The Isle of Man has launched a new private equity proposition which offers opportunities for the establishment of a private equity fund set up as a specialist fund. This fund will have fees levied by Isle of Man based fund administrators and investment managers which would be exempt from VAT in the Isle of Man.   The specialist fund structure will have a minimum investment of USD100,000 and requires a regulated administrator. There is no mandatory custodian requirement or direct asset manager. The structure offers zero corporate tax for the specialist fund and for Isle of Man domiciled managers and

Private equity investments by number of companies has increased worldwide for the fifth consecutive quarter, up six per cent from Q2 2010 and the highest number of companies since Q4 2008, according to research by Thomson Reuters. Asia is the only region which has seen a quarterly decline, down 14 per cent from Q2 2010 and at the lowest level since Q3 2009. Activity in Europe and the Americas has both increased from Q2 2010, up 14 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively. Three firms share the top spot for the highest number of buyout investments: Riverside Company, Goldman

Eurazeo saw a growth in consolidated revenues of 5.2 per cent on a comparable basis for the third quarter to EUR1,094.8m. This compares to growth of 2.2 per cent in the first quarter and 3.2 per cent in the second quarter. Revenues for first nine months totalled EUR2,987.8m, an increase of 3.6 per cent on a comparable basis. Eurazeo has EUR900m available as of 31 October 2010. The sale of B&B Hotels, effective 28 September 2010, generated net proceeds for Eurazeo of EUR184m.   The group’s net asset value per share as of 31 October was EUR69.3. This reflects the

IK Investment Partners, a pan-European private equity firm, has agreed to acquire EPiServer Group from Amadeus Capital, Martin Bjäringer, Monterro Holdings, Northzone Ventures, Mikael Runhem and family and employees.    EPiServer is a provider of platforms that drive online engagement with revenues of SEK192m in 2009. Financials for the deal were not disclosed. EPiServer is a Swedish software company offering a range of products and services combining content, commerce, community and communication, which enables organisations to manage and optimise their online presence. EPiServer is represented in several other countries such as Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, the UK and the

A new endorsement from the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies aims to provide venture capital and private equity firms with enhanced insurance coverage that addresses the evolving regulatory and economic environments and increasingly complex deal structures. The endorsement is an enhancement to Chubb’s Venture Capital Asset Protection policy, which covers directors and officers liability, errors and omissions liability and outside directorship liability under one contract. Among other features, the endorsement eliminates scheduling requirements for funds, investment holding companies and newly-created funds engaged in similar activities as the existing funds; includes a new, less restrictive "organisation vs. insured" exclusion compared to

Venture capitalist Joe Hudson and agricultural asset manager Phil Christensen are taking several investors on a Central Valley tour to introduce them to what makes California agriculture a USD30bn industry and educate them about agricultural related companies as potential investments. Christensen says: "California is the world’s fifth largest supplier of food and agricultural commodities. The various players in California agriculture are some of the most sophisticated in the world and compete on a global scale. Many investors however, are not familiar with the industry and the way it works, because it is different from other sectors such as technology and