Fundraising

Two years after closing EQT IV, EQT Partners is back in the market raising a new buyout fund.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, The Carlyle Group and Merrill Lynch Private Equity reclaim almost half of their original equity investment in the rental car company via a debt-financing commitment.

Bedminster Capital Management has reached its original $200m target with the first closing of SEEF II, a new vehicle focused on investments in Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Serbia and Croatia and other south eastern Europe markets.

London-listed European mezzanine provider ICG is growing rapidly - despite being more selective on deals than ever. Robert Venes reports.

European mezzanine provider Intermediate Capital Group also put a record amount of capital to work in the fourteen months to 2005, arranging or providing £899m of debt financing.

The Washington, DC-based firm has closed its first mezzanine fund after making eight initial investments.

New Jersey-headquartered GSC Partners has closed its second European fund in a month, raising €420m of commitments for GSC European CDO Fund III.

The San Francisco-based real estate secondary firm has acquired a UK portfolio of assets for $775m, believed to be the largest secondary transaction to date in the private equity real estate sector.

With its high rates of growth and large, increasingly affluent populations, Central and Eastern Europe is becoming an ever-more important element of private equity portfolios. But while there is much cause for optimism, some reservations still remain. Andy Thomson spoke to representatives of three limited partner groups – Leon Hadass, vice president at Pantheon Ventures; Ray Maxwell, managing director in the private equity division at Invesco Asset Management; and Peter Wilson, managing director at HarbourVest Partners – to glean their views on the region's prospects.

What's an “emerging” market? Be clear that some are definitely more emerged than others, David Rubenstein argued at last month's IFC/EMPEA conference in Washington.