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UK and Ireland: September 2001

New exchange for UK private companies, Close Brothers' profits fall and Barclays commit to support regional VC funds...

Altium Capital in bid for independence
Altium Capital is on the hunt for £60m to fund a management buy-out from its German parent just a year after Gold-Zack bought it. Altium was the investment-banking arm of Apax Partners before the sale to Gold-Zack. The firm is said to have been seeking independence for a few months now, but talks have broken down after disagreements on price. Gold-Zack's share price has plummeted by 50 per cent in the last year.
Venturedome 3.9.01

New exchange for private companies
The UK is set to gain a new exchange for business angels to invest in UK private companies. Angel Bourse aims to bring liquidity into regional markets and will focus on companies with a market cap of E20m or less. The new exchange will help fill the gap left as venture capital firms increasingly chase after larger deals. It will provide a secondary markets for private investors. And it should also provide a fillip to the private equity market by presenting it with a new source of dealflow.
Efinancial News 17.9.01

Shore Capital sees 67 per cent drop in profits
London-based Shore Capital has reported a 67 per cent decrease in its pre-tax profits for the first half of the year, compared with the same period last year's net profits. Pre-tax profits to this June were £2.62m, down from net profits to June last year of £8m. However, the firm said it was happy with its balance sheet performance and its relative market position. The firm is still investing its Puma II fund, which, since it started investing in September 1999, has seen its net asset value increase by 13 per cent. Shore Capital's Puma I fund was fully liquidated in 2000 and gave an annual rate of return of 75 per cent over its four-year life.
Efinancial News 17.9.01

Barclays contributes £66m to regional VC funds
Barclays Bank has become the first UK high street bank to announce support for the government's Regional Venture Capital Funds by making available £66m for the initiative. RVCFs are aimed at helping small companies.  have difficulty attracting investment because they are looking for sums below the usual venture capital £1m  threshold. Typical investments will be in the range of £100,000 to £250,000.
AltAssets 26.9.01

Schroder Ventures trust suffers heavy losses
Schroder Ventures International Investment Trust lost £44.2m in net assets over the last 12 months. At the end of June this year, the assets of the private equity investment trust had dropped to £416.9m. The trust has suffered because of few opportunities to exit investments. Public markets have been sluggish and with 76 per cent of investments held for less than three years, chances to sell or float companies have been minimal.
AltAssets 5.9.01

Duke Street CDO beats investment targets
Duke Street Capital announced this month that its first collateralised debt obligation fund is beating its investment targets. The fund, launched in March, was priced at E750m in June. It has already invested E500m, with a focus on senior and mezzanine loans in the leveraged finance market.
AltAssets 3.9.01

West Yorkshire Pension Fund commits £78m to private equity
West Yorkshire Pension Fund has now committed £78m to private equity for the year 2001-2002. The fund has appointed five new investment managers - Goldman Sachs Private Equity, HarborVest Partners, Schroder Ventures, Barclays Capital and JP Morgan Partners. The fund is investing in funds of funds and direct funds. This set is part of the pension fund's strategy to increase its private equity allocation from 0.5 per cent to two per cent.
PrivateEquityOnline.com 14.9.01

Difficult conditions for Interregnum
Interregnum, the venture capital investment and advisory firm, has reported difficult market conditions but has made some progress this year. Despite a slump in profits to £16,000 from £145,000 last year, company chairman Ken Olisa said he was pleased that turnover had increased by two per cent, while the value of its investments rose by 27 per cent to £14.5m.
Efinancial News 18.9.01

Candover up 1.2 per cent
Large buy-out fund Candover Investments has seen an increase of 1.2 per cent in net assets per share this year to the end of June. Many listed private equity vehicles have reported losses in net asset value including Schroder Ventures and 3i, which suffered because of poor performing technology investments. Candover's focus on the buy-out sector may have helped to avert such losses.
AltAssets 10.9.01

Internet Incubator becomes Avanti Partners
Internet Incubator has changed its name to Avanti Partners. Odyssey Partners, the independent corporate finance house, has been incorporated into the company. The firm wanted a name that was ‘less direct about what we do and didn't lead people to have preconceptions.' The addition of Odyssey partners to the firm means that the firm now has an equal focus on corporate finance and venture capital.
EVCJ 7.9.01

First profit fall for 26 years for Close Brothers
Close Brothers, the UK bank, has announced the first fall in its profits for 26 years but has said that its private equity funds had performed well over the last year. Operating profit slipped to £94.2m in the year to July 31 from £155.1m in the previous year. The bank blamed a slowdown in market-making activity, which was a reflection of the current turbulent equity markets.
AltAssets 24.9.01

Schroders launches E300m fund of funds
Schroders has launched an E300m private equity fund of funds to take advantage of the growing interest in this asset class among institutional investors. The fund is planning to invest in at least 20 partnerships and will be listed on the Dublin Stock Exchange.
AltAssets 24.9.01