Credit Suisse Buys LBO from Deutsche Bank –

Deutsche Bank has sold a private equity portfolio of buyout funds worth between $400 million and $500 million to Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). The transaction, which is CSFB Strategic Partners largest to date, more than doubles the number of buyout funds under its management. The deal involves over 30 U.S.-based funds being added to the 20 LBO funds CSFB already has.

The purchase was made out of CSFB Strategic Partners II, a fund that is still being raised and has approximately $1.25 billion committed to it. The fund focuses on secondary deals in the LBO market, usually involving third party investors. Deutsche Bank and CSFB both declined to comment for this story.

The move leaves Deutsche Bank with a portfolio valued at approximately $3.4 billion and is its latest effort to shed its extensive private equity holdings. Earlier this year, MidOcean Partners acquired the late-stage private equity portfolio of Deutsche Bank’s DB Capital Partners (DBCP ) for $1.625 billion. Deutsche Bank retained a 20% stake in the portfolio. Ted Virtue, chief executive officer and managing partner with DBCP, led the management buyout team.

Deutsche Bank finished reorganizing the last entity to come out of DB Capital Partners (DBCP) this past April, with Deutsche Bank Private Equity Fund of Funds Group being made part of Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM).

Deutsche Bank wrote down the value of its private equity holdings by approximately $230 million in the first quarter of 2003, and will soon announce its second quarter results, which the bank expects to be better.

CSFB Strategic Partners is a wholly-owned unit of Credit Suisse First Boston Private Equity, which has more than $26 billion in funds under management and is the largest manager of private equity funds worldwide.