Kevin Ley

The New York-based private equity firm will purchase the outstanding shares of PharmaNet Development Group for $5 a share in a deal valued at close to $100 million.

While not triggering a feared mass exodus, the UK's recent tax changes have led to worries about the country's future as a financial headquarters.

A new report says half of the UK firms pledged to the Walker Report guidelines do not meet the bar for transparency.

A recent amendment finalised between The Blackstone Group and special purpose acquisitions company Hicks Acquisition makes it easier for either party to back out of an agreement to take Graham Packaging public in a $3.2bn IPO.

Paul Charron, who joined Warburg in 2007, will replace Ripplewood chairman Harvey Golub at the global foods company. Charron will begin chairing the company in August 2009 as it seeks to expand in new markets like Russia and China.

The London-based venture philanthropy firm has hired former Goldman Sachs executive director Meredith Niles as it seeks to double the size of its portfolio in the next four years.

Profits in the fourth quarter for the New York-based firm, which manages more than $1tn in assets, were hit especially hard by hedge fund and real estate losses.

The private equity branch of French bank Crédit Agricole has bolstered its special situations and venture capital groups, with an eye toward Germany and northern Europe.

The distressed buyout firm’s acquisition of nearly 70% of First Bank & Trust could lead to further banking asset purchases in the future.

The Swiss health-care investor is raising its second venture capital fund, which will focus on the growing private health care sector in Europe.