Amanda Janis

DFJ closes debut growth-stage fund on $290m(3)

US venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson has closed its first-ever growth stage tech fund on $290 million, exceeding its $250 million target. The fund is already 25 percent invested in five companies DFJ hopes will become ‘$1 billion’ enterprises.

Report: Korea detains Lone Star chairman

Upon his arrival to testify in a trial regarding portfolio company Korea Exchange Bank, Lone Star chairman John Grayken has reportedly been detained and banned from travel for 10 days.

AEA set for major exit from natural cosmetics firm

The New York buyout firm in 2003 paid an estimated $180 million for an 80 percent stake in Burt’s Bees, a company Clorox has recently agreed to purchase for $925 million.

DFJ continues global expansion(4)

Two weeks after announcing its newly-formed Russian affiliate, Draper Fisher Jurvetson has established an Israel fund in conjunction with Israeli VC firm Tamir Fishman Ventures.

Clear Channel buyout gets green light(4)

Shareholders have approved the $27.5 billion buyout of Clear Channel by Bain and TH Lee, nine months after the consortium’s first bid was accepted.

Bain sells Dutch paint company for €2.2bn(3)

A US conglomerate will buy Bain Capital portfolio company SigmaKalon in a €2.2 billion transaction. The US buyout firm is believed to have paid roughly €1 billion for the Dutch paint company in 2003.

Helix nabs Rivett from Credit Suisse(4)

Helix Associates, the private equity placement agent division of Jefferies Investment Bank, has hired the former co-head of Credit Suisse’s Private Fund Group, Robert Rivett, as well as Stephen Gray, former managing director at corporate advisory firm Henniker River Advisors.

WSIB increases PE allocation by 8%

The Washington State Investment Board has said private equity outperforms ‘traditional investments’ and upped its allocation target for the asset class to 25 percent. The US pension also created a 5 percent allocation for ‘tangible assets’, which include infrastructure investments.

Merrill to buy C$475m BCE stake(2)

Five weeks after shareholders approved the C$49 billion BCE buyout, the largest proposed LBO to date, Teachers, Providence and Madison Dearborn have agreed to sell a C$475 million stake in the Canadian telecom to Merrill Lynch.

Senators begin inquiry into PE-owned nursing homes(3)

Chuck Grassley and Max Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee members considering carried interest taxation and tax on publicly traded financial partnerships, are investigating patient care at private equity-owned nursing homes.