July / August 2004 Issue

AI Capital was formed as a joint venture between Mitsubishi Corporation and Daido Life in July 2002. It provides private equity investment management and advisory services and has launched the first ever Japan-focused private equity fund of funds. Mitsubishi, one of the largest of Japanese Keiretsu, started making private equity investments in the early 1980s and has acted as both a limited partner and general partner since. Daido Life was one of the first Japanese insurance companies to invest in private equity and remains a prominent investor in the asset class. AI Capital offers international investors exposure to Japanese private equity and assists Japan-based institutions in participating in the global private equity industry. Andy Thomson spoke to Kazuo Seki, the firm's president and CEO.

Rick Hayes, the head of the hugely influential, $20 billion private equity programme at CalPERS, has left to become a managing partner at Oak Hill Capital Management. We profile his new employer

In the politically unstable Middle East, private equity is uniquely poised to influence the economic future of the area. Colm Gilmore discovers how a region awash with liquidity is starting to look inwards and tentatively embracing private equity as a source of funding.

Though venture capital activity is dwarfed by its neighbour to the south, Canada has taken steps toward realising its full entrepreneurial potential. By Art Janik

High above midtown New York, a group of distressed debt specialists recently exchanged views on how to turn peril into profit. They debated strategic points related to control versus passive investing and operations enhancement versus forensic credit analysis. But our distressed pros' ultimate goals are identical: buy unusually low, sell somewhere north of there. David Snow chronicles the crossfire

In the past, distressed debt investors have swooped on targets in the US with considerable success. Europe, and particularly Germany, are now looking increasingly inviting too. Andy Thomson reports

In Europe, the emphasis of turnaround professionals is on identifying problems, and taking steps to rectify them, at the earliest possible stage. With interest rates rising, they are set to field an increasing number of enquiries about their services, writes Andy Thomson

After falling into the energy sector “by accident” more than three decades ago, First Reserve's William Macaulay now holds the reins of the world's largest private equity vehicle dedicated solely to the energy industry. He spoke with Art Janik about his passion for the business of energy, and for bird watching

Weak returns among Canada's heavily government-subsidised labour-sponsored investment funds bring into question their future. Independent venture firms won't shed tears at their demise

If you can't beat them, join them. That's the attitude of European growth companies that are seeking US venture capital and a Nasdaq IPO

In a small courtroom in Rockville, Connecticut, the founder of a very large private equity firm is fighting for money and his reputation. It is the closest thing this industry has had to a celebrity trial, and while the general public may find all the talk of placement memoranda and leverage to lack sex appeal, […]

The president of placement agent Atlantic-Pacific goes independent

A lack of venture capital interest remains an obstacle to Singapore becoming a world leader in biotechnology

Connecticut's state treasurer ends a contentious contract with Crossroads

After threatening legal action over its original bid, Newbridge Capital is finally set to acquire a stake in China's Shenzhen Development Bank

RoundTable Healthcare's $565m sale of Sabex to Novartis demonstrates how popular no-name drugs continue to be

Prospects are looking bright for Indian private equity investors – but what are they to make of the country's new government?

The hottest thing in the US middle market is Europe

The 2005 European Private Equity COOs and CFOs Forum

On Sunday 30th January 2005, a group of approximately 30 private equity professionals will set out from Tinga Tinga, a bush camp in Tanzania, to climb Mt Kilimanjaro. The brainchild of European placement agents Ian Simpson of Helix Associates and Doug Miller (IPEL), the purpose of the eight-day expedition apart from the personal achievement of […]

Investors in the UK group's third private equity fund have brought in Nova Capital Management to take over the management of its portfolio

Larry Goldfarb, the head of Larkspur, California-based BayStar Capital, which makes private investments in public equities, or PIPEs, sure knows how to put the “fun” into “fund manager.” From a recent blurb that appeared in the New York Post's infamous Page 6: “[Film star] Sean Penn needed two security guards at Nocturne to fend off […]

LPs in funds advised by BC Partners have been informed that three of the firm's managing partners will retire within the next 18 months

The degrees of separation between Ronald Reagan, the late, former president of the US, and Peter Peterson, cofounder and chairman of New York's The Blackstone Group. The two were closely linked through the highest levels of business and the Republican party, but shared differing views on economic policy: Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the […]

Could Summit Partners' recent $273m technology exit point the way for a spate of venture realisations in Europe?

A group of London buyout houses make up a footballing syndicate to score goals for worthy causes

The market is expecting pension funds' interest in private equity to surge in the coming years. But excess demand for the asset class will cause problems

Editor's letter Staff 2004-07-02 Writer Happy times are here again for the leveraged finance markets. After three years of bankruptcies and deteriorating credit conditions, companies are having an easier time paying back their loans. According to Moody's, the junk bond default rate dropped to 3