San Francisco-based Health Evolution Partners, a manager of health care investment funds, has formed a life science team for its Health Evolution Partners Growth Fund. The team–comprised of Ned Brown, Avinash Kenkare and Joshua Saipe–will focus on investments in commercial-stage life sciences companies. Brown was previously a managing director at TPG Biotech. Kenkare previously focused on healthcare buyouts as a principal at the Carlyle Group and at Avista Capital Partners. Saipe previously worked at RoundTable Healthcare Partners.
3 min read · 07 April 2011
The National Venture Capital Association has elected Paul Maeder, a co-founder and general partner of Highland Capital Partners, chairman of its board of directors for 2011-2012. Paul Maeder was preceded by Kate Mitchell, managing general partner of Scale Venture Partners. The NVCA also announced that the chairman-elect for 2012-2013 term is Ray Rothrock, general partner of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Venrock. NVCA also added six new members to four-year terms on its board: Jon Callaghan of True Ventures; David Douglass of Delphi Ventures; Bob Goodman of Bessemer Venture Partners; Ray Leach of JumpStart Inc.; Jonathan Leff of Warburg Pincus; and David Lincoln of Element Partners.
5 min read · 07 April 2011
Publicly traded online retailer Bluefly Inc. has added Andrew Russell as an independent board member. Russell is a partner at the Pilot Group, a middle-market private equity firm focused on consumer products, services and digital media. Founded in 1998, Bluefly is based in New York City.
4 min read · 07 April 2011
Advantage Partners, TPG and J-Will Partners are among the suitors planning to bid on Japanese sweetener maker Hayashibara, Reuters reported. A deal for Hayashibara, which manufactures the sweetener trehalose, could reach as high as 40 billion yen ($467 million), Reuters said. Hayashibara failed earlier this year, owing 130 billion yen in debt. The first round of bidding will close April 12, and other potential bidders include Mitsubishi Corp. and Toyota Tsusho Corp.
2 min read · 07 April 2011
Smithfield Foods, the largest shareholder of Spanish food group Campofrio, is mulling a bid for all the shares it does not already own, Reuters reported. Together, Smithfield and Campofrio chairman Pedro Ballve control just under 50% of the company, Reuters said. Campofrio's other core shareholders include Los Angeles-based private equity firm Oaktree Capital, which owns about 24%.
1 min read · 06 April 2011
European middle-market buyout shop Astorg Partners has closed its latest fund, Astorg V, with 1.05 billion euro ($1.5 billion). The fund closed roughly 30% above its original 800 million euro target. Forty four limited partners invested in the fund, including 25 who are new to Astorg. The firm did not disclose the names of investors, but said that LPs incude pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds. Astorg Partners is based in Paris.
2 min read · 06 April 2011
The Houston Technology Future Fund is planning to raise $100 million for investments in early-stage technology companies in Texas. The firm will focus on aerospace, energy, information technology, life sciences, and nanotechnology sectors. The fund will work in concert with the Houston Technology Center, a special limited partner, the firm said in a statement.
2 min read · 06 April 2011
Private equity consortium Vine Capital will recapitalize Nigeria's Afribank, Reuters reported. Vine Capital includes a consortium of local and international firms. No terms of the deal were released, Reuters reported, adding that the deal must obtain shareholder and regulatory approval. Afribank, one of Nigeria’s oldest banks, has a market value of roughly $165 million.
2 min read · 06 April 2011
Clairvue Capital Partners and Castle Hill Housing Partners have closed a $20 million recapitalization of an 8,500 unit housing portfolio owned by entities controlled by Gregory Perlman and his PK Management Company. Castle Hill is a New York and Los Angeles-based real estate investment manager. Clairvue is currently investing out of Clairvue Capital Partners I, a fund with capital provided by Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s Private Equity Group.
3 min read · 06 April 2011
Dish Network Corp. won Blockbuster Inc. in a bankruptcy auction for about $320 million, trumping at least three other bidders including activist investor Carl Icahn, Reuters reported. Dish Network said in a statement that it expects to pay about $228 million in cash on the deal. Dallas-based Blockbuster was once the world’s largest video chain, with a market cap of more than $5 billion at its peak in 2002, but came under pressure from mail-order and digital competitors such as Netflix Inc.
2 min read · 06 April 2011
