Firms & Funds

3i Group has decided to close its offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai, with amenable deal-makers to be relocated to Beijing. The firm also plans to sell its stakes in up to 70 portfolio companies to Chamonix Private Equity, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Alcedo, a private equity firm focused on mid-market opportunities in Northern Italy, has closed its third fund with €178 million in capital commitments.

AnaCap Financial Partners, a mid-market private equity firm focused on the European financial services sector, plans to close its second fund with €600 million in early 2009, according to LBO Wire.

Babson Capital, a unit of MassMutual, has closed its third mezzanine and private equity fund with $1.58 billion in capital commitments. It plans to invest in companies with enterprise values of less than $200 million.

ECI Partners, a middle market buyout firm based in the UK, has topped the fundraising target on a new fund. It secured $641 million (£430 million) for the effort, which is called ECI 9.

Guggenheim Partners has expanded into India by acquiring the India-focused private equity fund of funds operated by Thomas Weisel Partners. The funds, called Thomas Weisel India Opportunity Fund, will retain their managers.

HSBC Private Equity has raised $1.25 billion for its sixth Asia-focused private equity fund. So far it has invested $175 million of the fund into three companies.

Kensington Capital Partners Limited, a Canadian private equity fund, has invested $500,000 in Bedford Capital IVC LP, a fund operated by Toronto-based Bedford Capital.

Kingsman Capital has launched as a Chicago-based private equity firm focused on opportunities in the middle markets. It is being run by Keith Konesman, who has previously held positions with Merrill Lynch, Dresner Partners, Divine Interventures and Banc of America Securities.

Macquarie Group reportedly has bid for Citigroup’s Australian retail stock-brokering and wealth management unit.

Morgan Keegan & Co. has acquired Burke Capital Group, an Atlanta-based investment bank focused on M&A and private capital advisory services to financial institutions in the Southeastern U.S.

Partners Group of Switzerland has closed a new Asia-Pacific fund with $1.1 billion in capital commitments. The vehicle will make direct, secondary and fund-of-funds investments.

Riverstone/Carlyle Global Energy and Power Fund has completed its C$1.1 billion acquisition of Gibson Energy, the Canadian midstream oil and gas unit of Hunting PLC.

Rustic Canyon Partners has sold its position in nineteen portfolio companies to Saints Capital. It also has sold 20 percent of its stakes in another eight companies.

SAIF Partners, a Japanese private equity firm, has secured 1.6 billion yuan ($233m) for its first yuan-denominated private equity fund.

The Carlyle Group is raising a financial services fund called Carlyle Global Financial Services Partners LP. According to an October regulatory filing, the fund has a maximum offering amount of $5 billion, although a CalPERS report puts the target at $1 billion with $600 million raised to date.

TPG Capital is asking limited partners for a $300 million follow-on investment for a bank debt fund raised last year, according to the New Jersey State Investment Council