The market is teeming with fundraising hopefuls, from spin-out groups seeking modest sums to mega-firms after multi-billion-dollar war chests. Around the world, more than 1,600 private equity funds are in the market seeking an estimated $673 billion, according to data provider Preqin. It’s a measure of the difficulty of securing commitments that so far their [...]

During President Obama’s first term, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Investment Company program has committed more capital to investors backing growth plays at the current—and dirt cheap—interest rate of about three percent.

It’s because investors are increasingly seeking out SBIC funding to support mezzanine deals, growth plays and smaller buyouts. The SBIC program lent $1.2 billion last fiscal year (each ends Sept. 30) and will surely approve funds exceeding that amount this year, but it still has hundreds of millions of dollars that go unused thanks to too few applicants and too few approvals. Yet, the capital committed by the program over the past full fiscal year represents an increase over the four prior years’ commitment levels by a whopping 55 percent. Experts believe the gap in capital allotted to the program and the amount it actually deploys will continue to shrink; difficulty raising debt has turned more investment firms that would usually sneer at the prospect of partnering with the government instead into eager recipients of discount debt.

TIAA-CREF, long one of the most prolific investors in buyout funds, is raising around $400 million for a first-time fund of funds targeting distressed debt and equity funds, sister magazine Buyouts has learned from two sources familiar with the new fund. The New York-based limited partner would join a growing cadre of distressed fund of funds [...]

Perseus LLC-backed Physicians Interactive Holdings LLC named Brett Miller president of its healthcare professional division. Chief Innovation Officer Sandeep Shah was named Chief Content Officer. Marlene Galante joins the executive leadership team in a new role as general manager, Academic Centers, Associations, and Centers of Professional Excellence. Physician Interactive of Marlborough, Mass., is a provider of health care information and mobile clinical decision tools to medical professionals.

Perseus LLC hired Sheryl Schwartz as a senior managing director. Schwartz will work on mezzanine debt, private equity investments, and investor relations. She will be based in New York. Schwartz previously served as TIAA-CREF’s managing director.

Workflow Management, a publishing company backed by Perseus LLC, has cancelled its plan to go public through a merger with Enterprise Acquisition Corp., a SPAC based in Boca Raton, Fla. Press release: Enterprise Acquisition Corp. (NYSE Alternext US, Units: “EST.U”, Common Stock: “EST,” Warrants: “EST.WS”) (“Enterprise”) announced today that its previously announced Merger Agreement with [...]

PhotoMedex, Inc., a publicly traded dermatological product developer, closed its acquisition of Photo Therapeutics Limited for $13 million with an additional $7 million based on performance. Perseus LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based merchant bank of private equity fund, invested $18 million in the company’s debt, $5 million of which supports working capital. Press release: PhotoMedex, Inc. [...]