Europe’s mid-market houses turn Asia’s economic powerhouse to their advantage.

Early starters in mobile VoIP are battling to grab market share. The advent of Apple’s 3G iPhone has now upped the stakes.

But political unrest could threaten private equity’s answer to the credit crunch.

The German cabinet has agreed to bring in laws to protect domestic companies from foreign buyers that could exert political influence.

Cinven has acquired a 50 per cent stake in debt advisory and management firm Indicus Advisors for an undisclosed sum.

Bank of Scotland is raising a £400m (€496m) fund from private investors that will be used to buy stakes in portfolio companies owned by the bank’s integrated finance unit.

Earlybird has closed its fourth fund with €127m of commitments, falling short of its €150m to €200m target.

Apax Partners is understood to be close to clinching a deal with three Asia-Pacific institutions.

Eqvitec has reached a first close on its third mezzanine fund, with €64m of commitments.

Bridgepoint-backed shoe retailer Faith looks set to become the latest retail casualty after lead bank Barclays declined the private equity firm’s debt-for-equity swap offer, opting instead to put the business up for sale.

Altor has held a first and final close on its third private equity fund at its €2bn hard cap.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has sold interests in 21 portfolio companies managed by AAC Capital to a consortium led by Goldman Sachs. RBS bought LP positions in the assets when it acquired ABN alongside Fortis and Santander for £71bn last year.

Norwegian private equity firm Norvestor Equity has closed its fifth fund at €236m, ahead of its €225m target.

Apollo Management has revealed a series of moves into the European private equity market, including a strategic partnership with Lazard.

Partech International Partners, the latest in a string of transatlantic divorces, has reignited the question of whether long-distance relationships can last.

Paris-based venture house Partech International Partners has spun out from its US parent.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is poised to follow rival Blackstone on to the public markets, with an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.

Nmás1 Private Equity has acquired a 50 per cent stake in European fund of funds manager Access Capital Partners in a €33m deal.

LODH Private Equity, a subsidiary of Geneva-based private banking group Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch, has held a €300m first close on its fourth fund of funds.

Venture Capital Trusts are poised to receive millions of pounds from the taxman following HM Revenue & Customs’ announcement that VCTs will be allowed to claim back overpaid VAT on management fees.

Braveheart may still table an offer for AIM-listed tech investor Angle, despite the company withdrawing from takeover discussions. In a strongly worded response to Angle’s decision to stop negotiations, Braveheart has said that it is still “considering its options”.

Changes to the way credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s rates leveraged loans have provoked an angry response from the private equity industry.

The Blackstone Group has launched a business division focused on the cleantech sector.

Vendor financing, deemed outmoded and unnecessary during the height of the buyout boom, is now back in vogue as vendors try to sweeten deals and buyers search for alternative sources of finance.

Traditionalists and revolutionaries battle to shape the future of online viewing.

Pronounced currency swings and private equity’s rapidly expanding borders have put exchange rate risks in the spotlight. But they can be managed.

Executive search firm Intramezzo has launched a talent-backed investment fund. The Tagged Executive Programme will introduce repeat entrepreneurs who are looking to back themselves in their next venture, to equity and debt providers.

Despite the credit crunch, the enterprise value growth of private equity-backed businesses has continued to outperform the public markets for the third consecutive year, according to Ernst & Young’s global study of the 100 largest private equity exits in 2007.

Wellington Partners and DN Capital have both opened US offices based in Palo Alto, California.

Yorkshire & Clydesdale, Barclays and HSBC have been rated as the most active lenders to buyouts of companies in the £5m (€6.25m) to £15m deal market since the onset of the credit crunch.

The private equity arm of Greek investment bank NBGI has launched a small buyout operation in France, following the success of its roll-out in the UK market in 2000.

The Danish private equity and venture capital association, DVCA, has unveiled a set of transparency guidelines for buyout houses operating in Denmark.

While the risk of systemic failure has so far been contained by central bank intervention, how much further values might fall is harder to say.

The co-founder of Balderton reveals why he thought the time was right to quit the top-performing VC and join clean tech investor Good Energies. 

The European Investment Fund has joined forces with a number of financial institutions and the Portuguese State to launch the Portugal Venture Capital Initiative (PVCi), a €111.3m dedicated fund of funds and co-investment programme. The EIF was originally targeting €100m.

Denham Capital Management has closed Denham Commodity Partners V at its $2bn (€1.27bn) hard cap, exceeding its $1.75bn target. More than 90 per cent of Denham’s existing investors participated. Limited partners primarily consisted of endowments, foundations and wealthy individuals.

Danske Private Equity is moving towards a final close on its fourth small and mid-cap buyout fund of funds at an €800m hard cap.

Edmond de Rothschild has announced the final close of its latest dedicated life sciences fund Biodiscovery 3 with €150m of commitments.

The level of leverage applied to European private equity deals valued at up to €500m is continuing to climb despite a drain on liquidity, according to new research from ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.

Axa Private Equity welcomed back 95 per cent of its existing investors to hit a €1.6bn hard cap on its fourth-generation LBO fund.

At the end of May, Four Seasons Health Care became the latest high-profile victim of troubled financial markets. The UK’s largest nursing and care homes group was reported to be set to hit trouble over its £1.5bn (€1.9bn) debt mountain, £1.24bn of which is due to be refinanced on 2 September.

The European Investment Fund has joined forces with a number of financial institutions and the Portuguese State to launch the Portugal Venture Capital Initiative (PVCi), a €111.3m dedicated fund of funds and co-investment programme. The EIF was originally targeting €100m.

The US was once the holy grail of European venture-backed business. But several US start-ups have recently reversed the trend by moving to the old Continent.

Lending to poor people – or, in banking jargon, credit-impaired low-income groups – isn’t exactly flavour of the month.

Already an established part of the direct M&A market, insurance is starting to feature in secondaries as a means of untangling tail-end portfolio sales.

Exceeding its fundraising target was the easy part. Now for the US-style returns.

The Environmental Technology Fund’s recent £110m (€139m) close of its maiden fund has highlighted the ever-growing interest in clean technology investment opportunities, with the sector fast cementing its position as the third pillar of the venture world.

Summit Partners has closed its maiden Europe-focused fund with €1bn of limited partner commitments. The firm has also raised $825m (€520m) for its fourth subordinated debt fund, which will co-invest alongside the firm’s equity funds.

The UK arm of energy-focused investment bank Simmons & Company International has announced a first close of its debut private equity co-investment fund for the energy sector. The fund has€87.5m of commitments.

Private equity is finding it more difficult to trump trade buyers as price/earnings multiples on private equity deals slumped by 16 per cent in the first quarter of this year.

German private equity firm CFH has closed Technolgie Grunder Fund Saxony with ¤60m of commitments.

A record $1.33bn (€840m) was invested in European early-stage technology in the first three months of 2008, according to research from Calibre One. The tally significantly exceeds the previous high of $1.02bn, which was reached in the first quarter of last year.

Greater London Enterprise’s acquisition of regional fund manager YFM Group is a breakthrough for early-stage investing in the UK.

There have been fresh calls for greater levels of disclosure in the buyout industry after the publication of the first annual reviews since the Walker report was published.

DN Capital has reached a first close of €50m for its second early-stage and growth equity fund, despite losing cornerstone backer Citigroup, which provided half of the capital for GVC I.

Advent International has become the first in a wave of mini mega-funds to hit its target, closing its sixth global buyout fund at €6.6bn. GPE VI exceeded its original €5bn target by more than 30 per cent and was oversubscribed to the tune of more than €10bn.

Two European mezzanine funds have closed significantly above target, as institutional investors clamour to take advantage of favourable debt funding conditions.

A raft of government initiatives are helping Spain’s somnolent biotech industry to catch up with its racier European cousins.

Virtualisation companies are the hottest prospect among venture firms at present. US investors have stolen a march, but Europe’s VCs are catching up fast.

What a difference a year makes. When the great and the good of European private equity last gathered for SuperReturn 2007 in Frankfurt, the industry was still blessed with the Midas touch. The biggest concern for delegates was how to defend their public and political perception in the face of unrelenting success.

Listed investor prepares to roll venture unit into growth cap.

SCM Strategic Capital Management’s latest terms and conditions report finds that despite global economic jitters, big buyout bosses are still in the driving seat.

The latest funding raised by Aldebaran is a sign that the age of mass market, domestic robots is just around the corner.

Early-stage specialist insists it is not abandoning its roots with new fund.

A damning report finds that German business managers do not have
what it takes to run a successful private equity-backed business.

Online rental sites caused high street DVD chains a few headaches, but with video-on-demand, the entire industry will soon face its Armageddon.

While mega-firms are forced to slash targets, several upper mid-market houses plan to double the size of their funds.

IQ Capital is perhaps the best endorsement of the UK’s Enterprise Capital Funds scheme. One year on, its management team has set up on its own.

The grandfather of Silicon Valley, and the man who invented the venture capital model as we know it, talks books, boats and biotech.

As market conditions deteriorate, private equity firms must take a more hands-on approach to managing portfolio companies.

Foresight prepares to put £500m to work in environmental infrastructure.

Europe’s private equity industry is finding that its skills can be put to use outside the world of commerce. But venture philanthropy poses many new challenges.

The success of university spin-outs can be greatly enhanced by early contact with investors and successful entrepreneurs.

A new breed of specialised venture firms are preparing to take on the generalists.

LPs and company directors say private equity’s governance model is exemplary at portfolio level and mixed at fund level. But the industry’s “intellectual father” says the advantages are being eroded

A rejuvenated life sciences sector is set to catalyse Irish VC fundraising.

To date, the danger of cloning has been mainly a moral, or at least biological, issue. But Web 2.0 has now made it a top concern of venture capitalists.

Underwriting banks are stuck with six months of unplaced loans, as the arithmetic on H1 deals fails to add up for CLOs.

Marco Pinciroli turns his back on BC Partners to launch EUR80m Italian VC fund

Trinity Venture Capital is considering listing on London’s AIM and the IEX in Dublin, as Irish venture capital firms struggle to raise funds.

Spain may not be associated with technology, but government support is making it more appealing. The latest Tech Tour spotted Iberia’s talent.

Protectionism, strikes, pollution and rocketing oil prices: just some of the challenges facing private equity firms – if their aviation deals ever take off.

Just 13 months after backing mobile internet advertising company ScreenTonic, 3i and I-Source Gestion exited their investment in a sale to Microsoft.

Tudor Investments, a US hedge fund, is making waves in a most unlikely place: the European venture capital market. The firm has completed at least six venture capital-style deals in Europe over the past year.

As the Mid-Market category at this year’s Private Equity Awards proves, the asset class is undoubtedly “Better for Europe”.

After 18 months of legal wrangling, Danish telco TDC remains a listed entity. Europe’s biggest buyout could yet become an expensive mistake.

Just as buyout houses abandon their long-time favourite, care homes, private hospitals have started to emerge as the new private equity sweet spot.

Media giant, Bertelsmann, strikes €1bn deal with Morgan Stanley and Citigroup to make private equity-style acquisitions

With a €10bn fund around the corner, chief executive Martin Halusa says the time has come to focus exclusively on buyouts