May 2008 Issue

In India, almost half of the population don't have access to mains electricity – a fact that brings the activities of the country's new generation of infrastructure investors into sharp focus. Andy Thomson recently met with Michael Queen in London to find out more about 3i's ambitious plans for India as well as his thoughts about the broader infrastructure opportunity.

Emerging New York 2008-05-01 Staff Writer On 27 and 28 March, nearly 400 delegates gathered for the 2008 Emerging Markets Private Equity Forum: New York – the first event of its kind in the US, and a follow-on to the highly successful conferences in London jointly sponsored by the Emerging Mark

A VantagePoint-backed solar energy company has landed a record government contract that may herald a new era in US energy.

A New York biotech firm is placing investor capital in a new kind of Argentine vineyard.

Paris-based Société Générale Asset Management Alternative Investments is raising a €150 million ($237 million) to €200 million fund for investment in North Africa and the Levant, which will hold its third close imminently. PEI spoke to CIO Andrew Brown about the nature of the opportunity.

African private equity firms are mining a potentially rich seam.

Australia is the destination for Partners Group as it further spreads its wings in the Asian region.

The task of modernising India's notoriously bad infrastructure is finding many willing volunteers.

The private equity ranks are being swelled by leveraged financiers.

Large-ish deals are still possible – with more equity, less debt and a crowded negotiating table.

Tougher times, tougher fundraising? Not if you're a European mid-market GP, it seems.

Lest anyone has forgotten, heavily leveraged buyouts aren't the only tool in the private equity box.

London-headquartered Permira strengthens its US push with the hire of JP Morgan Securities' John Coyle to co-head its New York office.

Hawaii is proving to be no paradise for private equity.

Barry Siadat has left Arsenal Capital to raise a fund focussed on global speciality chemicals.

The firm is taking steps to ensure it has energy and hedge fund strategies in place prior to going public.

An emerging markets private equity firm is launching a highly innovative $1m medical risk management programme for its East African portfolio companies.

The latest musician to be backed by Global Private Equity is creating quite a stir.

Editor's letter Staff 2008-05-01 Writer Private equity triumphalists, of which there are many, believe that this industry will continue to expand because the very model of the private equity partnership is superior to other forms of investment and corporate governance. They believe that, market

Large buyout firms appear to be staging a muted comeback – doubling down on their own debt and helping ease bankers' pain. The internet has been buzzing with opinion on the merits or otherwise.

After attracting interest nearly double its planned €5 billion target, Advent International closed its sixth global buyout fund in April on €6.6 billion ($10.4 billion), a clear indication of LP interest in international private equity opportunities. Ernest Bachrach, who recently dropped by Private Equity International's New York office, explained how the fund will interact with its Latin American counterpart and how Advent's structure differs from a typical mid-market shop.

Last year, Canada's private equity industry set new records. Even without the pending BCE take-private, Canadian buyouts totaled $18.7bn – more than double 2006 levels. Yet the industry is still small relative to the country's $1.2tn GDP. Amanda Janis reports.

What's the real risk of private equity? Christian Diller and Ivan Herger test a number of different portfolios using historic performance data to arrive at an answer.

In 2004, private equity veterans Doug Miller, Luciano Balbo, Stephen Dawson, Michiel de Haan and Stephen Dawson founded the European Venture Philanthropy Association to enable like-minded professionals to promote social change. In April, just over four years into the venture, Miller talked to PEI about the EVPA's progress to date and the many tasks lying ahead – including the raising of an EVPA fund.