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Continental Europe: July 2001

Total funds raised in Europe sets new record, Eiger Capital launches technology fund of funds, Kodak establishes venture arm, Battery Ventures abandons European office plans, UBS postpones private equity spin-off…

Austrian-Israeli partnership announced
Austrian investment bank, European Privatization and Investment Corp, and Israeli investment bank, Shrem Fudim Kelner announced they are to raise $150-200m for a fund targeting investments in central and eastern Europe.
PrivateEquityOnline 18.7.01

Europe sets new record in second quarter for VC funds raised
A string of mega-funds helped push up the total value of private equity raised in the second quarter of this year to a record in Europe, according to a report by Initiative Europe. The industry pulled in E17.7bn in the second quarter, a 58 per cent jump on the previous quarter and well above the figure for the same period last year. But despite the flow of money into funds, the report said the value of deals dropped five per cent to E23.1bn compared with the first quarter and even more dramatically from the heady days in the second half of 2000. The number of deals fell to 285 from 449 in the first quarter, although the average size was significantly higher.
AltAssets 9.7.01

Seven investments sold by PEH
Private Equity Holding sold seven of its investments from its portfolio for a consideration of €161m to an unnamed buyer. This was announced on the same day PEH officially became part of Swiss Life Private Equity Partners.
PrivateEquityOnline 18.7.01

Prospects bright for European private equity
European governments have undergone a sea change in their attitudes to private equity and have in recent years embarked on an irreversible course to promote investment in the asset class, according to proprietary research from AltAssets. European private equity: the positive impact of legislation argues that substantial progress has been made over the course of the last few years at both a pan-European and local level to liberalise the environment fo2 venture capital firms and investors in private equity.
AltAssets 19.7.01

Belgian FLV Fund absolves itself after Korea scandal, but CEO steps down
Belgian FLV Fund absolved its management of blame after an internal inquiry into the embezzlement of $30m from its Korea fund but announced the resignation of the fund's chief executive and the managing director of FLV Management, Philip Vermeulen.The internal audit committee's report said that there was no sign that any employees of FLV were guilty of wrongdoing or implicated in the embezzlement. Instead, it said the fund had been victim to a fraud and planned to pursue legal action against the perpetrators.
AltAssets 19.7.01

Eiger Capital launched in Luxembourg as manager of tech fund of funds
A new private equity management firm, Eiger Capital, launched in Luxembourg with the aim of specialising in technology fund of funds. It is a joint venture between its management and Financière Natexis Banques Populaires. The company plans to launch its first fund later this year with a target of about E200m, of which E40m will come from Natexis.
AltAssets 19.7.01

Israeli VCs warn sector is contracting and call for government tax breaks
Israeli venture capitalists have warned that their once-irrepressible industry is showing serious signs of contracting and have called on the government to introduce tax breaks to reinvigorate the flow of foreign funds into the country. Etan Hillman, general manager of the Israel Venture Association (IVA), said that firms were being squeezed from all sides - the collapse of technology markets, the global economic slowdown, and local conditions such as the breakdown of the region's peace process.
AltAssets 25.7.01

Nokia Venture Partners to expand Israeli investments
Nokia Venture Partners is expanding its investment activities to Israel. According to partner John Gardner, Israeli technology matches well with Nokia Venture Partners' investment activities with its emphasis on networking and mobile technologies.
Venturewire 23.7.01

Tough exit market hits Germany's oldest private equity player
Deutsche Beteiligungs, Germany's oldest private equity firm, said that this year's profits would be well below expectations because of a dearth of exit opportunities. Its figures show a loss for the first six months of the year (up to 30 April) of E1.7m.
AltAssets 4.7.01

Kodak announces €115m corporate venturing fund
Kodak announced that it had €115m to spend through its corporate venturing arm Kodak Venture Group. It will focus on companies that further the development of Kodak's products.
eFinancial News 23.7.01

Leman Capital expands ahead of new fund raising
Swiss-based buy-out specialist Leman Capital is readying itself to raise a new E400m pan-European fund by boosting its headcount. It has taken on four new staff before starting to put together the successor to the $155m BVP Europe Fund. The new personnel are Olivier Chantre from Bank UBS, Roderick B. Egli, previously at CSFB and Bankers trust, Jeremy Howart from PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Ralph-Oliver Hefti from Boston Consulting Group.
AltAssets 23.7.01

Israeli VC firm changes name to avoid confusion
Israeli firm Polaris Venture Capital changed its name to Pitango to avoid being confused with the US-based Polaris Venture Partners. Pitango currently manages several venture funds with more than $700m in committed capital.
AltAssets 11.7.01

Bertelsmann venture unit gears up
Bertelsmann Capital Ventures made its second investment with a second-round funding of Munich- based company PublishersMarket. Bertelsmann will take a seat on the company's board.  Bertelsmann is expected to spend a further $7-10m in another two or three deals.
Venturewire 24.7.01

UBS postpones private equity arm spin-off, loses chief executive
Swiss banking giant UBS postponed plans to spin off its private equity business, UBS Capital, because of the weak state of financial markets. The decision prompted the departure of UBS Capital's chief executive Pierre de Weck, who left 'by mutual consent' at the end of the month to 'pursue other interests'. The private equity group, valued at around $3.2bn, will now continue to form part of the UBS Warburg business group under chairman and CEO Markus Granziol.
AltAssets 11.7.01

Battery Ventures put off move to Europe
Slumping markets in the US have caused Boston based Battery Ventures to rethink its plans to open a European office. Battery Ventures is still looking to Europe, however, to find investment partners to source deals.
Venturewire 13.7.01

German VC Knorr Capital unveils ‘impressive' half-year results
German venture capital firm Knorr Capital Partner described its half-year results as ‘impressive' despite a 35 per cent fall in earnings per share. The firm expressed satisfaction with the outturn 'given the fact that the entire venture capital market is undergoing a necessary consolidation phase' and said it was confident about the prospects for the rest of the year.
AltAssets 25.7.01

Private Equity Holding blames venture funds for first quarter loss 
Swiss investment firm Private Equity Holding reported a CHF28.7m loss in the first quarter of the financial year and blames its venture portfolio. It has also warned that there is little prospect of improvement over the next couple of quarters.
AltAssets 30.7.01