Berkshire Partners has enlisted the help of Dimension Data as the private equity firm makes the move into new offices. Dimension has optimised the technology capabilities of Berkshire Partners’ new offices and accelerated the company’s communications systems, by implementing multiple network and communications solutions and integrating the company’s Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) with a Cisco IP-Telephony network. Dimension Data implemented a Cisco local area network (LAN) with 10-Gigabit Ethernet, a secure Cisco Wireless LAN and Cisco ASA firewalls. Additionally, Dimension Data deployed the Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Unity Unified Messaging and Cisco Unified Presence Server integrated with Microsoft

Morgan Stanley Private Equity (MSPE) and Denver-based Sterling Energy Company have formed a strategic partnership whereby MSPE has made a majority equity investment in a newly formed company called Sterling Investment Holdings, LLC (Sterling Energy) to support the growth of Sterling Energy’s midstream business in Colorado and North Dakota. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Sterling Energy provides natural gas gathering and processing infrastructure and related services for oil and gas production companies through its two gathering systems — the Yenter System, serving Denver-Julesburg (DJ) and Niobrara production in northeast Colorado, and the Ambrose System, serving Williston and

High Street Partners (HSP) has closed a USD6.3m Series C round of financing led by institutional venture capital investor Baird Venture Partners. The funding round also included existing investor Sigma Partners and Gold Hill Capital.   HSP will use the proceeds to build-out its Shared Service Centers and accelerate the delivery of several key features of its software-as-a-service offering, HSP OverseasConnect. Benedict Rocchio (pictured), partner at Baird Venture Partners, has been elected to the HSP board of directors. He will join existing board members Paul Flanagan, managing director of Sigma Partners, Gerard Phelan, vice president at RR Donnelly, and Larry

Ares Management LLC has acquired the investment platform of Wrightwood Capital, a highly respected provider of debt capital to the US commercial real estate sector. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. "This transaction represents a unique opportunity to further build out the Ares Private Debt Group by adding specific industry expertise from a talented group of professionals and expanding our reach into commercial real estate lending–an area we see having attractive long-term growth opportunities," says Tony Ressler, Senior Partner and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Ares Management. "This asset class will be supported by our experienced pool of

The quarter ending 31 March, 2011, was the eighth in a row to yield positive returns for private equity and venture capital funds, according to Cambridge Associates LLC. Private equity continued to outperform venture capital over the five- and 10-year periods ending 31 March, while the situation remained reversed for the 15- and 20-year periods ending on the same date, with venture capital far out-distancing private equity. Both fund types underperformed the public markets during the first quarter but continued to generate significantly greater returns than the public markets over the longest time horizons measured by the benchmarks. The private

Vulcan Capital, the private investment group of Paul G Allen, and a group of investors led by LKCM Capital Group, LLC (LKCM), the alternative investment vehicle for Luther King Capital Management, have launched Ascentium Capital, a lender focused on the important but underserved market for small-balance commercial loans and leases in the United States. Ascentium Capital will acquire a USD150 million portfolio of commercial loans and leases from Main Street Bank (Main Street), as well as a state of the art small business origination and servicing platform. Separately, Main Street has reached an agreement to sell its branches and deposits