Private Equity
Forget everything you’ve read about secondary prices, as it is “at worst stale, at best a fantasy,” according to a study released today by secondary intermediary Cogent Partners. (Download after the jump) The findings are disheartening for any hopeful investor with stakes in the market and very exciting for buyers of distressed LP stakes. The average high bid for buyout and VC secondary assets declined to 61% of NAV in the second half of 2008, compared with the first half, the study says. Notably, the drop marks the lowest level for secondary prices since 2003, since it’s on the heels of an 84.7% decline in the first half of 2008.
2 min read · 05 January 2009
3 min read · 30 December 2008
3 min read · 29 December 2008
FTVentures has changed its name to FTV Capital.
1 min read · 19 December 2008
1 min read · 17 December 2008
HRJ Capital, the fund-of-funds manager formed in 1999 by a pair of ex-NFL stars, has hit its two-minute warning. The San Francisco-based firm is unable to pay back a $68.9 million warehouse loan it received from Silicon Valley Bank, and is now negotiating a settlement that could include SVB taking over management of HRJ's funds (with some HRJ pros likely joining SVB). If that were to happen, SVB would use the management fees to slowly pay off the debt. Also worth noting that "negotiating" is a very soft word for what's going on, given that SVB basically holds all the cards here.
4 min read · 16 December 2008
Arboretum Ventures has received a $5 million commitment from its second fund, from the Renaissance Venture Capital Fund, a new venture fund-of-funds focused on the Michigan market. This is Renaissance’s first commitment.
2 min read · 16 December 2008
1 min read · 12 December 2008
Earlier this week, I suggested that public pension systems could become embroiled in bonus battles that would play out on the front pages. At issue would be managers who get cut checks for beating market benchmarks, even if both the benchmarks and their individual performance are underwater. Well, it seems that such a situation has already occurred. A helpful reader points us to this story from South Carolina, where the state retirement system owed chief investment officer Bob Borden a $176,000 bonus for performance relating to the fiscal year ending June 30. South Carolina Treasurer Converse Chellis moved to block the payment, arguing that it was inappropriate given state budget cuts and state worker furloughs. Chellis took his fight to the system's investment commission
1 min read · 11 December 2008
Bain Capital Ventures has begun raising its fourth fund with a $500 million target and $750 million hard cap, according to VentureWire. A first close is expected early next year. The Boston-based firm closed its third fund in 2007 with $550 million. www.baincapitalventures.com
1 min read · 10 December 2008
