equity group
14/11/2001. DB Capital Partners, Deutsche Bank's private equity unit, has appointed Fritz Seikowsky as head of their German business with responsibility for overseeing all its later stage private equity activities in the German-speaking world
Chief Investment Officer Szente resigns from Calpers
14/11/2001. Daniel Szente, the chief investment officer at the giant US public pension fund Calpers, has abruptly resigned from the firm, citing the uncertainty created by an ongoing legal battle over how much the fund can pay its portfolio managers.
Former Alcatel COO joins Morgenthaler as venture partner
13/11/2001. Krish Prabhu, the former chief operating officer of Alcatel, has joined venture and buy-out firm Morgenthaler as a partner with responsibility for identifying, nurturing and helping to guide early stage technology firms.
Record low number of VC-backed firms able to secure second financing in Q3
13/11/2001. A record low number of VC-backed firms managed to secure second round financing in the third quarter, according to figures from VentureOne.
SJ Berwin builds up Paris private equity team
13/11/2001. SJ Berwin has added another lawyer to its private equity and venture capital practice in its recently opened Paris office, further reinforcing the firm's ambition to become the leading deals player in Europe.
Schroder Ventures Europe changes name to Permira
12/11/2001. UK-based private equity firm Schroder Ventures Europe has changed its name to Permira. The word is Latin for ‘very surprising' or ‘very different,' and apparently reflects the group's distinctive approach to the private equity business.
Morgan Grenfell Private Equity finally folded into DB Capital
12/11/2001. Morgan Grenfell Private Equity has at long last been folded into Deutsche Bank Capital after months of unseemly wrangling about the firm's future.
Pricoa warns that buy-out activity will be restricted by access to debt
12/11/2001. European buy-out activity over the next year will be seriously restricted by difficult debt conditions and a reluctance among companies to drop their prices, according to Terence Wong of specialist mezzanine debt provider Pricoa Capital Group.
BVCA's Truell urges private equity firms to support moves for greater transparency
09/11/2001. Edmund Truell, chairman of the British Venture Capital Association, has urged his fellow members to improve the private equity industry's reputation among institutional investors for transparency and clarity.
Israeli high-tech investments down still further
09/11/2001. Investments into Israeli high-tech companies have slumped in the third quarter of this year, showing a 66 per cent drop on the same period in 2000, according to figures just released by venture research house IVC.
Hands and Nomura strike deal
09/11/2001. Following nine months of negotiations, Guy Hands has reached an agreement with his employer Nomura over granting independence to his principal finance group and setting up his own fund.
Ross Goobey attacks the way private equity managers get paid
08/11/2001. Alistair Ross Goobey, chief executive of Hermes Pensions Management, has attacked the giant fees earned by some private equity managers and called for a rethink about the way they reward themselves.
Fall in European early stage investment highlights VC caution
08/11/2001. Early stage venture capital investment in Europe fell 40 per cent in the first 10 months of this year compared with the same period a year ago, according to Tornado research. The uncertainty of the economic climate has bred a mood of caution and made VCs more inclined to invest in later stage investments, the report says.
US venture-backed buy-outs hold steady in Q3
08/11/2001. US venture-backed buy-out activity held steady in the third quarter despite the deteriorating conditions in financial markets and mounting macroeconomic uncertainty, according to the latest research from Venture Economics and the US National Venture Capital Association.
Private equity industry needs league tables, says gatekeeper
08/11/2001. The private equity industry should strive for increased transparency, welcome close scrutiny and provide performance information of good enough quality that fund manager league tables could be compiled, a gatekeeper has said.
Gouldens enhancing market presence
07/11/2001. London-based law firm Gouldens is enhancing its presence in the private equity arena, with new appointments to its private equity division.
Additional commitments for Lincolnshire
07/11/2001. New York-based Lincolnshire Management has finally closed its second fund at $315m, defying the fund raising gloom by re-opening the fund to allow for extra commitments from new limited partners.
Central and Eastern European fund for White Williams
06/11/2001. White Williams Private Equity has announced the launch of a new fund to invest in central and eastern Europe. The European Accession Fund, which has a target size of $250m, will invest in the consumer goods sector in the emerging markets of Poland, the Czech and Slovak republics, Hungary, Slovenia and Baltic countries.
Final closing for Granite Global Ventures
06/11/2001. After a year on the fund raising trail, California-based Granite Global Ventures has announced the final closing of its first time fund at $160m.
GE Equity lays off staff and closes San Francisco office
05/11/2001. The list of casualties is growing. GE Equity has become the latest private equity firm to slash its staff levels in response to the deteriorating investment climate and scale back its operations.
Guy Eastman leaves Hermes for Schroder Ventures
05/11/2001. Guy Eastman is joining Schroders Ventures London to manage the European component of its private equity fund of funds business. He leaves Hermes Investment Management, where he has been managing its European Private Equity Fund.
HSBC prepares to launch private equity fund to invest in Japan
05/11/2001. Banking giant HSBC is preparing to launch a private equity fund to invest in opportunities arising from the massive corporate restructuring that is expected to result from the country's present economic difficulties. The fund will invest around $245 mn (Y30 bn) of HSBC's own capital over the next three years.
Danske closes fundraising for renamed venture fund at 1.5bn kroner
02/11/2001. Danske Private Equity has closed fund-raising for its renamed Venture Partners fund at 1.5bn kroner, including among its investors the European Investment Fund and the US life insurance and investment company Phoenix.
FT/OECD report says Switzerland tops league for innovation and industry potential
02/11/2001. Switzerland shows greater potential for strong industrial performance, innovation and entrepreneurship in the years ahead than anywhere else in the world, according to a league table produced by the Financial Times based on research by the OECD.
US VC investment drops 23 per cent in third quarter
01/11/2001. US venture capital investment slowed again in the third quarter to reinforce the mounting gloom across the sector.
Nomura and Thomas Weisel forge private equity alliance
01/11/2001. Japanese bank Nomura and US firm Thomas Weisel Partners have forged an alliance to co-ordinate on cross-border mergers and acquisitions and private equity investments.
CSFB scales back private equity business
01/11/2001. Credit Suisse First Boston has become the latest private equity player to scale back its personnel and activities in what looks to be an accelerating trend across the industry.
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