Private equity firm The Carlyle Group has agreed to purchase the management contracts on USD5.1bn in collateralised loan obligations and other credit assets from Stanfield Capital Partners, a fixed income asset manager based in New York. The transaction, part of a broader strategy to expand the scope and depth of Carlyle’s global credit alternatives business, would increase credit AUM to USD18.1bn from its current USD13bn. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to investor consent and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2010.   Mitch Petrick, Carlyle managing director and head of the global credit

Grant Thornton has produced a white paper offering a number of suggestions for healthcare organisations to assist them in restoring rigor and discipline throughout their businesses. With the uncertainty surrounding healthcare reform, the effects of a slow-to-recover economy, and the constraints of tight credit markets, the healthcare industry is facing challenging times. These factors, combined with rising costs, lower reimbursement rates, and higher levels of charitable care and bad debt, have limited financing options that were readily available to the industry for years, putting a growing strain on healthcare systems around the country. “Prior to the financial sector meltdown, those

J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services has signed an agreement to acquire the private equity administration services business of Schroders, subject to regulatory approval. Based in Guernsey and Bermuda, the private equity administration services business currently has USD6.2bn in committed capital under administration. "This acquisition emphasises our commitment to continuing to build out our industry-leading private equity administration offering," says Conrad Kozak (pictured), chief executive of J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services. "It allows us to expand the global footprint of our private equity administration business, while at the same time allowing us to further deepen our relationship with Schroders." Schroders’ private

Maranon Capital has provided senior and mezzanine debt as well, as an equity co-investment in partnership with Gridiron Capital and management, to support an investment in TharpeRobbins. The transaction is Maranon’s seventh investment overall and its second one-stop financing. TharpeRobbins was formed in 2007 through the merger of The Tharpe Company, founded in 1981, and The Robbins Company, founded in 1892. It specialises in managed reward and recognition programmes.   “Our selection of a financing partner placed a premium on simplicity and flexibility,” says Tom Burger, Gridiron Capital’s managing partner. “The investment in TharpeRobbins will provide additional capital to continue

Ludgate Environmental Fund has invested GBP730,000 into 10,000,000 ordinary shares of Hightex Group, equivalent to 5.3 per cent of its issued share capital. Hightex is one of only two companies operating internationally to design and install large area membrane roofs and façades. It uses environmentally friendly materials and innovative coatings which help reduce energy costs.   Ludgate Environmental Fund will work with Hightex to help realise the potential of SolarNext, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hightex. SolarNext has developed a solar cooling system in kit form, able to be retro-fitted to many kinds of structures, managed by a controller which

Deutsche Börse’s IPO indicator for quarter two 2010 shows that sentiment concerning initial public offerings on the German equities market is increasingly positive. Falling volatility on equity markets combined with increasing share prices indicates heightened issuing activity. Parallel to this, market participants’ expectations concerning IPOs have continued to improve. Market participant’s perception that the difference between the issuing price and first listing price, the underpricing, recently decreased, is having a dampening effect. All in all, the environment for IPOs appears to be steadily improving. The IPO indicator, which is published each quarter, is a barometer for companies seeking capital that

In the first quarter of 2010 venture capitalists from around the world invested USD7bn in 919 deals for companies based in the US, Europe, Canada, Israel, mainland China and India, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. This is a 13 per cent increase over the USD6.2bn invested in 860 deals during same period last year. "It appears that the rebound in venture capital investment took hold in 2009," says Jessica Canning, global research director for Dow Jones VentureSource. "After bottoming out in the first quarter of 2009, most regions around the world are seeing investment gradually pick up." Companies based in

Venture capital funding in the life sciences sector, which includes the biotechnology and medical device industries, captured the highest percentage of venture capital dollars invested during the first quarter of 2010, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The report, based on data from Thomson Reuters, shows that life sciences funding for Q1 2010 totalled USD1.3bn in 160 deals, which represents 28 per cent of all venture dollars invested and 23 per cent of total deals during the quarter. Despite capturing the largest percentage of total dollars invested, life sciences investments dropped when compared to Q4 2009, when USD1.8bn was invested