Firms and Funds

Target: LMS Intellibound Group Inc. Price: Undisclosed Sponsor: MSouth Equity Partners LLC Seller: MCG Capital Corp. Financial Adviser: Seller: Harris Williams & Co. Legal Adviser: Sponsor: Alston & Bird LLP Making a play on shifting hiring trends, MSouth Equity Partners has acquired LMS Intellibound Group Inc., a Norcross, Ga.-based provider of outsourced labor for the […]

LONDON (Reuters) – Management teams at collapsed Australian-listed infrastructure investor Babcock & Brown (BNB.AX) are seeking finance for management buyouts, according to newspaper reports on Sunday. Antonino Lo Bianco, Babcock’s European head of infrastructure, is believed to be seeking backing to buy its European infrastructure and wind farm funds, the Independent on Sunday cited a […]

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) earlier this month proposed legislation designed to crack down on foreign tax havens, like the Cayman Islands. The bill -- called the “Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act" -- has the Obama Administration's support, with Treasury Secretary Geithner saying the following during a recent House Ways & Means Committee hearing: "We fully support the legislation... on offshore tax centers, and we look forward to working with you as part of the broader effort to address international tax evasion." I don't pretend to know much about this, so I spent some time on the phone with Arnold May, a partner in the tax department of law firm Proskauer Rose. He told me that the legislation, as currently written, would affect both hedge fund and private equity managers, but the former far more than the latter.

LONDON (Reuters) – Candover Investments Plc, the listed parent of British private equity firm Candover, said on Friday it had received indicative expressions of interest for the business, sending its shares soaring. The firm, which last week said it was no longer able to commit more cash to its own buyout fund, said the expressions […]

KKR is targeting around $1 billion for its debut mezzanine fund, according to LBO Wire. www.kkr.com  

The Gores Group is raising its third fund with a $1.5 billion target, according to LBO Wire. The Los Angeles-based buyout firm raised $1.3 billion for its second fund in 2007. www.gores.com

LONDON (Reuters) – European private equity returns were 25 percent lower in 2008 as company valuations fell and exits dried up, according to data released on Friday by Thomson Reuters and Europe’s private equity trade body. Mega buyouts were hardest hit over the short-term, with the fall in net asset value 27.1 percent to year-end, […]

BEIJING (Reuters) – A top official at China’s sovereign wealth fund has urged it to become more transparent to quiet fears about its motives and generate a better environment abroad for its investments. China Investment Corp (CIC), the country’s $200 billion wealth fund, is viewed overseas as opaque, its deputy manager, Xie Ping, said in […]

VenGrowth Asset Management has agreed to sell its mutual fund business, Criterion Investments, to First Asset Capital Corp. No financial terms were disclosed. In a statement, Vengrowth said the move would allow it to “dedicate itself fully to its private equity business.”

AEA Investors is raising up to $300 million for its second Small Business Fund, which focuses on small-cap leveraged buyouts, according to a regulatory filing. www.aeainvestors.com