Brad Meikle

Natexis Groupe, the product of last year’s merger between BFCE and Credit National, has completed the rearrangement of the combined group’s private equity investment units. Shareholders in Financiere Saint Dominique, Credit National’s private equity arm, agreed its change of name to Financiere Natexis in December. This new entity comprises a lead unit, Financere Natexis, which […]

BankAmerica, which manages $2.5 billion (ecu 2.3 billion) of private equity commitments through its Global Private Equity division, is strengthening its European presence. Towards the end of last year, BankAmerica Global Private Equity opened a London office, which will operate in tandem with the Warsaw office that was established in the summer of 1996. Managing […]

The Carlyle Group, a prominent US private equity group based in Washington DC, is poised for a determined onslaught on the European market. After establishing offices in London, Paris, Munich and Milan during 1997, it held a $500 million (ecu 460 million) closing in December for Carlyle European Capital Partners, its first European fund. Carlyle […]

Granville Private Equity Funds (GPEF), Granville Private Equity’s international fund management and advisory business, and Hamilton Lane Advisors, the US fund advisory group have confirmed that they have decided not to proceed further with a joint venture which would have given Granville a minority holding in an international advisory business. It was reported in December […]

The proposed terms for Bain Capital’s sixth buyout fund are raising eyebrows among US institutions. Offer documents for Bain Capital Fund VI, which is targeting $700-800 million (ecu 645-740 million) will feature an unprecedented 30% GP carry. Bain will market the main vehicle in conjunction with a $300 million “standby fund”, featuring a conventional 20% […]

If it involves private equity investing in East Asia, Peter Brooke, chairman of Advent International, would rather wait until the dust settles. Advent, an investor in the region since 1983, expects to face limited losses from the ongoing financial crisis in the region, largely because its portfolio companies have almost no external debt, except to […]

In January, Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst finalised an agreement with Cisneros Group of Companies, a Venezuelan international media and telecommunications group, to form a $500 million (ecu 460 million) buyout fund focusing primarily on Latin America. Ibero-American Media Partners, to be based in Miami, will acquire and develop strategic alliances with media concerns in […]

The HSBC Group’s new Asian fund, HSBC Private Equity Fund 2, closed in January on $525 million (ecu 485 million), just over its original half-billion-dollar target. US institutions stumped up three quarters of this total, with the balance spread between Asian, Australian, European and Middle Eastern investors. US participants named by David Conrod, director of […]

In late January, Hambrecht & Quist of the US announced a strategic co-operation agreement with Tamir Fishman & Co, a Tel Aviv based investment banking group. Tamir Fishman will act as H&Q’s exclusive representative in the Israeli technology, biotech, healthcare, consumer and other growth sectors. The two groups are co-sponsoring a recently launched venture which […]

Pantheon International Participationa (PIP), the private equity investment trust managed by Pantheon Ventures, in January announced the acquisition of new secondaries holdings valued at GBP13 million (ecu 20 million). PIP acquired units in one Japanese and one international private equity fund, plus a portfolio of twelve fund holdings with a predominantly European focus from three […]