Fundraising

The venture capital arm of Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has changed its name to BlueRun Ventures and announced a first close of its third venture fund on $350m.

46-year-old former Benchmark Capital executive Eric Archambeau has joined the Munich-based VC as a general partner.

Paris-based Sofinnova Partners has pulled off a rare fundraising success for a European venture group, raising €385m for its fifth vehicle.

The Los Angeles private equity firm, founded by ex-Houlihan Lokey investment bankers, has closed its second fund on $265m, more than double its previous fund of $107m.

Henderson Private Capital has completed its third Asian investment in a month and announced a first close of its PFI Secondary Fund on £136m.

The Los Angeles- and Houston-based investment firm has closed its third energy private equity fund on $550m, more than double its previous fund of $240m.

Amidst a flurry of fundraising activity, the Australian investment bank has announced a final close of its new listed private equity vehicle.

Venture capitalists last year raised 170 funds totalling $17.6bn, $3.4bn more than the previous two years combined, while buyout and mezzanine funds attracted $45.8bn in 103 funds.

The New York merchant banking group, along with co-investor AIG, has signed an agreement to sell waste-to-energy business American Ref-Fuel Holdings to strategic acquirer Danielson for a total enterprise value of $2 billion.

Industri Kapital has announced a final close of its fifth buyout fund, more than two years after launch.