Fundraising

European venture capital has had a bad press which, on the basis of its long-term performance, appears largely justified. Andy Thomson canvasses LPs for their current views of the space.

An examination of the 1998 vintage year for buyout funds shows weak returns, on average. But the so-called credit crunch of that year had little to do with this underperformance. Those worried about the performance of the current vintage year should pay more attention to the economy and to the skills of individual GP groups, reports David Snow.

Just weeks after raising South America's first billion-dollar fund, GP Investimentos signed the region's largest-ever buyout agreement.

Superwoman Nicola Horlick tells the industry that its public relations skills leave a lot to be desired.

Germany's association of alternative investors is unimpressed with the government's effort to reform private equity legislation.

Two recent exits further Noson Lawen's point that small is beautiful.

In a pre-close results statement published today, FTSE 100-listed 3i said its multi-strategy investment model will make it easier to deal with any fallout from the debt market turmoil.

Swedish buyout firm Litorina Kapital, led by Harold Kaiser, has held the final close of its latest fund two times oversubscribed despite losing cornerstone investor Swedbank.

Several US investment banks this week revealed billions in losses stemming from unsyndicated leveraged loans, while a new study has found Lehman Brothers is significantly more overextended than its peers.

US investment bank Lehman Brothers has closed its fifth venture fund on $365 million.