PPF Partners has acquired a 40% stake in Energy and Industrial Holding (EP Holding) for an undisclosed sum. EP Holding is a new group of energy and industrial companies spun off from Czech investment firm J&T Group. The shareholding structure of the newly formed EP Holding has also been finalised today with J&T Group also participating in 40% through its private equity structures and the remaining 20% owned by Daniel Kretinsky, a former J&T Group partner, who is now fully responsible for the management of EP Holding. EP Holding consists of more than 20 companies involved in energy power generation,

SEI’s private equity business has more than doubled in the past 18 months, as more firms adopt operational outsourcing to focus resources on core business functions. New clients include private equity funds from Hamilton Lane and Garrison Capital Management, among others, and SEI’s private equity business now totals more than 200 funds and more than GBP15 billion.   In recent years outsourcing has gained traction in the private equity sector as closed-ended products become more prevalent and managers face pressure from investors demanding independent administration. In addition, the challenges during the market downturn have led managers to focus even more

Conversus Capital, the largest publicly traded portfolio of third party private equity funds, has reduced the management fees it pays to Conversus Asset Management (CAM), the manager of the firm’s investment portfolio. The Conversus Independent Board of Directors has accepted CAM`s proposal to reduce its aggregate management fees by approximately 20% while the company operates under its recently announced realization strategy, which is designed to increase the confidence of investors that the value of the current portfolio will be delivered to its unit holders over time. This reduction is effective retroactively to July 1, 2009 and will result in annual

Palamon Capital Partners, one of Europe’s leading mid-market private equity firms, has appointed Owen Wilson as a Vice President. Wilson’s appointment takes Palamon’s London-based team to 17 investment professionals. The firm, with EUR1.1 billion of equity under management, is currently investing its second Pan-European fund, Palamon European Equity II, LP. Wilson joins Palamon from Candover, where he spent four years and was most recently a Director in the London office. Prior to this he was a consultant at Bain & Company for six years, during which time he was based mainly in London. Wilson graduated from Cambridge University with a

Spigit, provider of a leading innovation management platform for enterprise, has received a USD10 million equity investment from Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm. Spigit will use the growth capital to continue to build on its strong customer base, expanding its product development, and sales and marketing efforts. "We are very excited to have Warburg Pincus on board as we work to position Spigit for expansion on a global scale," said Paul Pluschkell, CEO and Founder of Spigit. "As a worldwide leader in identifying and supporting the growth of exceptional businesses, Warburg Pincus’ investment is an important milestone in

An investor consortium including affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and China International Capital Corporation have made an investment of USD160m for a significant minority stake in International Far Eastern Leasing Company. Far Eastern is a provider of financial leasing in China and a subsidiary of Sinochem Group. The investment will support Far Eastern’s future growth as it moves to capitalise on the attractive potential in the underdeveloped financial leasing space in China. Sinochem is retaining a controlling stake in Far Eastern. “We are very excited to have world-class investors, including KKR as the lead investor,

HarbourVest Global Private Equity, a closed-end investment company listed on Euronext Amsterdam, had an estimated NAV of USD656m or USD7.90 per share at 30 September 2009.  This represents a 0.9 per cent increase from the 31 August 2009 estimated NAV per share of USD7.83. This increase resulted primarily from increases in the value of publicly-traded holdings to 30 September (approximately USD0.06 per share) and foreign currency movement related to non-US dollar-denominated holdings (USD0.03 per share). These gains were partially offset by ongoing operating expenses (USD0.02 per share). During September, HVPE did not make any new commitments or purchase additional interests