Fundraising

Pelican Energy’s latest offering was oversubscribed, signaling strong LP appetite for a fund investing in energy services and equipment companies even as oil prices plummeted below $30 a barrel earlier this year.

Healthcare and M&A specialist Richard Zall, a partner at New York-based law firm Proskauer Rose, says PE fund managers need to develop networks of advisers with specialised knowledge if they want to outmanoeuvre strategic buyers.

Boston, a veteran in the placement business, will be based in MVision’s New York office.

The private equity firm that specialises in distressed turnarounds has raised its first fund to invest specifically in European buyouts.

Once raised, the vehicle will commit to three of Johannesburg-based Ethos’ current offerings, including its newly launched credit strategy, and will buy a secondary stake in the firm’s existing sixth fund.

Gary Bialik takes up his post at a time of transition for the New York-based firm, which is considering new investment opportunities after suspending fundraising for its sixth fund last summer.

The latest LP vote provides a way forward for the firm, which had paused fundraising following the death of founder Claudio Sposito in January.

Howard Weiss, former senior VP and CFO at Castle Harlan, has joined Stella Point, a mid-market private equity firm co-founded by Justin Wender, Castle Harlan’s president from 2006-2010.

The European mid-market investor has promoted four of its staff to partner, including secondaries chief Christian Böhler.

Here are the key issues the UK private equity industry would like new UK Chancellor Philip Hammond to tackle.