Toby Mitchenall
The market responded to an upbeat Lehman Brothers Private Equity Partners update this morning with a marginal increase in the stock price. But shares in the Euronext-listed vehicle are still trading at a discount to net asset value.
3i-owned hedge fund administrator Fulcrum is merging with Butterfield Fund Services to form a combined platform worth $300m. Akshaya Bhargava, 3i’s former industrialist in residence and the current chief executive of Fulcrum, will take the helm at Butterfield Fulcrum Group.
The buyout firm is planning another close for its third Europe fund at the end of October, having already held a second close on €4.8bn.
Following a strong half year for the banking giant’s private equity advisory arm, Merrill Lynch has made a series of internal promotions, including Jeff Kaplan’s elevation to global head.
The French alternatives firm has smashed its initial fundraising target of €300m against a difficult market backdrop, a week after selling a stake in the management company to Spanish firm N+1.
The UK Government’s emerging markets fund of funds has made commitments to four Chinese funds. It expects these funds to go on to raise a total of $1.7bn from other sources for investment in the region.