KKR is in talks to hire nine members of Goldman Sachs famed prop trading desk to form a new hedge fund, according to press reports. Bob Howard will join as an MD and report to William Sonneborn, who heads KKR’s asset management division, Bloomberg said. Howard headed the Goldman Sachs group in the U.S. The hedge fund is expected to start raising money next year, the story said.
WestView Capital Partners has take a majority stake of Graphic Controls via a recap. Graphic Control's management will retain a stake, says Sujit John, a WestView Capital associate. WestView is a Boston PE firm. Buffalo, N.Y.-based Graphic Controls makes consumable products like disposable medical supplies. Financial terms were not announced.
LLR Partners said Thursday that it has closed its investment in Lightspeed Financial, which will use the funds to buy Terra Nova Financial. Lightspeed, of New York, provides trading technology for institutional investors and professional retail traders. LLR is a PE firm. Chicago-based Terra Nova provides brokerage services for professional traders, hedge funds and money managers.
Private equity investments in third quarter grew by 184% compared to last year, according to the Private Equity Growth Capital Council, previously called Private Equity Council. Globally, PE shops invested $40.1 billion in transactions—which include buyouts, minority stakes, and private placements —during third quarter. This compares to $14.1 billion for the same time period in 2009, says Jason Thomas, the Council’s VP of research. Third quarter’s totals are also up 10% from second quarter when PE shops invested $36.4 billion, the Council says. The PE Growth Capital Council, a Washington D.C. trade group, uses its own data, as well as information from Thomson Reuters, Pitchbook and Preqin, to calculate its findings. See findings here.
Merriman Holdings Inc. named Bradley Rotter to its independent advisory board. Rotter is chairman of AirPatrol Corp. and has been a public and private venture investor for 30 years. He is also an advisory board member of the hedge fund Symmetry Peak and the private equity fund Pacific Homeland Security Partners. Merriman is a San Francisco, Calif.-based financial services firm.
Seneca Partners has provided another $6 million to Adesso Solutions, a Rolling Meadows, Ill.-based provider of technology solutions for the consumer goods industry. Seneca, of Birmingham, Mich., is a private investment firm.
PE firms are on the hunt for banks again, several sources say. Interest is so great that i-bank Sandler O’Neill & Partners is handling mandates from at least 15 banks that are looking to recapitalize. And the primary source of new funds? Buyout shops. “All the small banks in the world are trying to find new capital,” says one banker. “PE is the only real money for any deal,” adds a buyout executive. Independent Bank Corp., parent of Independent Bank, and AnchorBancorp Wisconsin, which owns AnchorBank, are each in talks with PE firms for funding, sources say.
Darby Overseas Investments, the PE arm of Franklin Templeton, said that its Darby Latin American Mezzanine Fund, L.P. has sold its 37% stake in ISA Corporativo S.A. de C.V. Franklin Templeton is a San Mateo, Calif.-based investment firm with more than $644 billion in assets under management. ISA is an media company that manages advertising in subways, airports and bus stations in Mexico.
Stripes Group has taken a majority stake in Voyetra Turtle Beach, a maker of gaming headsets, via a recap. Stripes Group is a New York private investment firm. News of the deal was announced by Cascadia Capital, an investment bank, which advised Turtle Beach.
Gulf Opportunity Fund I, the $1 billion private equity fund of asset management firm Investcorp, expects to make five or six transactions in the next two years. Investcorp is also considering the launch of another fund, according to a top executive. The Gulf Opportunity Fund has already completed five transactions worth around $500 million since it was opened in 2007.