Gregory Roth

Mill Road Capital, a firm that takes small positions in public companies with an eye toward taking some of them private, has so far raised $272 million for its sophomore fund, Mill Road Capital II LP. That is more than half the fund’s $525 million fundraising target, according to a recent regulatory filing.  

The Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, which oversees $39 billion in assets, has committed a combined $420 million to three firms, including Apollo Global Management, New Mountain Capital and ICV Partners, according to Dave Urbanek, a pension spokesman.

Timothy Walsh, the innovative chief investment officer in charge of New Jersey’s $74 billion in pension assets, announced that he planned to leave for the private sector effective Aug. 30. Walsh is becoming president and chief operating officer of Gaw North America, the U.S.-based affiliate of Gaw Capital Partners, a major Hong-Kong-based real estate fund manager.

The $265 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the largest pension in the United States, approved its largest private equity commitment so far in 2013, pledging $547 million to The Carlyle Group’s newest flagship fund, Carlyle Partners VI LP, according to board meeting materials made public by CalPERS. A CalPERS spokesman declined to comment further.

As part of Preqin’s annual effort to assess the performance of the private equity fund universe, the private equity data provider has produced a “league table” showcasing the firms whose funds consistently outperform their peers. Historically, private equity has demonstrated a stronger correlation between past performance and future results than almost any other asset class, one of the main reasons that competition is so fierce among investors to commit money to managers with consistently strong fund performance. 

In a court case that could add a new risk factor to some deals, the First Circuit Court of Appeals last month ruled in favor of the New England Teamsters and Trucking Industry Pension Fund, which argued that two investment funds managed by Sun Capital Partners were liable for $4.5 million in pension liabilities for Scott Brass Inc, a Sun Capital portfolio company that went bankrupt in 2008.  

The Oregon Investment Council, which manages $80 billion in state funds, has pledged $100 million to Reservoir Capital Group’s debut energy and resources fund, Reservoir Resource Partners LP. The fund plans to invest in energy, natural resources and power generation companies. The firm is seeking to raise $1.5 billion.

ACON Investments, which specializes in Latin American buyouts and companies that aim to capitalize on the growing U.S. Hispanic marketplace, reached a final close on its third flagship fund, ACON Equity Partners III LP, raising $751 million, according to the firm. The new fund, which has been in the market since the fall of 2011, exceeded its original $600 million target.

With a $250 million follow-up commitment from the Oregon Investment Council, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co’s latest flagship fund is within reach of its $8 billion target, a fundraising goal the firm started pursuing nearly two and a half years ago.