Staff Writer

frankfurt, Germany – Following the beaten path of many other United Kingdom houses searching for a piece of the private equity action in Europe’s largest economy, Mercury Private Equity (MPE) in mid-May opened a sister office in Frankfurt. The group also dropped the somewhat cumbersome Mercury Asset Management Private Equity tag in favor of the […]

LONDON/BOSTON – 3i will open specialist technology investment offices this summer in Boston and Silicon Valley, a move that underlines the firm’s ambition to create the first integrated global technology business, said Director Martin Gagen, who will head expansion efforts in the United States. The firm previously launched a venture capital business in the U.S. […]

MENLO PARK, Calif. – Citing a desire to participate in more late-stage financing opportunities, Sequoia Capital Partners recently closed on the $350 million Sequoia Capital Franchise Fund, which will invest in the firm’s existing portfolio companies. “We noticed over the years that a lot of value was created post-initial public offering,” said Sequoia General Partner […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a move to further immerse union pensions into the world of private equity, Ullico Inc. in early June partnered with the Inter-American Development Bank to raise two small venture funds in Chile and Argentina. Ullico, which manages capital for labor union pensions through jointly managed trust funds, has been a fast-growing […]

BALTIMORE – Although hoping to raise an additional $40 million before a June 30 final close, QuestMark Partners L.P. had begun investing the $210 million already committed to its first fund. QuestMark in late May invested $10 million in ZapMe!, a provider of Internet and interactive services to schools. Earlier that month, the fund invested […]

TEANECK, N.J. – Reaching a final capitalization of $360 million on BCI Growth V L.P., BCI Partners Inc. closed its fifth venture partnership in May and added Thomas Cusick as a general partner. Limited partners in the latest effort include existing investors Abbott Capital Management, Bank of America Capital Corp. and Oregon Public Employees’ Retirement […]

SEATTLE – Guide Ventures, a firm recently founded by a former partner in Redleaf Venture Management, notched a $10 million first close in early June for Guide Ventures II L.P. The fund was launched early this year with a $25 million target and a $30 million cap, and founder Russ Aldrich said he envisioned reaching […]

The Nevada Public Employees Retirement System has not exactly been a trailblazer when it comes to private equity investing – the $12.1 billion pension allocates 2% of its capital to the asset class and has no plans to increase the percentage – but Nevada has done well in the alternatives arena and plans to stick […]

BELLVUE, Wash. – Encompass Ventures expects a first close in June on EV II Partnership, raised from Japanese operating companies, and the firm is contemplating raising another fund targeting institutions in the United States (VCJ, February, page 12). Encompass, which intends to raise $30 million for EV II, at press time expected the first close […]

SAUSALITO, Calif. – Although it was founded last year as a start-up consulting firm, the partners at Artemis Ventures soon realized that most of their time was spent helping clients raise money. So, early this year, the firm raised its own seed-stage fund, which closed on $22 million in early May. The firm originally helped […]