CVC closes US$4.1bn fund

• CVC, a UK-based private equity fund manager has closed a US$4.1bn new fund for China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan and Australia. The CVC Capital Partners Asia Pacific III fund aims to invest in established companies in the most developed economies in the Asia-Pacific region (Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Greater China).

CVC’s third Asian fund is the biggest ever raised in the Asia-Pacific region. Citi is expected to be a significant investor in Fund III but will not be a joint venture partner for CVC Capital Partners with respect to the fund. The joint venture relationship with Citi will continue for the remainder of the terms of Funds I and II.

• Partners Group, the Switzerland-based alternative asset manager, has opened an office in Luxembourg. Jerry Ludig is head of the Luxembourg office and will be responsible for building up this new location. Before joining Partners Group, Ludig was employed at HSBC Securities Services in Luxembourg, where he focused on business implementation, and he spent seven years at PricewaterhouseCoopers as an audit supervisor. Partners Group, has also announced the final close of Partners Group Global Mezzanine 2007 at €447m. The fund has already committed more than 50% of its capital, with 11 transactions since the beginning of the year.

• Darwin Private Equity has announced the third close of its inaugural fund, Darwin Private Equity I, at £207m. Darwin launched its fundraising in May 2007 and is targeting £250m of total commitments. Its investment team has now grown to seven, with the addition of two new professionals.

David Coombs has joined Darwin from Morgan Stanley, where he was an associate in the investment banking division. Paul Burton joins in May from PPM Capital, where he was an investment manager focused on mid-market buyouts.

Darwin was founded in 2007 by Derek Elliott and Kevin Street, both formerly of Permira, and Jonathan Kaye, formerly of CVC. Darwin is focused on investing in UK based businesses with enterprise values of between £10m and £100m.

• CDC, the UK government-backed private equity fund of funds emerging markets investor, has announced its financial results for the 12 months to 31 December 2007. CDC’s net assets were up 33% to £2.7bn. New commitments in 2007 rose by 175% to £1.1bn. Total returns generated post-tax were up by 79%, with the proceeds reinvested in new fund commitments in emerging markets.

• Mezzanine Management Central Europe has announced the final closing of its second Central and East European mezzanine fund, Accession Mezzanine Capital II. The fund was oversubscribed and closed at €261m, exceeding the pre-set “hard cap” level of €250m. AMC II follows its predecessor fund, AMC I, the first ever mezzanine fund dedicated to the region, which raised €115m in 2003. To-date, MMCE has made 19 investments totalling more than €200m and has successfully realised five investments.