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The proportion of senior private equity roles held by women in Asia and Rest of World-based private equity firms has increased from 8.7% in 2011 to 10.4% in 2012, the latest Preqin research shows.
The increase puts firms in the region ahead of their counterparts in North America and Europe, where averages of 9.2% and 9.9% of senior roles respectively are filled by women.
There has been an increase across all geographies in the proportion of women employed in senior roles; in 2011 8.9% of senior roles were undertaken by women at North America-based firms, while the figure stood at
William Yonge, a private investment funds practitioner focusing on financial services regulation, has joined Morgan Lewis as a partner in the firm’s Business & Finance practice, based in London. Yonge’s arrival at Morgan Lewis comes shortly after funds partner Noel Ainsworth joined the firm in January.
“It is more important than ever to be able to offer clients guidance on ever-changing regulations,” says Louis Singer, leader of the Private Investment Funds team in the Business & Finance practice at Morgan Lewis. “William’s extensive knowledge of United Kingdom and European Union regulatory issues will be tremendously valuable to our clients.”
Yammer, Inc, a provider of enterprise social networks, has received USD85 million in its fifth round of funding, bringing its total financing to USD142 million. DFJ Growth, part of the core team at leading venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, led the round, with participation by new investors Meritech Capital Partners; Capricorn Investment Group LLC, the investment arm of Jeff Skoll; Khosla Ventures; and CrunchFund.
Previous investors Charles River Ventures, Emergence Capital, Founders Fund, Social+Capital Partnership, and US Venture Partners also participated, as did angel investors Bill Lee, Max Levchin, and NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott. Randy Glein, managing
Blackstone portfolio company Center Parcs is to start construction on a fifth site at Woburn (Bedfordshire) to complement its four existing sites.
Investment funds managed by Blackstone, will support this important capital project by committing to invest approximately GBP100m of new cash equity into the business. Four leading UK banks – RBS, Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group – have committed to a construction loan of approximately GBP150m.
The development will inject over GBP250m into the British economy, and will employ over 1200 contractors during the construction phase. Once opened, Center Parcs Woburn Forest will employ 1500 people on a
Private equity firm Teakwood Capital has acquired staff paging and management systems specialist Long Range Systems Inc (LRS).
LRS is best known for its patented “coaster pager” that most people have received when waiting for a table or an order at a restaurant. LRS currently serves customers across twenty industries, from restaurants, hospitals, daycares, and amusement parks to churches and retirement homes. LRS has millions of devices deployed globally at approximately 75,000 locations. The Company has offices in ten countries spread across six continents.
LRS systems demonstrate fast payback and high return on investment by delivering streamlined operations, improved service,
NBGI Private Equity has backed the management buyout of ATR Group, the Aberdeen-based oil & gas rental services business. An equity and debt financing package of over GBP20m has been put in place, with significant capital allocated to fund the growth strategy of the business.
A market leader in the rental of specialised tools and equipment principally for the offshore oil & gas industry, ATR also provides a comprehensive range of added value support services including outsourced fleet management, health and safety compliance, and inspection and certification of equipment. ATR Group has a long-standing, loyal blue-chip customer base and
Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust PLC, the private equity investment trust managed by Dunedin the UK mid-market private equity house, has reported a significant increase in value across its portfolio, as reflected by the uplift in net asset value announced for the year to 31 December 2011.
During 2011 Dunedin Enterprise’s net assets increased from GBP150.1 million to GBP163.0 million, an increase of 8.8%. The share price moved from 300.0p to 313.5p over the same period. Dunedin Enterprise also recently announced that it sold its entire investment in SWIP Private Equity Fund of Funds II plc to a number of third
The European Commission is launching a process to review European pension regulation with Michel Barnier (pictured), European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services opening a public hearing on the review of the “IORP Directive”. The European Commission aims to make important elements of the Solvency II legislation for insurance companies applicable to IORPs across Europe. This objective is repeated in the Commission’s White Paper on Pensions, which talks of a “level playing field with Solvency II”.
A broad coalition of trades unions, employers groups and pension fund representatives, including the ETUC, EVCA and EFRP, has issued a joint press release,
The Management team of Natixis Capital Partners has successfully concluded a Management Buy-out and effective 1 March, 2012, will operate fully independently under the name Captiva Capital Management (Captiva).
The buy-out team has been working together since 2001, and has developed strong relationships with leading institutional investors, including pension funds, insurance companies and financial institutions. To date, Captiva has invested EUR 1.3 billion of equity capital in the real estate sector on behalf of its institutional clients, either directly or through specialised investment platforms. Those investments include over 1,500 properties across Europe worth more than EUR8 billion.
Building on this
GeneWeave Biosciences, developer of a platform for the rapid detection of infectious disease, has raised USD12 million in a series A round of venture capital led by Decheng Capital. Existing investors Claremont Creek Ventures and X/Seed Capital also participated in the round.
The company also announced that Min Cui (pictured), Managing Director at Decheng Capital, will join the company’s board of directors.
Steve Tablak, the CEO of GeneWeave Biosciences, says the latest infusion of capital will be used to complete the development, validation and clearance of the initial test for the company’s platform. The company has developed a breakthrough molecular
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