Fundraising

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.

US buyout firm TH Lee has created a credit fund with $500 million in commitments and a dedicated credit division staffed largely by ex-AIG executives, including AIGGIG’s former head of private placement, Sam Tillinghast.

Recent disclosure of the US pension fund's $75 million allocation to a Carlyle-backed hedge fund has provided information as to the fund's structure and mandate.

Private equity legend Ted Forstmann is returning to active investment, after winding down his own firm in 2004. He is raising a $250 million media and entertainment fund with Chris Albrecht, formerly the head of HBO.

Darwin Private Equity has held a second close of its debut fund just three months after launching with the backing of City grandee Lord Jacob Rothschild and his RIT Capital Partners trust.

Noble Fund Managers has held the first close of its venture debt fund.

The UK's second largest pension fund the Universities Superannuation Scheme is demonstrating its appetite for alternatives with the appointment of two private equity specialists to lead its co-investment programme alongside its fund investments.

KKR’s negotiations with underwriters of the First Data deal -- the second such mega deal for which banks have had difficulty syndicating the debt -- will be a harbinger of things to come, says Dechert attorney Scott Zimmerman.

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