Matilda Battersby

The US fund of funds has exceeded its $600m target for a fund which will invest in buyout, venture capital and distressed private equity funds.

The failed Midway bidders have bid a day late for the UK’s Gatwick airport.

Japan’s finance and economics minister has publicly stated his support for a proposed merger between the Aozora and Shinsei banks, in which the government holds significant stakes.

3i Germany is losing managing director and group partner Stephen Kruemmer to ‘personal reasons’ as of tomorrow. He will be jointly replaced by current partners Ulf von Haacke and Peter Wirtz.

The private equity firm has hired Tom Kelly, a former KEMA Partners managing director, to head a new initiative providing fundraising services to a range of different businesses.

HSBC Specialist Investments has already raised €117m towards its target, and says the market is improving.

NB Private Equity, an Amsterdam-listed fund of funds, has joined a European organisation of listed private equity vehicles a month after it changed its name.

The Central and Eastern Europe-focused firm acquired Czech ophthalmic chain Lexum Group for an estimated €20m. ARX,which spun out of Deutsche Beteiligungs last year, secured the deal with senior debt from Czech LLBBW Bank.

New York-based private equity firm Charterhouse Group has led a $47m investment round for NewPath Networks, a wireless infrastructure company. It invested $20m without leverage.

The Boston-based private equity firm reached its target but reportedly fell shy of its hard cap of $1.25bn.