Fundraising

Asia Alternatives, a new fund of fund manager that has its headquarters in Hong Kong, has raised $515 million, exceeding a $450 million hard cap. The fund may have just held its final close but is already invested in more than ten funds focused across 12 Asian countries.

UK buyout firm Charterhouse Capital Partners has agreed a secondary buyout of TSL Education, the educational publishing business that was Exponent Private Equity’s first acquisition as an independent entity.

More than doubling the size of its last vehicle, Heitman has closed an $800m fund to invest in North American value-added opportunities.

US bank Greenhill has held the first closing of its debut European fund, with 61 percent of the equity coming from the firm and its employees, as the latest example of an investment bank increasing its private equity activity.

Fortress has completed a $2.84 billion closing on its latest fund with a $5 billion target. The publicly traded alternative investment firm simultaneously announced a $3.5 billion deal.

Buffalo, New York-based Summer Street has closed its second fund on $187 million, exceeding its target by $37 million.

In the October 2006 issue of Private Equity International, we produced a selection of the 30 most influential lawyers in global private equity. Here, we remind our readers of some of the legal world's most valued practitioners.

Buyout firm Industri Kapital has exited from Elektrokoppar after nearly 10 years invested in the company and several difficult economic cycles in the copper industry.

European mid-market firm Doughty Hanson enjoys successful fundraising after setback of abandoned quoted fund last year.

The UK government fund of funds manager in developing markets has posted strong results for 2006 while sounding a note of caution as a wall of money heads for new markets.