Firms and Funds

Add one more to the list of first-time funds in the market. TPZ Group, a lower middle-market PE shop focused on business and consumer services companies. The New York-based firm recently made its first investment, sparking speculation that it it had held at least one close (i.e., saving it from fundraising purgatory). As it turns out, a source says that TPZ has held at least two closes toward an undisclosed target for an undisclosed amount. The anchor investor is a large university endowment. The firm's partners declined to comment on any details.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Sun Hung Kai Financial (0086.HK) on Friday said it was launching a $100 million fund that will partner with Paulson & Co and its distressed asset investment fund that focuses on financial companies. Sun Hung Kai said Paulson, run by legendary investor John Paulson who made billions of dollars betting against […]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, majority owner of automaker Chrysler LLC, may cut about 10 percent of its worldwide staff, a source familiar with the situation said on Monday. The news was reported earlier by Financial News, citing people familiar with the situation. It follows similar cuts by […]

LGT Capital Partners has raised $373 million for its Crown Asia-Pacific Private Equity fund-of-funds.

Drum Capital Management this month expects to hold a $150 million first close for its third distressed debt and turnaround fund-of-funds, according to Buyouts Magazine. The firm began fund-raising last quarter with a $500 million target. www.drumcapital.com

Onex Corp. announced that it has secured US$3 billion in third-party capital commitments for its third fund, with a target of $3.5 billion. The firm also announced, however, that it will temporarily reducing its own commitment to the fund from $1 billion to $500 million.

Prosperity Capital, a $3 billion international fund manager that invests in Russia and the CIS, is warning of another Yukos-type situation occurring because of a major dispute it has with two controversial “billionaire” oligarchs, Mikhail Prokhorov and Leonid Lebedev. Prokhorov hit the headlines in 2007 when he was arrested in the ski resort of Courchevel, […]

Ireland’s Government has taken the ultimate route and nationalised one of its three major lenders. Anglo Irish Bank was taken into state hands on Thursday night after fears that is might collapse in the wake of the continuing economic crisis. The Irish finance minister Brian Lenihan said in a statement: “Anglo Irish Bank is a […]

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Citigroup Inc (C.N) has earmarked its Japanese retail brokerage operation, Nikko Cordial Securities, for sale, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday. Citigroup, which revealed an $8.3 billion quarterly loss on Friday, said Nikko Cordial Securities, Japan’s No. 3 brokerage in assets, will be categorized as a […]

SEOUL (Reuters) – Private equity firm Blackstone Group (BX.N) will launch a unit in South Korea this month to buy companies and real estate assets for a combined $2 billion from cash-strapped domestic firms, a report said on Monday. The Maeil Business Newspaper cited the finance and economy ministries and the National Pension Service (NPS) […]