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• Liverpool FC handles bid from private equity player 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Liverpool FC has entered talks with the Rhone Group over a £118.5m (€130.1m) deal that would see the US private equity firm take a controlling interest and halve the Premier League football club’s debts, according to reports.

• Apax exits Tommy Hilfiger for $3bn 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK private equity firm Apax Partners has sold US fashion house Tommy Hilfiger to Phillips-Van Heusen for €2.2bn ($3bn). The sale includes €1.92bn in cash and €276m in Phillips-Van Heusen common stock, with the fashion corporation also assuming €100m of Tommy Hilfiger's liabilities.

• PE firms go through to next round of HobbyCraft auction 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Private equity firms are leading the way in the race to acquire UK arts and crafts retailer HobbyCraft, according to reports. UK car parts and bicycle seller Halfords Group had been looking at the company but did not end up submitting a first round bid for the company, leaving private equity to dominate the shortlist of bidders.

• RBS to offload PE fund stakes in secondary market 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Royal Bank of Scotland is in talks to sell interests in private equity funds in the secondary market to rid itself of non-core assets and reduce its balance sheet, according to the Financial Times.

• AIFM could decimate venture and growth funds, EVCA says 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Proposed EU regulations on the private equity industry could devastate venture and growth capital firms, according to industry body the European Venture Capital Association.

• Citadel invests $183m in Egypt river ports 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital has invested EGP1bn ($183m) is three Nile River ports and plans to invest in two more in the country, according to reports.

• OpenGate Capital picks up French Connection’s Nicole Farhi label 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. US private equity firm OpenGate Capital has acquired the Nicole Farhi clothing brand owned by French Connection, as the fashion house moves to close its US stores and restructure.

• KKR, Warner to place break-up bid for EMI 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. US private equity firm KKR is preparing to launch a break-up bid with Warner Music for Terra Firma’s EMI, according to the Sunday Times.

• Genetix raises $35m to deliver gene therapy 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Genetix Pharmaceuticals has completed a $35m series B financing, with new investors Third Rock Ventures and Genzyme Ventures joining TVM Capital, Forbion and Easton Capital.

• Nine Rivers Capital takes $7m stake in Indian agribusiness 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. India-focused private equity firm Nine Rivers Capital has taken a $7m stake in Global AgriSystem Private (GAPL), a New Delhi agribusiness supply chain specialist. The promoters of GAPL also participated in the funding round to strengthen the company’s capital base.

• HgCapital launches £50m share placing to fund investments 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. HgCapital Trust, the listed investor of HgCapital funds, has announced the launch of a £50m (€55m) share placement to raise money for investments. The firm placed the shares at 845 pence (€9.3m) per share.

• KKR leads $235m refinancing of Harden Healthcare as it pursues debt strategy 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. KKR, a private equity firm that typically invests in buy-outs, has led a $235m for refinancing for Harden Healthcare, an umbrella company with five businesses operating in the long-term and hospice care sub-sector, according to Bloomberg.

• TPG sells Asian healthcare stake for $685m 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. US buy-out firm TPG has sold its 23.9 per cent stake in Asian healthcare service provider Parkway Holdings to Indian company Fortis Healthcare for $685m. The sum reportedly represents a three times return on the firm’s initial investment in the Singapore-listed company.

• DFJ Esprit hires senior adviser for Nordic investments 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. European venture capital firm DFJ Esprit has hired Mikko Suonenlahti, who joins the team as a senior adviser, focusing on investments in the B2B and B2C software, medtech, bio-IT and energy efficiency sectors in the Nordic region.

• Carlyle's Willcom gets state fund backing 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. A bankrupt Japanese wireless communications company backed by US private equity firm Carlyle is to be backed by a government-backed turnaround fund, while rival telecoms provider Softbank Corporation and Japanese buy-out firm Advantage Partner are to invest in the company.

• Advent plans to put Poundland up for sale 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Private equity house Advent International has hired advisers to prepare a potential sale of Poundland to a rival buy-out firm or to a competitor discount retail chain, according to the Financial Times.

• Brown, Sarkozy to discuss EU private equity regulation 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy will try to map out a deal over EU fund regulation reforms, with the UK Prime Minister hoping for a compromise on measures which have been branded protectionist, according to the Financial Times.

• Local activity discovery engine LivingSocial raises $25m 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. LivingSocial, a social commerce company behind LivingSocial Deals and  Facebook applications Visual Bookshelf and Pick Your Five, has completed a $25m series B round of venture funding led by US Venture Partners, with Grotech Ventures and Steve Case's Revolution participating.

• Primary wins auction for HSBC's Amtech Group 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. HSBC Private Equity has sold portfolio company Amtech Group to mid-market investor Primary. The £35m (€38.5m) sale takes the form of a management buy-out, with £15m (€16.5m) in senior debt finance provided by Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets Acquisition Finance.

• EMI chief executive to leave 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Elio Leoni-Sceti, chief executive of troubled record label EMI, is to step down at the end of this month. The turnaround specialist was brought in to head the company in July 2008 by private equity owner Terra Firma, and will be replaced by current non-executive chairman Charles Allen.

• Goldman Sachs China chairman quits to launch PE fund 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. One of Goldman Sachs’ most senior dealmakers is stepping down to launch a multi-billion dollar China-focused private equity fund, according to Reuters. Fred Hu, a 13-year veteran of the Wall Street Bank, is to retire as partner next month, but will stay on with the firm in an advisory capacity.

• Battery Ventures hits target with $750m 11 Mar 2010. Source: Assets. Tech-focused venture capita firm Battery Ventures has closed its ninth fund, BV IX, on its $750m target. This brings total committed capital in Battery’s nine funds to nearly $4bn.

• Long-term European private equity performance remains robust 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Short-term horizons for private equity and venture capital performance have registered a slight improvement, while long-term returns enjoyed by investors remain robust, according to data for 2009 compiled by Thomson Reuters in association with EVCA.