Prudent Energy, a clean energy storage company with offices in North America and China, has added another USD10m in venture capital funding to top off its oversubscribed series C round. Jafco Asia, Mitsui Ventures, CEL Partners and other investors will bring total outside funding within the last three months to over USD32m. "We are delighted to welcome new investors to our group," says Johnson Chiang, Prudent Energy’s chief executive. "With their combined experience growing emerging cleantech companies such as ours, we have an even greater opportunity to expand manufacturing while creating pathways into new markets. Our US office in the

Offshore firm Appleby has acted as the Cayman Islands counsel for Costin New Materials Group in relation to its global offering and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 21 June 2010. The Appleby team was led by Tan Li Lee, a counsel in Appleby’s Hong Kong office, assisted by Vincent Chan. Costin is based in the Fujan Province of China and is engaged in the research, development, production and sales of nonwoven fabrics and chemical fibres. The group promotes and markets its products primarily through direct contacts with potential customers and participations in large-scale conferences and exhibitions. To

The Dow Chemical Company has closed the sale of its Styron division to an affiliate of Bain Capital Partners, the private equity firm.  Dow has elected to retain a 7.5 per cent equity position in Styron, which is now a privately held materials company. Also included in the transaction are several long-term supply, service and purchase agreements between Dow and Styron that aim to generate additional value for both companies.   “The Styron divestiture is another major step in Dow’s transformation and a strong example of our disciplined approach to portfolio management and business prioritization,” says Andrew N. Liveris (pictured),

Paragon Wealth Management, a registered investment adviser firm, has created a video on the front page of its website to discuss why active wealth management is more effective than passive. "There has always been a debate of whether buy and hold is better," says Dave Young, president of Paragon Wealth Management. "My argument for the buy and holders is, ‘how long should you hold?’" Young has done research to determine the most effective wealth management strategies. He has tried and tested these strategies since 1985. "There is nothing intrinsic about active management that says it is better," says Young. "It

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Usen, the Tokyo-based cable broadcaster and media content provider, have signed a definitive agreement whereby KKR will acquire Intelligence, the recruitment services subsidiary of Usen, for JPY32.5bn (approximately USD356m). Established in 1989, Intelligence’s three core business areas are permanent job placement, temporary staffing and outsourcing, and job search advertising. "Intelligence is a dynamic company with a highly capable and enthusiastic management team. As one of the few recruitment services firms in Japan providing such a comprehensive offering, the company is well positioned to take advantage of an anticipated upturn in economic activity. Further growth of the

The Teamsters Union has requested that private equity firms be prohibited from acting as underwriters for the public offerings of companies they control in a letter to the chief executives of NYSE Euronext and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Teamster-affiliated pension and benefit funds have more than USD100bn invested in the capital markets. Citing concerns about the Kohlberg Kravis Roberts initial public offering of Dollar General last year, the Teamsters called Finra’s current rules "woefully inadequate to deal with the striking conflict of interests caused by private equity firms such as KKR acting as managers for IPOs of their portfolio

Vanguard Management, a business unit of Vanguard Minerals, has entered into a business development agreement with Genesis Venture Fund India I, a private venture capital fund that makes investments in emerging growth companies in India. Under the terms of the agreement, Vanguard Management will provide ongoing business development and management consulting services to Genesis portfolio companies and assist with opening new markets for portfolio company services in India and Sri Lanka. Under the deal, Vanguard agrees to provide the above consulting services for a term of 24 months. Genesis will be issued 125,000 common shares of Vanguard as part of

Partners Group, the private markets investment manager, has closed its latest European mezzanine programme at EUR553m, making it the largest dedicated direct private debt investment programme raised by the company to date. Investors including corporate and public pension plans, insurance companies, financial institutions, endowments and high net worth individuals from around the world participate in the programme. Mezzanine loans offer appealing risk/return characteristics to investors. Interest margins above Euribor are at historically high levels, while the average equity contribution in the first quarter of 2010 remained close to record highs both in Europe and in the US at around 50