Fund Management

In Asia, the credit crunch has had limited impact on debt markets so far. Buyout pros and leveraged finance specialists in Hong Kong and Singapore are nevertheless bracing for tricky times. By Patricia Lee.

Obstacles still remain, but Europe's private equity markets are becoming more integrated. Peter Cornelius and Karlijn Juttmann of AlpInvest Partners look at the implications.

The near-term future of the leveraged buyout market presents an unfolding tale of two halves. Mid-market private equity firms will cautiously continue to acquire quality companies, while mega-fund managers will dramatically downsize their deal sizes and pursue alternative deal structures. David Snow asks LBO insiders to take the temperature of 2008.

If European venture is a hard sell, Italian venture is even tougher. But that didn't stop two former executives of large private equity groups from plunging into the space with a debut fund.

New York-based Shermen Capital Partners recently launched a SPAC to capitalise on what it maintains is an untapped market: the $271bn US agriculture industry.

The new service opens up a treasure trove of historic returns information.

Emboldened by another homerun in January, Index Ventures has added a new business line with a e400m growth capital fund.

Europe appears on the verge of a mezzanine revival.

Exponent Private Equity, a UK mid-market firm founded in 2004, has closed its second fund with commitments of £805 million ( €1 billion; $1.6 billion). The fund is double the amount raised in the first fund in 2004. Investors included funds managed by Pathway, Pantheon Ventures, Danske Private Equity, MassPRIM, OMERS Capital Partners, NYL Capital Partners and Bank of Scotland, as well as substantial US endowment and European private family sources. Hugh Richards, one of the firm's four founding partners, answers PEI's questions.

Editor's letter 2008-02-01 Staff Writer “The reality is we've gone from a raging bull market in credit to a bear market. Now people are worrying about anything and everything.” So said David Brickman, director of credit strategy at Lehman Brothers, in the context of a <italic>Financial Times</italic