Countrywide shareholders reject 3i’s £978 million take-private bid, leaving the listed buyout firm about £4 million worse off.

Adding to its global pharmaceutical platform, the private equity giant has agreed to buy Ohio-based Pharmaceutical Technologies and Services.

3i has launched a new growth capital team in the US, as it looks to repeat its European success in the competitive mid-market space.

Private equity heavyweights are lining up to compete with trade players for the oilfield assets of Dominion, a US energy group, as the industry continues to target upstream energy assets.

Investcorp, the Bahrain-based alternative investment group, has launched a joint venture with WMG - a long/ short hedge fund focused on Asia.

The Private Equity Foundation, a new initiative designed to help the industry co-ordinate its charitable giving, launched in London last night.

UK firm Electra Private Equity is putting its safety equipment manufacturer up for sale for £500m and is thought to have attracted interest from private equity group Advent International and safety equipment companies Aearo and Norcross Safety.

E-Synergy launched its new ECF fund last night from atop the Tower Bridge, at the same time announcing its first investment in a company with a unique partnership with a Ukrainian university. Dave Keating reports.

Blackstone has looked to strike a knockout blow in the battle for Equity Office, a US real estate business owned by Sam Zell, by increasing its bid to $38.3 billion and ramping up its break fee.

Barclays Private Equity has sold a women’s wear retailer for £51.5m to a consortium led by Kaupthing Principal Investments, which is bringing in a “high profile chief executive officer” to head the business in the coming months.