Monomoy Capital Partners, a private equity firm that makes control equity investments in under-performing companies in the lower middle market, has held the final closing of its second restructuring fund, Monomoy Capital Partners II with USD400 million of Limited Partner commitments.   Monomoy’s Fund II exceeded the firm’s USD350 million fundraising target, filled its USD400 million legal “hard cap” for institutional limited partner commitments and was significantly oversubscribed at its final closing. Including a separate executive fund and the financial commitments of the general partner, Monomoy has the ability to invest approximately USD420 million through its second fund vehicle. Monomoy

Lower middle-market buyout firm High Street Capital has completed the sale of Countryside Hospice Care, a wholly-owned portfolio company of High Street Capital III SBIC, to SolAmor Hospice, a subsidiary of Sun Healthcare Group. Countryside, which is based in Anniston, Alabama and provides in-home hospice services in 114 counties in Alabama and Georgia, was acquired in 2005 through High Street’s third investment fund. Following the acquisition, High Street grew earnings by refining the go-to-market strategy, building out the management team and improving operations to expand rapidly into contiguous markets. “The expanded management team at Countryside and High Street Capital forged

Holtzbrinck Ventures has closed its fourth Fund, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures Fund IV at EUR177m, raising capital from both Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck and funds managed by HarbourVest Partners, LLC. Holtzbrinck Ventures, which will now operate as a fully independent venture fund, will continue to execute its strategy of investing in promising early stage companies within the new media sector, which has been consistently successful over the last 12 years. Holtzbrinck will continue its strong support of Holtzbrinck Ventures through its investment in the new fund. Holtzbrinck Ventures has invested in over 80 new media companies since 1998 and has founded

EyeSense AG, a venture capital-backed developer of novel ophthalmic self-diagnostic systems for glucose monitoring of diabetes patients, has entered into a strategic partnership with QIAGEN. Capitalising on QIAGEN’s ESE fluorescence-based optical technology and on Eyesense’s glucose sensing technology, the partners intend to develop a new optical measurement technology for blood glucose monitoring in diabetes patients.   QIAGEN acquired a minority equity stake in EyeSense, and attained royalty rights for future commercialisation. Both the investment and the partnership are aimed at further expanding the range of applications for the growing segment of point-of-need testing and individualised treatment of patients. Financial details

Bauwert Investment Group has sold the new Peek & Cloppenburg fashion store in Kassel to Warburg – Henderson Kapitalgesellschaft für Immobilien, a Hamburg-based real estate investment company.   The buyer of the new four-storey structure, designed by the Roller architectural firm, is a specialist for cross-European real estate funds. The gross retail space of 7,300 square metres will be solely used by the high-street apparel chain Peek & Cloppenburg. The purchase price of the deal, which was facilitated on the buyer side by Hamburgische Immobilien Handlung (HIH), has not been disclosed.   “The early sale of this project on Königsplatz

Perceva Capital, the French private equity investor active in special situations, has raised EUR150m from over a dozen institutional investors in France, the United States, Europe and Asia. This fundraising will enable Perceva Capital to recapitalise, over the coming years, twelve or so companies that are facing complex operational or financial challenges. “We are delighted to see that our model is attracting new institutional investors," says Jean-Louis Grevet, President of Perceva. "Companies that have reached a turning point need fast and adapted answers. Our high flexibility and tailored solutions offer these companies real benefits.”    

End of year results suggest the private equity deals sector has recovered following the financial crisis, with both the value and volume of deals and exits returning to, or exceeding, pre-crisis levels, according to latest figures released by Preqin. Some 811 PE-backed exits occurred in 2010, with an aggregate exit transaction size of USD203bn. This is almost three times the aggregate exit value seen in 2009, (USD73.6bn), with Q4 exit value at USD71.8bn – the highest quarterly figure on record. The largest deal announced during 2010 was the USD5.3bn public-to-private acquisition of Del Monte Foods Company by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts,