Ken MacFadyen

American Capital Strategies has brought on board Les Brownlee, the former Acting Secretary of the US Army, hoping the hire will boost its activity in the federal contracting space.

PNC Mezzanine Capital has closed on $350m in commitments for its latest fund, surpassing its target by $50m.

Bain Capital has wrapped up its acquisition of FCI, the former connectors business of Areva. The acquisition has been valued at €1.067 billion, and required certain “social contracts” from Bain.

Joshua Lewis, who went from Warburg Pincus to Forstmann Little in 2000, is keeping a foothold in private equity - his growth-equity boutique Salmon River has held a first close on around $20m.

New York-based Castle Harlan has appointed Gary Appel as its new vice chairman. Appel is part of the DLJ fraternity and had previously worked alongside John Castle for a roughly eight-year span.

Former US vice presidential candidate Nat Goldhaber has raised $125m for the debut fund from Claremont Creek Ventures. Harvard Management and the Regents of the University of California are among the fund’s backers.

JF Lehman & Co. and Norwest Equity Partners are pursuing an infrastructure deal in Hawaii, acquiring two catamaran ferries in a $235m transaction as the initial step toward building the state’s first inter-island ferry service.

The Gores Group completed its purchase of Avure Technologies, acquiring the maker of high pressure presses from Flow International in a $15.3 million deal.

Two brothers of ousted Seibu chairman, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, have reportedly launched a counter bid to the ¥160 billion offer Cerberus Capital Management and Nikko Principal Investments made for a significant stake in Japanese real estate and rail giant Seibu.

Crestview Partners, the new firm launched by Goldman Sachs veterans Barry Volpert and Thomas Murphy, has yet to formally announce a final close for its debut fund, but in statement announcing its first deal, the firm said it had amassed $1.4bn in commitments.