Pond Ventures made successful exits from three portfolio companies during the fourth quarter of 2010. The acquisitions of Broadway Networks Ltd, 4Home and Gigle Networks together returned a substantial portion of drawn capital to Pond’s investors.

 “We are very pleased with these exits and extremely happy for our investment partners and the founders, management teams and employees at each portfolio company,” says Richard Irving, co-founder and General Partner of Pond. “These acquisitions validate our unique investing model, which has sustained exit ratios well above the industry average.  We believe our model will continue to drive value and job creation while

Chinese investment company Fosun Group and global insurance and financial services firm Prudential Financial (PFI) are to to establish a private equity fund, which will be the single largest investment fund supplied to a third party management corporation in PFI’s 135-year history. According to the agreement, PFI, as a limited partner is looking to invest USD500 million in the fund, while Fosun, as a general partner will take responsibility for investment decisions and is looking to invest USD100 million. “The cooperation is based on optimism about the economic prospects for China, as well as the common investment philosophy between PFI

Marport Deep Sea Technologies, a developer and manufacturer of sonar products for the defence and commercial fisheries markets, has secured an equity investment led by Hasting Equity Partners and Admiralty Partners. Boenning & Scattergood, a US based investment banking firm, served as financial advisor to Marport. "This capital raise, at a time of great challenge and uncertainty in the financial markets, is a true testament to the tremendous potential of our Software Defined Sonar technology and products," says Karl Kenny (pictured), Marport’s President and CEO. "This new equity provides Marport with the financial resources it needs to execute its growth

MMC Ventures (MMC), the growth company investor, has invested GBP1.8 million in online retail stockbroker and personal finance media company Interactive Investor Plc.   Interactive Investor offers individuals information and technology to manage their own investments through two channels; online, through Interactive Investor (www.iii.co.uk) and Shareprice.co.uk and offline, through financial magazines Moneywise and Money Observer. MMC is taking a significant minority stake in the business, which has revenues of GBP14 million. “The retail brokerage market has experienced exponential growth and we expect that to continue as an increasing number of people take more control over their own savings and investments

Maven has provided expansion funding to John McGavigan Limited (JML), a manufacturer of decorative assemblies and interior parts for the automotive industry. The business, which enjoys a significant share of the Western European market and has an increasing presence in Eastern Europe, employs over 130 staff at its modern plant in Bishopbriggs near Glasgow and is at the forefront of automotive assemblies technology, supplying Tier 1 manufacturers such as Bosch, Visteon, Continental and Yazaki. JML components are widely used by global brand car makers producing affordable high volume cars, including Ford, GM, Jaguar/Landrover and Toyota. The company was acquired in

US private equity fund-raising defied expectations in 2010, declining even further from the low levels of 2009, according to figures from Dow Jones LP Source. In all, 336 funds raised USD86.3 billion in 2010, down 16% from the USD102.2 billion raised by 366 funds in 2009. While most sectors experienced a slowdown, 2010 saw a few bright spots as distressed debt funds, mezzanine funds and industry-focused funds raised more money than they did in 2009. Although overall fund-raising was down for the year, in the fourth quarter, firms raised USD26.7 billion in 65 funds, up 19% from the USD22.5 billion

Private equity fund managers expect to close more new deals in the coming year than they did during the past 12 months, according to the second annual PErspective study by BDO USA, LLP.   Almost half (49 per cent) of respondents expect to close three or more deals during the next 12 months compared with only 31 per cent who reported closing three or more deals during the past year. More specifically, nearly two-fifths (38 per cent) of respondents expect to close between three and five new deals in the coming year, while only 16 per cent having reported closing

Venture capital and growth equity firm Accel Partners is planning planning to open a New York City office. The firm currently manages over USD6bn globally and also has offices in Palo Alto, Bangalore, Beijing, London, New Delhi, and Shanghai. Accel Partners has made over 15 investments in companies in the New York City area over the past three years, and plans to continue its active New York City-based investment pace going into 2011. The firm’s active New York City area investments include industry-leading startups such as: Diapers.com-Quidsi, Etsy, Squarespace, Glam Media, Collective Media, Learnvest, Bonobos, Bauble Bar, and additional seed-stage