New York Life Capital Partners, a private equity affiliate of New York Life Investments, has closed its third third mezzanine fund with $980 million. The fund, NYLCAP Mezzanine Partners III, L.P., held a final close on March 30. The fund will provide mezzanine financing to support their acquisition of middle-market companies in the U.S. and [...]

New York Life Capital Partners, the private equity arm of the insurance company, is halfway done raising its third mezzanine pool, a planned $1 billion fund, a person familiar with the activity told sister publication Buyouts. New York Life Mezzanine Partners III would be a step up from its predecessor, which closed in 2007 with [...]

Below is some insight from Lou Moelchert, the founder of Private Advisors LLC, on the sale of 60 percent of the Richmond, Va.-based fund of funds to New York Life Investments. The firm’s announced the deal Thursday. We’ll have a broader story on the deal in the next issue of Buyouts.

*In short, New York Life’s investment provides more certainty to Private Advisors LPs, and it should be able to provide seed money for future products. Private Advisors had a few setbacks this year, namely in Europe, where it scrapped a fund of funds plan and lost a few executives. Firm co-founder Rafael Astruc also resigned earlier this year. “When you go through market periods that are as unsettled as last few years have been, this should give our LPs greater certainty,” Moelchert said in a phone interview.

New York Life Capital Partners, the private equity arm of New York Life Investments, has added Alan Weinfeld as managing director. Weinfeld will also serve as head of business development for the private equity firm. Previously, Weinfeld worked as director of business development for Darby Private Equity.

New York Life Capital Partners is raising upwards of $1 billion for its third mezzanine fund, according to a regulatory filing. Southridge Investment Group is listed as a placement agent. NYLCP closed its second mezz fund in 2006, with $800 million in capital commitments. It manages over $6.8 billion in total assets, including direct private equity, [...]

Robert Barrack has joined New York Life Capital Partners as a managing director and chief operating officer. He has spent the past 12 years with The Blackstone Group, most recently as a managing director of business development and investor relations.

Private equity has been a like a drug dealer Advanstar Communications just can’t shake. For the past 20 years, the company’s entanglements with buyout firms have created a rollercoaster of near-disasters, yet the company keeps going back for more.

Advanstar been around the Park Avenue block, with private equity fingerprints going all the way back to when LBOs were still called LBOs. In 1987, the company underwent a Kidder Peabody-backed MBO after fending off several hostile takeover bids. The debt from that deal eventually sent the company into bankruptcy in 1989, at which point Goldman Sachs gained control of the company through a debt-for-equity swap.

Then in 1996, the company narrowly avoided another bankruptcy (according to reports at the time) when Hellman & Friedman purchased the company for $237 million. H&F led Advanstar through 28 acquisitions over its four-year stewardship, including a deal for its most profitable business, apparel industry expo MAGIC Marketplace. H&F exited Advanstar with a sale to DLJ Merchant Banking in 2000 for approximately $900 million. After at least one failed exit attempt, DLJ sold the business to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Citigroup Private Equity and New York Life Capital Partners, for $1.14 billion.

So to recap: Kidder Peabody –> Goldman Sachs –> H&F –> DLJ –> VSS and friends.

As usual, we have a week’s worth of ratings actions on the debt of LBO-backed companies from ratings agencies Standard & Poor’s Investors Ratings Services and Moody’s Investor Service. This week we’ve got two bankruptcies and even more distressed debt exchanges.

Company: NCI Building Systems
Sponsor: Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Action: S&P raised its corporate credit rating on Houston-based metal building components manufacturer NCI Building Systems Inc. to ‘B+’ from ‘SD’ (selective default) and affirmed its ‘B+’ issue-level rating on the company’s $150 million senior secured term loan.
Highlight: “The upgrade follows the conclusion of our review of the company’s new capital structure upon completion of its recapitalization,” said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Thomas Nadramia.