Normandy Real Estate Partners and Five Mile Capital Partners have executed a lease for Bain Capital to relocate its Boston offices to the John Hancock Tower. Bain Capital, a private investment firm, has signed a 15 year lease spanning at least seven contiguous floors of Boston’s tallest office tower. It initially comprises 208,000 square feet, with the option to expand to up to 270,000 square feet prior to occupancy. Bain Capital anticipates occupying its new offices beginning in the autumn of 2011. The new lease will bring the total occupancy at the John Hancock Tower to approximately 95 per cent.

Corporate finance adviser, Close Brothers Corporate Finance, has been renamed DC Advisory Partners.    The change in the company name follows the sale of Close Brothers Corporate Finance to Daiwa Capital Markets in July 2009.  DC Advisory Partners remains an independent advisory business, with the capacity to draw on the resources of its parent operations in Asia and the United States. The company currently has nine European offices (in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Poland), employing over 200 practitioners, and provides independent, conflict free advice through its pan-European offices and its sister companies in Asia and the United

VTB Capital has closed a minority stake acquisition in EPAM Systems, a global software engineering and IT consulting provider with delivery centers throughout Central and Eastern Europe and headquarters in the USA, which was established in 1993. Over 90% of the company’s staff are based in Russia and Belorussia. EPAM Systems’ CEO is Arkadiy Dobkin, while the largest shareholder is private equity firm, Russia Partners managed by Drew J Guff. “Our investment in EPAM is another incremental step in executing the VTB Capital’s strategy to expand asset management business by investing in private companies," says Yuri Soloviev (pictured), Global CEO

Emerging markets asset manager Ashmore has launched the Ashmore PTC India Energy Infrastructure Fund, a joint venture with PTC India Limited, one of India’s leading energy sector institutions. The fund will provide equity financing to power projects across all energy related sectors in India, including generation, transmission, distribution, fuel extraction and fuel transport infrastructure. As a way of meeting the widening demand supply gap in India, the fund will target the private sector to lead the initial investments and exit through strategic sales and public markets once assets mature. In order to secure various exit channels the portfolio will contain an optimum

The Irish office of international law firm Maples and Calder has advised Belfast-based software company Aepona Group on its USD10 million funding round led by BlackBerry Partners Fund. Existing Aepona investors Amadeus Capital Partners, Polaris Ventures, Innovacom, Nordic Venture Partners and Sutter Hill Ventures also participated in the round. "We are delighted to continue to advise Aepona – a key player in the network as a service and mobile cloud computing space," says Colm Rafferty (pictured), Partner and Head of the Growth Companies Group at Maples. "This is a significant equity fundraising and it is encouraging to see international investors

Prudent Asset Management has launched a private equity shipping fund, the First Maritime Fund, which will invest in the small- to medium-size sector of the dry bulk shipping market. Prudent was advised by Carne Global Financial Services on establishing the optimal structure for the fund.   The fund’s investment focus is on the acquisition and operation of small to medium-sized (25,000 to 65,000 dry weight tonnage) – vessels to ensure greatest possible versatility for cargo transported and accessibility of harbours, making this the most dynamic sub-sector of the industry. Danad Shipping Compnay Ltd will be the exclusive ship manager for

London based investment and advisory firm Ariadne Capital has secured GBP2.9 million of funding for five UK based high growth start-ups in the last six months, with several additional deals soon to close. Ariadne focuses on early stage investments in internet and mobile companies led by entrepreneurs with an existing track record. In particular, Ariadne prioritises ‘game changing ideas’ in the areas of business applications, media technology, digital entertainment and financial services for consumers and small business.   “The winners of this stage of web development are those companies whose business models organise the economics of the ecosystem in which

4vco, a UK consultancy specialising exclusively in private equity (PE) operations, has identified significant differences in the operational set-up of PE furms. A key finding is that many PE firms significantly underutilize the full benefits that software and technology can provide in boosting performance, efficiency and relationships with investors. However, as a result of the financial crisis, operational processes are now moving to the ‘sweet spot’ of PE firms’ attention as they undertake a healthy degree of introspection and seek to boost internal and operational efficiencies. 

 Whilst the effects of the downturn on the PE sector are already well documented,