Fund Management

The alternative assets manager is capitalising on the booming wealth of the Gulf region with a spate of new buyout, mezzanine and growth capital funds and an almost 50 percent increase in client assets.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs has expanded its private equity programme with the advent of GS Direct, a middle-market-focused investment division.

Blackstone units began to trade today above their $31 IPO price, climbing back from the $28.75 low it hit last Friday, the stock’s first trading day. The market could change directions again next week as US congressmen begin hearings on private equity.

London-based Duke Street Capital has amassed a 34 percent stake in Oasis Healthcare and increased its bid to £88.2 million, as the battle for the UK’s biggest dental business heats up.

As investors race to unload their subprime mortgage based assets, distressed investor Sun Capital Partners plans to buy an 80 percent stake in First NLC Financial Services, a subprime mortgage originator.

The failed syndication of the Alliance Boots and the Chrysler debt has intensified the gloom in the debt markets.

The Carlyle Group has finally completed the troubled flotation of a credit vehicle on Amsterdam’s Euronext exchange, raising $300 million.

As the lead underwriters on the Alliance Boots deal - JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank and Unicredit - prepared to reveal their syndication plans for the deal’s debt, Toby Lewis examined the potential options available to them.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts will become the latest alternative asset manager to raise funds on the public market, after revealing plans for a $1.25 billion initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange before the end of the year.

The central Europe mezzanine specialist has held a first close on its debut fund as it looks to capitalise on the favourable conditions for mezzanine investors. The fund has raised just under half of its €125 million target.