As the New York-based private equity real estate firm prepares its European debt fund, it has added additional capital to its US debt vehicle.
The $72.3bn US pension joins a raft of North American funds recording losses for the year to June 30. Once again real estate was the best performing asset class returning 8.74%, followed by fixed income and private equity.
The publicly traded Canadian buyout firm expects to hold a final close on its third mega-fund in early 2009. CEO Gerald Schwartz has said despite having done no deals in the second quarter, Onex sees attractive opportunities and is not discouraged by credit conditions.
Private equity now makes up 11 percent of the Canadian pension’s capital under management, which has grown to nearly $128bn. The CPPIB has narrowly bucked the loss-making trend among North American pension funds, recording a 1 percent total return on investments in the three months ended in June.
TPG, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs have sold a minority stake in the electricity distribution arm of portfolio company Energy Future Holdings, formerly TXU. The sale is the first since the record $45bn buyout closed in October 2007.
The $234.2bn pension is mulling a possible change to its private equity allocation, as the twin forces of sinking assets under management and shrinking distributions have combined for an overweighted alternatives exposure.
Fortress' and Blackstone’s second quarter earnings results offer a glimpse into how firms are responding to a slowing fundraising pace, writes Matt Levin.
The Washington DC-based firm will provide growth equity to Three Seasons Capital-backed Vehicle Production Group, which has created a car for individuals with mobility problems, as well as taxis and other specialty markets. In related news, Perseus has likely lost out on its bid for bankrupt Frontier Airlines.
The Los Angeles-based private equity real estate firm spent one month raising capital for its distressed credit fund, raising a total of $900m from existing investors. The fund is expected to invest in distressed property debt and operating companies with strong real estate components.
Starting out as a management consultant at Bain & Company, Thomas Dorr went on to spend 14 years at Weyerhaeuser, the Washington State-based pulp and paper company. Having originally intended to be a general manager at the firm, Dorr was invited to join the company's innovative pension arm. According to Dorr, the pension was delivering ?dramatic outperformance? with its pure alternative assets allocation, including hedge funds, private equity and opportunistic real estate. The Weyerhaeuser team moved to Morgan Stanley in 2000 with Dorr becoming CIO for the private equity fund of funds team. With his senior team, he has since been focusing on building a private equity fund of funds operation with a global mandate investing half of its capital inside North America and half outside in small to mid cap buyouts, venture capital and special situations. Since Dorr joined, his team has raised the Morgan Stanley Private Market Fund (PMF) I ($309 million, 2000); PMF II ($500 million, 2004); PMF III ($1 billion, 2006); and the Global Distressed Opportunities Fund ($500 million, 2006).