Norwest Venture Partners, a venture and growth equity investment firm, has formed its most recent fund, Norwest Venture Partners XI. The USD1.2bn fund will target early to late stage venture and growth equity investments across a wide range of sectors and geographies. The addition of this new fund, the largest fund the firm has closed to date, brings NVP’s total capital and commitments to more than USD3.7bn. NVP XI follows the USD650m NVP X fund, which closed in 2006. The firm has funded over 450 companies since inception. It focuses on information technology, business services, financial services, infrastructure, technology enabled

J.P. Morgan Private Equity has completed its offering of 2015 zero dividend preference shares.  As the offering was oversubscribed, the company has closed on its maximum target of GBP30,000,000. The Company resolved to issue an aggregate of 53,333,333 2015 ZDP Shares at a price of 56.25p per share, representing a 7.46 per cent gross redemption yield to investors. The issue represented the maximum number of shares offered under the prospectus published by the company on 10 November 2009. As such, the company’s board of directors has indicated that it does not intend to issue any additional 2015 ZDP Shares in

NBGI Private Equity has backed a GBP13m management buy in of Pasta King UK, which provides pasta meals to schools and other sectors. The business has been acquired from its incumbent management and Matrix Private Equity Partners. Pasta King, which is based in Newton Abbot, Devon, provides meal solutions comprising mostly pasta with fresh sauces. The meals are served hot from “pasta bars” that are loaned out free-of-charge to the customer base. Pasta King has become very in secondary schools because it satisfies government standards on salt, fat, fibre and vegetable content that were imposed on all food served in

Numis Securities believes that now is the time to buy listed private equity funds, particularly those that can still be acquired on a significant discount. It believes the outlook for realisations is improving and there is scope for net asset values to rise due to higher earnings multiples in quoted markets. However, the environment for corporate earnings remains tough and Numis does not expect the strength of the recovery in NAVs and share prices since April to be maintained. Since 1 April 2009, share prices of listed private equity funds have risen by almost 50 per cent compared with a

Triodos Renewables is launching a share issue to raise up to GBP7m which will be invested directly in renewable energy projects. The share issue is only open to existing shareholders and new investors making investments of over GBP50,050. With 15 years’ experience in the field, Triodos Renewables currently operates five renewable projects across the UK, with two more due to come on stream in 2010. The company completed a successful share issue in 2008 raising GBP9.9m. The current share issue will help fund the acquisition and construction of further renewable energy projects in the UK. It follows the acquisition of

A group of venture capital firms has completed the sale of its stakes in Proteolix, a biopharmaceutical company, to Onyx Pharmaceuticals. The group is comprised of Nomura Phase4 Ventures, Westfield Capital Management, Advanced Technology Ventures, Delphi Ventures, Latterell Venture Partners, US Venture Partners and The Vertical Group . Onyx is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in developing therapies that target the molecular mechanisms that cause cancer. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Onyx will pay USD276m in cash upon the closing. In addition, Onyx will pay USD40mi in 2010 based on the achievement of a development milestone and up to

Focus Financial Partners, a partnership of independent wealth management firms, has received a USD50m growth capital investment from Polaris Venture Partners and Summit Partners. Polaris has contributed USD35m and Summit, Focus’ initial backer in January 2006, an additional USD15m. Concurrent with the investment, Focus has extended and amended its bank credit facility with a USD30m accordion to further expand the capital structure. Focus will use the capital to continue with acquisitions of quality wealth management firms. Focus is also dedicating additional resources to a variety of activities to support growth for partners including recruiting and sub acquisitions, expansion of services,

Institutions and financial advisers continue to view alternative investments optimistically, despite their questionable performance, correlation and liquidity during last year’s global downturn, according to a survey by Morningstar and Barron’s. The majority of participants to the survey said they plan to increase allocations to alternatives, but with greater scrutiny and due diligence given to those investments. More than 60 per cent of institutions and advisers believe that alternatives will be as important or more important than traditional investments over the next five years. The majority of institutions and advisers expect alternatives to account for more ten per cent of their