Fundraising

Castanea Partners has raised $475 million for a core fund and $100 million for an sidecar fund. The total is nearly three times the size of its previous fund.

With a new fund nearly ten times the size of its predecessor, the Cleveland and New York-based firm plans to expand its European footprint to include the Benelux region, the Iberian Peninsula, Brussels and Holland.

Media-focused BIA Digital Partners has closed its second fund on $195 million.

Los Angeles-based US Renewables Group has held a final close on its second fund, which will target renewable energy opportunities. It is nearly five times the size of its predecessor.

Venture firm Highland Capital has closed a $300 million, retail- and consumer-focused fund, which will be led by Staples co-founder Tom Stemberg and Ted Philip, a founding member of search engine and web portal Lycos.

The alternative assets manager is capitalising on the booming wealth of the Gulf region with a spate of new buyout, mezzanine and growth capital funds and an almost 50 percent increase in client assets.

Advent Private Capital, an Australian private equity firm has hired an investment manager to add to a 5-strong investment team after the mid-market specialist closed a fifth fund on A$300 million late last year.

Following the success of its first private equity real estate fund, Malaysian bank CIMB Group and Singapore’s Mapletree Investments are looking to raise a second fund to invest in the region.

The French insurer’s private equity estate ranges from large secondary funds to small venture investments, its latest €353m fund will target small cap transactions.

HIG Capital, a US private equity firm with a long track record, has raised €600 million for a new fund that will target small to mid cap companies in Europe. It expects to hire as many as 30 local investment professionals by the end of the year.