Negotiating private equity fees and terms has previously been challenging due to limited capacity among high-quality general partners and the restricted ability of limited partners to pool their bargaining power, according to Watson Wyatt. In a paper, entitled Private equity fees and terms, the firm suggests fairer fees and terms

Just 17 venture capital funds raised USD1.6bn in the third quarter of 2009, according to Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association. This level represents the smallest number of venture funds raising money in a single quarter since the third quarter of 1994 when 17 funds were also raised

VTB Capital has closed its deal to purchase a 35.4 per cent stake in Lenta, in cooperation with TPG Capital. With its 36 hypermarkets, Lenta is one of the biggest retail chains in Russia. The deal was supported by all shareholders of the company. The shareholders intend to come to

Austrian M&A has seen a total of 51 announced deals valued at USD2.6bn so far in 2009, representing a drop of 66 per cent by value and 37 per cent by volume compared to the first three quarters of 2008, according to mergermarket. The nine month period is the lowest

Music website Deezer has raised EUR6.5m using funds from AGF Private Equity and CM-CIC Capital Prive. This second fundraising brings the company’s total working capital to EUR12 .2m since its creation in August 2007. Guillaume Lautour, partner of AGF Private Equity, is joining the company’s board of directors. With over

Some 19 venture capital trusts changed management group in 2009, with the majority of these due to management buy outs among a number of VCT management groups, according to the Association of Investment Companies. One of these became self-managed and a further five VCTs merged.   In addition, 14 VCTs

The predominance of US-based M&A deal activity has pushed US law firms back into a dominant position in mergermarket’s third quarter M&A value league tables. Propelled by their roles advising US companies on the spate of deal-making activity in the healthcare and technology sectors, firms like Skadden Arps, Simpson Thacher

CBio, an Australian-based drug development company, has completed a AUD10mn capital raising ahead of a planned share market listing later in 2009. The capital raising was underwritten to AUD6m by financial services house Novus Capital which acted as financial adviser and underwriter and will be advising CBio in the IPO

Solvate, a micro-staffing firm that helps business owners and executives to delegate their work, has raised USD2.3m in series A financing from DFJ Gotham and RRE Ventures. "Solvate makes it easy for companies to tap into a pool of experts with experience that is relevant to their business, so they

Low Carbon Accelerator’s unaudited net asset value was GBP38.68m or 44.9 pence per ordinary share at 31 August 2009, a 1.8 per cent increase on the pro forma 31 May NAV of 44.1p per ordinary share. Dr Steve Mahon, chief investment officer for Low Carbon Investors, the investment manager for