A Terrible idea

Design guru Michael Peters, the man who redesigned the UK Conservative Party logo in the 1980s, has gathered £10 million (€11 million; $14 million) for a private equity fund with a bit of swagger. Creative Capital Ventures only invests in business for which Peters is providing brand consultancy. If a company can't afford Peters's fees, they can sell him a slice of equity. Peters then works his magic, and reaps the rewards when the company grows. His first investment? Russia's Ivan the Terrible vodka. Perhaps having the words “terrible” and “vodka” next to each other on the label may need some careful handling…

QUOTABLES
“I analogise it to sex. You realise there were certain things you shouldn't do, but the urge is there and you can't resist.”

The Carlyle Group's David Rubenstein admits to the Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst that the private equity industry got carried away during the buyout bubble years

“The big public-to-privates are gone in the way of the dodo.”

At the Super Returns conference in Berlin, Leon Black, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, says his firm will use at least half of its recently closed $14.8 billion fund to purchase distressed credit products like senior loans

“Jon Asgeir was one of the few individuals who really tried to replicate the private equity model. He had joint ventures, he had shares, he had businesses, he had it all.”

An “associate” of Baugur chief executive Jon Asgeir Johannesson quoted in a Sunday Times article following the collapse of the Icelandic group's UK arm into administration. It had acquired a string of stakes in UK high street retail chains

“The bad news is that fundraising in 2009 will be much more challenging. Western institutional investors are grappling with their own asset allocation issues, and the globalization of the financial crisis will impact expansion plans into new markets.”

Sarah Alexander, president of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association, speaking after the publication of figures showing that emerging markets private equity funds raised a record amount in 2008