A team of global commercial fraud lawyers and investment professionals is launching a USD150m investment fund, named Echemus, to underwrite the investigation, seizure and recovery of worldwide assets for victims of fraud. The team is led by Martin Kenney, a renowned commercial fraud lawyer and asset recovery specialist currently engaged

Growth equity firm WestView Capital Management has closed WestView Capital Partners II, a USD325m private equity fund that will invest in middle-market growth companies in partnership with management teams. WestView Capital Partners II will be managed by a group of private equity investors who have worked together for many years

International law firm Watson, Farley & Williams has advised Coal of Africa, listed on AIM, ASX and JSE, on a placing to raise GBP56.9m.  A total of 59,867,731 new ordinary shares of no par value in Coal of Africa have been placed by J.P. Morgan Cazenove as sole global co-ordinator

MMC Ventures has made a GBP1.2m equity investment in e-trader group.  e-trader specialises in the clearance and overstock sector by offering retailers and manufacturers access to both the trade and consumer markets via one single online platform. MMC’s investment enabled e-trader to complete its acquisition of koodos.com which adds a

The sale of Transmark Fcx to McJunkin Red Man Corporation, a Goldman Sachs Capital Partners portfolio company, has been completed, creating a global platform for the distribution of pipe, valves and fitting products.    This cross-border transaction is one of only a few significant distribution transactions to be completed since

Och-Ziff Capital Management made a GAAP net loss of USD80m, or USD1.02 per basic and USD1.06 per diluted class A share, for the third quarter ended 30 September 2009. This compares to a GAAP Net Loss of USD69.4m, or USD0.94 per basic and USD1.07 per diluted class A share, for

An affiliate of Lightyear Fund II has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the ING Advisor Network and three of ING Advisor Network’s five broker-dealers. The broker-dealers include Financial Network Investment, Multi-Financial Securities and PrimeVest Financial Services. Valerie Brown, chief executive officer of ING Advisor Network, will remain in her

Barclays Capital’s natural resource investments team has partnered with Richard Hall and Rory Edwards to create an oil and gas development company, Nio Petroleum, which will focus on undeveloped discoveries, marginal fields and late-life assets in South East Asia. Hall and Edwards’ 25 years of experience includes the formulation and

Meritage Midstream Services has been formed with equity commitments from EnCap Energy Infrastructure Fund and TPH Partners. Meritage Midstream provides oil and gas producers with a full complement of midstream services. Capabilities include the gathering, treating and handling of natural gas, crude oil, condensates and water, and carbon dioxide sequestration.