Firms & Funds

Publicly traded American Capital Agency Corp., a REIT that invests in government-backed agency pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations, is planning to sell 10 million shares of common stock in a public offering. The company is managed and advised by American Capital Agency Management, an affiliate of the publicly traded business development company American Capital.

Bertram Capital announced the final closing of Bertram Growth Capital II with $500 million in LP commitments. The San Mateo, Calif.-based buyout firm invests in industrial manufacturing, technology, business services and health care.

Blackstone Holdings Finance Co. LLC received an ‘A’ senior unsecured debt rating from Standard & Poor’s for its senior unsecured debt due March 15, 2021. The notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Blackstone Group LP and Blackstone Partnerships. S&P said the rating is based on the asset-manager’s business model, stable recurring revenue streams, diverse businesses, a strong balance sheet, and a high level of transparency in the guarantor partnerships.

Standard & Poor’s Capital IQ unit plans to acquire rival TheMarkets.com for $300 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. TheMarkets.com is a joint venture of several Wall Street banks including JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Capital IQ provides data and analytical tools to investment banks, private equity firms and others.

CapMan, an alternative asset manager in the Nordic countries and Russia, has set up its fifth mezzanine fund, to be called CapMan Mezzanine V, which will invest in mid-market Nordic companies. The fund will be worth €60 million ($78.7 million).

Carlyle Group may buy a stake in a hedge fund manager. It is also looking to raising two new debt funds and a $1 billion pool to buy small companies, Bloomberg reported. The news wire said, citing people briefed on the plans, that one of the potential hedge fund manager targets has as much as $5 billion in assets.

Evercore Partners Inc.’s offering of about 2.64 million Class A common shares was priced at $27.50 a share. The investment banking advisory firm plans to sell about 2.56 million shares, which would provide approximately $67 million in proceeds to Evercore. Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Evercore Group LLC are acting as the joint book-running managers.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has raised $500 million in senior secured notes. KKR had originally planned to sell $500 million of new common units but later cancelled the plans. Rival firm Blackstone had raised $400 million earlier in the month.

Partners Group closed its largest dedicated direct investment program, Partners Group Direct Investments 2009, at its €650 million hard cap. The Zug, Switzerland-based manager said the program attracted investors worldwide. Investors include sovereign wealth funds, endowments, corporate and public pension plans, insurance companies, family offices and selected entrepreneurs.

Quantum Energy Partners has formed Quantum Utility Generation, which will buy and develop conventional and alternative energy projects in North America. The Houston company will be capitalized with $1 billion of equity, $500 million of which has been committed by Quantum. Another $500 million in equity will come from other co-investing financial and strategic partners. Quantum is a buyout shop with more than $5.7 billion of assets under management.

The Southern Cross Group held the final close on the Southern Cross Latin America Private Equity Fund IV LP, with capital commitments of $1.68 billion. This exceeded the original target of $1.25 billion. The firm closed its Fund III in 2007 with $751 million in commitments.

WL Ross has entered into a strategic partnership with The Capital Markets Cooperative, a mortgage capital markets firm. CMC has a client base of banks that originates over $25 billion in mortgages annually. WL Ross owns American Home Mortgage Servicing, which services $85 billion of non-prime mortgages.

The value of Yale’s endowment rose to $16.7 billion, after earning an 8.9 percent investment return for the year ending June 30. The fund saw investment gains of $1.4 billion, operating budget distributions of $1.1 billion, gifts of $136 million, and adjustments of negative $70 million. The endowment was worth $16.3 billion as of June 30, 2009.