Brad Meikle

Societe Generale, which has established itself as a force to be reckoned with in the senior debt market in recent years, is now entering the European buyout market as an equity player, with aims to establish itself in the top rank of European buyout houses. The bank has made a global private equity allocation of […]

Phenomenal sums continue to pour in to European buyout funds. BC Partners’ sixth and largest fund closed in October on ecu 1 billion. It took the group, which tends to keep a lower profile than some of its peers in the major buyouts market, less than six months to raise BC European Capital VI (BCEP […]

HSBC Private Equity has secured its membership of the “billion-dollar-plus” club of European private equity players following an enlarged allocation from its parent bank and a “significant” commitment from an unnamed major US corporate pension fund. The US pension’s commitment boosted the HSBC Private Equity Partnership Scheme, a co-investment pool initiated in 1994, to GBP700 […]

The recent blossoming of the German private equity market over the last 18 months has prompted numerous UK groups to establish a direct presence there. Most of these groups are players at the larger end of the buyout market. By contrast, Granville Private Equity Managers, which has just announced the opening of Granville Private Equity […]

France is the one major European market where Advent International had neither a wholly-owned office or a local affiliate. Now, in response to an increase in investment opportunities in France, the firm has opened a Paris office and recruited Eric Adjoubel to head its French operation. Massimo Prelz, managing director of Advent International’s Continental European […]

ACT Venture Capital, Ireland’s largest and most successful private equity house, is preparing to launch an IRGBP 75 million (ecu 98.5 million) 1998 fund, and expects to hold an initial closing on ACT 98 during the first quarter. ACT VC, formed by Niall Carroll and other members of Allied Irish Bank’s venture capital team, raised […]

Excel Partners began fund raising for Excel Capital Partners III in November. The group, newly independent after its founding partners bought out Rothschild’s interest in the management company in early 1997, is targeting $100-120 million (ecu 90-108 million) for later-stage investments in Spanish and Portuguese companies. The existing funds under Excel management, Excel Capital Partners […]

NatWest Equity Partners (NWEP) is preparing its first external LP fund. Although a late entrant to the third-party vehicle market, the firm already manages funds for a number of major portfolio clients, including Rover Group and Shell, as well as the Gartmore funds, which came under NWEP management when its parent bank acquired Gartmore early […]

UK buyout house Candover, which has taken a more cautious approach to expansion into Continental Europe than have many of its peers, has now established a foothold in France. The formation of Chevrillon Philippe Candover (CPC) formalises an existing collaborative relationship between Candover and Chevrillon Philippe, France’s largest independent asset management company. This relationship first […]

In autumn 1997, Deutsche Telekom established a corporate venturing arm which will invest DM100 million (ecu 50 million) of its parent’s money in telematics enterprises over the next three years. T-Telematik Venture Holding (T-Venture) will devote some 60% of its resources to direct investments and 40% to investment in externally managed venture funds. This mixed […]