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The Australian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCAL) has welcomed the Commonwealth Government’s announcement to fund up to AUD100 million to venture capital (VC) funds to commercialise Australian innovation and research.
This exceeds the expected AUD60 million which was the remaining allocation for the IIF program.
The funding from the Innovation Investment Fund (IIF) program must be matched by private sector investors before VC fund managers can invest the “IIF tranche four” funds in early stage companies developing new technology.
AVCAL CEO Dr Katherine Woodthorpe (pictured) says the IIF program has proved successful since it started in 1997, enabling
The UK Government has published its response to its consultation on changing the VCT rules, including significant commitments that the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) is pleased to endorse.
Draft legislation reconfirms the Government’s desire to increase the range of companies eligible for VCT investment. This includes SMEs with: assets of up to GBP15 million before investment (up from the current ceiling of GBP7 million); up to 250 employees (up from the current limit of 50) and increasing the amount an individual SME can receive from GBP2 million to GBP10 million.
These rules have to be agreed with the
Private equity growth funds of vintages 2006 and 2007 have produced median returns of 7.8% and 7.3% respectively, despite investing as the economic downturn hit, data from the recently launched Preqin Growth Benchmarks shows.
Growth funds of vintage 2006 outperformed their buyout counterparts, which generated a median IRR of 6.1%.
Growth funds of vintages 2006 and 2007 have called up 80% and 74.9% of capital respectively.
The difference between the best and worst performing funds’ multiples has shrunk for funds of more recent vintages; while the gap between the top and bottom quartile boundaries for funds of vintage 2005 is
With mid-market private equity firms seeking to raise more than EUR50bn in Europe over the next 24 months, relations between fund managers and investors have never been more important. However, according to Acanthus’s LP-GP Survey 2011, there is little agreement on terms and conditions and on the level and quality of communications to investors.
An astonishing 97% of LPs agreed or tended to agree that current fee structures cause a divergence of interests between the parties, while just 22% of GPs concurred. Further emphasising the gulf in expectations, just 15% of limited partners rated general partner communications as "good",
Funds providing private investment capital to companies located largely outside the US earned solid returns during the second quarter, aided by a weakened US dollar that helped to boost foreign currency returns, according to a commentary published by Cambridge Associates.
For the second quarter in a row, private equity and venture capital investments in non-US developed markets bested the performance of similar investments in emerging markets. As in the prior period, both asset classes generated better returns than their public market counterparts.
Cambridge Associates LLC Global ex US Developed Markets Private Equity and Venture Capital Index includes private equity and
JWI Capital, a Cleveland, Ohio based investment firm, has completed a controlling equity investment in Weaver Express Blower Services, an installer and manufacturer of compost-based filter socks and other compost-based products for erosion and sediment control applications.
Weaver’s compost-based filter sock products and services primarily focus on eliminating or minimising sediment run-off from construction sites. Weaver also provides other environmental services such as stream bank restoration, and steep slope stabilisation by utilising "green" bio-engineered technology.
Weaver Express was founded in 2000 by Kevin and Keith Weaver, who have retained an ownership position in the business and will continue to work for
Four Blackstone portfolio companies have signed on to pursue environmental sustainability programs. Equity Office Properties, LXR Luxury Resorts and Hotels, Performance Food Group, and Pinnacle Foods have selected test sites at which to roll-out a host of operational improvements and technology upgrades to reduce energy, water and waste-related costs.
The goal is to roll-out the most effective initiatives from the test sites across each company’s portfolio of facilities and locations, with annual cost savings estimated to exceed 10% of total energy costs. Today’s announcement is part of an ongoing effort by Blackstone to focus on sustainability across the portfolio of
The Aureos Africa Health Fund has invested USD2.75 million in a Kenyan healthcare devices company, Revital Healthcare EPZ Limited (Revital).
Revital is based in Mombasa and specialises in the manufacture of single use auto disable hypodermic syringes (AD Syringes). AD Syringes are a key weapon in reducing the transmission of HIV and other blood-borne diseases as they disable after a single use, guaranteeing that they cannot be reused. Their use is mandated by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation.
In addition to the production of AD Syringes, Revital produces a range of other disposable medical products.
The Africa
Atlante Ventures Mezzogiorno, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group’s venture capital fund, is betting on Italian technological innovation and investing EUR4.6 million in three young companies based in Southern Italy: Pantea, Samares and SpinVector.
The three businesses, selected according to their extensive growth potential and goals of becoming leading companies in the coming years, share some fundamental characteristics: they are high-tech firms and plan to invest in Southern Italy, the part of the country for which the fund was created.
If Admantx, the investment of EUR2 million signed last summer, is also considered, the total investment commitments assumed by Atlante
SES Holdings Ltd (Saxon) has merged its rig business with the business of the Schlumberger Rig Management Group. Under the terms of the transaction, 14 Schlumberger land drilling rigs and crews in Oman, Pakistan, and Venezuela will become part of Saxon’s expanded international operations.
Saxon will also provide technical drilling contracting support to existing Schlumberger joint ventures and operations in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Iraq, and Venezuela (Lake Maracaibo).
The transaction represents Saxon’s first entry into the Middle East and North Africa region; thereby growing and diversifying the business in key international markets. The transaction not only provides Saxon with increased
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