Fund Management

Techno Venture Management, the German-US venture capital firm, has promoted Stephen Hoffman to general partner and Josef Moosholzer to venture partner.

Sterling Capital Partners is backing the nationwide expansion of Florida Coastal School of Law, a for-profit law school.

Onex Partners, the $1bn-plus private equity fund controlled by Canadian conglomerate Onex Corporation, has completed its first investment, taking a 24 percent stake in US healthcare group Magellan in a $100m deal.

… the tough get data. Private equity firms churn through massive amounts of proprietary and third-party performance data, and the demand for more statistics is increasing. While GPs and LPs can agree over the quality and accuracy of these numbers, their manipulation raises questions, writes Art Janik

The maturation of the private equity market is creating a new class of investors who are faced with a luxury of choices: in-house versus outsourced investment staff; separate accounts vs. funds of funds, set menus versus ‘Chinese menus.’ Be careful what you order. David Snow reports

Personal networks, relationships and access to the right people at the right time are essential no matter where in the world private equity transactions are being pursued. But private equity investors and their financiers, familiar with the whole of Europe's commercial fabric, say there are few countries where being part of the country's inner circle is more important than Italy. It's not as if the country can't deliver exceptional deals when the ingredients are right: witness the ‡5.65 billion buyout in June last year of Seat Pagine Gialle ? Europe's biggest buyout ever and recently voted by our readers as the 2003 European Buyout of the Year. So how does private equity work in Italy? Philip Borel asks Gianfilippo Cuneo, someone who can talk about private equity Italian style with insider's knowledge, to share his views.

As the funding package for Bain's Brenntag acquisition demonstrates, second lien loans may be the latest US debt instrument to finally become established in Europe. The Deal Mechanic looks at how it fits into the capital structure

GTCR has a big hit and a near miss with the same CEO

Amadeus, Apax lead Acol first round; Gyros closes largest Nordic biotech round; HBM leads E13.8m Ingenium round; SG Capital Europe takes Lince stake

The use of high yield financing is a staple feature of leveraged buyouts, but participants in deals may not appreciate the need for precisely tailored covenants. Valerie Jacob, co-managing partner of Fried, Frank, Harris, Schriver & Jacobson, highlights the keys to investor protection.