Private Equity
2 min read · 12 May 2009
"You are not alone," write Proskauer Rose LLP attorneys David T. Jones, Sean J. Hill and Sascha A. Rosebush in yesterday's edition of Buyouts Magazine. According to their guest article, a number of venture capital and buyout firms find themselves low on cash at the worst possible moment. Their portfolio companies are screaming for cash infusions, while their institutional backers have told them that capital calls have all the charm of a termite infestation right about now. Meantime, raising a new fund has become an improbable venture. So what's a cash-deprived GP to do? The authors go through the pluses and minuses of the different options confronting fund managers. They include the relaxing of recycling provisions, raising an annex fund, topping off an existing fund, borrowing money at the fund level, waiving management fees, and selling a stake in portfolio companies to generate cash. Given the magnitude of the problem, the editors of Buyouts Magazine have made the Proskauer Rose article free to all comers here. For those that need a bigger dose of advice, and the chance to ask questions, Thomson Reuters is hosting a convenient 90-minute Webinar on the subject on May 28.
1 min read · 12 May 2009
Rockley Group, a tech-focused venture group led by UK angel investors Andrew and Robert Rickman, is raising $100 million for a fund focused on Shandong Province, China. Rockley will provide 10% of the capital, with the Shandong High-Tech Investment Corp. providing another 10 percent. The Shandong Academy of Sciences is also involved.
10 min read · 11 May 2009
Atomico Ventures is ready for blast-off, according to a new regulatory filing. The early-stage venture capital fund spearheaded by Skype cofounders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis is looking to raise the strangely precise amount of $266 million, with the help of San Francisco placement agent Probitas Partners. The fund -- incorporated in the tax-neutral jurisdiction of Grand Cayman island -- has yet to secure any commitments, according to the filing. The team is apparently pretty confident about how quickly it will do so, though. The filing states that the offering to LPs, who are being asked for a minimum investment of $13.3 million, will be available for no longer than one year.
3 min read · 07 May 2009
StarVest Partners has closed its second fund with $244 million in capital commitments. The New York-based venture capital firm focuses on opportunities in the U.S. tech-enabled business services sector.
4 min read · 07 May 2009
Constellation Ventures, a former affiliate of Bear Stearns Asset Management, today announced that it has become part of Highbridge Capital Management's principal investment effort. It also has closed its third fund with $300 million, and renamed itself Constellation Growth Capital. So've got 5 Questions for Cliff Friedman, Constellation's founding partner. 1. Bear Stearns collapsed while you were in the middle of fund-raising. Did you ever think that Constellation wasn’t going to be able to raise another fund? No. First of all, we had great strength in our existing portfolio. Then, once the hedge funds blew up, we got a lot of inbound interest from secondary buyers wanting to do a lift-out of the firm. We went down the path of lining up a serious buyer, but then Todd Builione, COO of Highbridge, called me up and asked to sit down and talk about how Constellation could have a future at Highbridge.
3 min read · 05 May 2009
1 min read · 28 April 2009
Target Partners, a Munich-based VC firm focused on the tech sector, has closed its second fund with €113 million in capital commitments. Limited partners include CAM Private Equity, Capital Dynamics, Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Co., Invesco Asset Management, LGT Capital Partners, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners and RWB AG.
2 min read · 28 April 2009
2 min read · 27 April 2009
1 min read · 27 April 2009
