Specialist PE Sectors

Infrastructure, Mezzanine, Co-Investments, Turnarounds, Special Situations

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• Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz bailed out by private equity 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz has turned to US private equity firm Colony Capital to help repair her finances, according to reports. Under the terms of the arrangement, Colony is to become Leibovitz’s sole creditor, and will help to market her portfolio of photographs, which include the infamous Rolling Stone magazine cover featuring a naked John Lennon with Yoko Ono, taken hours before his murder.

• KIC plans $100m investment in emerging market IFC fund 04 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. South Korea's sovereign wealth fund, Korea Investment Corporation, has announced plans to invest $100m in a private equity fund managed by the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank's private sector lending arm.

• PE firms back new US government-bond brokerage business 04 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Private equity firms General Atlantic and Stone Point Capital have put up $200m for a new venture that will offer brokerage services for the trade of government bonds, according to the Wall Street Journal.

• Warburg Pincus in line for Primerica stake as it prepares for IPO 03 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Warburg Pincus is set to acquire a share of Citigroup’s Primerica unit in a transaction worth $330m, as the life insurer aims for an initial public offering, according to the Financial Times.

• Carlyle invests in troubled Bermuda bank 03 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. The Carlyle Group has invested in Bermuda’s The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son, as part of an institutional investor group that has injected $550m into the beleaguered bank.

• Vancouver Olympics host Intrawest in refinancing talks 02 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. The host for the Winter Olympics is in talks with its lenders over the refinancing of $1.7bn of debt, according to reports. Canada-based resort operator Intrawest Holdings, which is owned by alternative asset manager Fortress Investment, is in discussions with lenders over possible refinancing options.

• Apollo gears up for merger of Lyondell Chemical and portfolio company Hexion 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. US private equity firm Apollo Management may merge bankrupt chemical maker Lyondell Chemical with portfolio company Hexion Specialty Chemicals as creditors prepare to reject a takeover bid, according to the New York Post. India’s Reliance Industry had put in a $14.5bn bid for Lyondell, which is reportedly set to be rejected by the company’s creditor group, led by Apollo Management.

• UK’s Foresight Group adds investment director 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK-based alternative asset manager Foresight Group has appointed Federico Giannandrea as investment director, where he will be responsible for originating, structuring and executing solar transactions.

• UK turnaround investor Endless nets 10.5 times return on DavyMarkham sale 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Endless, a turnaround investor in the UK mid-market, has sold its investment in heavy engineering business DavyMarkham to Indian engineering and construction conglomerate IVRCL. While no sale price has been disclosed, Endless made a 10.5 times return on its original investment.

• China Everbright launches 3bn yuan fund to invest in clean energy projects 26 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Hong Kong-based financial conglomerate China Everbright has established a 3bn yuan ($439.4m) venture capital fund to invest in new energy projects, resources and affiliated enterprises.

• Alvarez & Marsal strengthens German restructuring and turnaround practice 26 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Alvarez & Marsal, an independent professional services firm that is managing the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, has augmented its team in Germany by appointing Paul Taaffe as a managing director to its restructuring and turnaround practice.

• TPG co-founder Bonderman bashes FDIC bank investment rules 26 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. One of US giant TPG’s co-founders has spoken out against Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation regulation of private equity’s investment in struggling banks, saying that the rules are accelerating failures, according to Reuters.

• Global Environment Fund taps Chinese wind energy market 23 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Clean energy-focused private equity firm Global Environment Fund (GEF) has invested $30m in UPC Renewables to develop wind energy projects in China.

• Apollo Management eyes up struggling jewellery chain Zale 23 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Apollo Management is eyeing up struggling jewellery chain Zale Corp, a company the US private equity firm has had a relationship with for many years, according to the Wall Street Journal.

• London PE firm Kelso helps driving school RED out of administration 22 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. London-based turnaround firm Kelso Place Asset Management has moved into the driving training space with the acquisition of LVG, a company that operates under the brands RED Driving School, RED Instructor Training and RED Fleet Training.

• CalSTRS commits $100m to inner city and rural investments 19 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. The California State Teachers’ Retirement System has expanded its relationship with Banc of America Merrill Lynch Capital Access Fund into underserved inner city and rural markets.

• Winter Olympics host Intrawest gets one week reprieve from lenders 19 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Intrawest, a portfolio company of US private equity firm Fortress Investment Group and owner of one of the host venues for the current Winter Olympics in Canada, has been given a week’s reprieve from creditors before its Whistler Blackcomb asset is forced into a foreclosure auction.

• 3i CEO targets Indian infrastructure 15 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK private equity firm 3i is setting its sights on Indian infrastructure as the next source of flagship private equity returns, according to CEO Michael Queen. Speaking at the Super Return conference in Berlin, Queen reportedly claimed that the amount of investment necessary to address India’s infrastructure deficit could provide huge returns for the private equity industry.

• Denham Capital cashes in on SunRay sale 11 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Energy sector-focused private equity firm Denham Capital has exited its investment in SunRay Renewable Energy via a $277m trade sale to solar technology company SunPower.

• Italian PE firm plans to make Fiat factory electric 09 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Italian firm Cimino & Associates Private Equity (Cape) plans to set up a production line for electric cars in Sicily once Fiat winds down its operations at a factory on the island next year, according to the Financial Times.

• Five dead in private equity power plant disaster 09 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. A power plant owned by energy infrastructure-focused private equity firm Energy Investors Funds (EIF) has exploded in the US. Five workers have died and at least a dozen more have been hospitalised after an as-yet unexplained blast went off at the Kleen Energy Systems plant in Middletown, Connecticut.

• Moulton makes maiden Better Capital deal 08 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Private equity veteran Jon Moulton has completed the first deal of his new turnaround firm Better Capital by acquiring aerospace components supplier Gardner Group from rival Carlyle for £20m (€22.8m).

• Energy-focused PE firm Riverstone closes $200m offshore wind energy deal 05 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Riverstone Holdings, an energy and power-focused private equity firm, has completed the acquisition of offshore wind farm servicer Seajacks International, paying $207m from its most recent renewables fund.