Steve Gelsi

Merchant bank Kirchner Group and Crestline Investors Inc., a hedge fund secondary buyer with $7.3 billion under management, are teaming up to launch a joint venture aimed at taking over management of so-called zombie funds from their original private equity sponsors.

Ridgewood Energy, a 31-year-old investment firm with holdings in the Gulf of Mexico, has attracted $450 million of commitments for its Ridgewood Energy Oil & Gas Fund II LP as it moves to hit a $750 million fundraising target.

More mergers and acquisitions under $500 million are being pursued by companies in 2013 as low interest rates and a desire to seek out growth lure dealmakers, but major tie-ups remain less frequent than expected, analysts at Ernst & Young said.

Miami-based entrepreneur Manuel “Manny” Medina of Medina Capital has lined up an estimated $50 million from family and friends as part of an effort to raise $250 million for his first private equity fund, a source told Buyouts. It has been two years since he sold his information technology company Terremark Worldwide to Verizon Communications Inc. in a deal valued at $2 billion.

Trilantic Capital Partners has added Greenhill & Co. as placement agent to help get to the finish line on its fifth fund, which has a $2 billion target. The firm is believed to have until July to wrap things up.

Higher sale prices for portfolio companies, fundraising success and favorable credit markets willing to support dividend recaps combined to lift the fortunes of the five publicly-traded buyout shops in the first quarter.

Permira, the U.K.-based private equity shop with a big presence on both sides of the Atlantic, has raised $579 million from U.S. limited partners as part of a toned-down goal for Permira V LP, its first core buyout fund since 2006, according to a filing with regulators.

Oaktree Capital Group LLC  said it is having little trouble raising billions for the investment firm’s real estate and emerging market and debt funds, but it is holding off on deploying capital in its distressed debt Oaktree Opportunities Fund IX LP.

Apollo Global Management LLC President Marc Spilker said the marquee private equity firm sees opportunities in natural resources and Europe as he signaled progress on fundraising for its flagship Apollo Fund VIII.