Fund News In Brief

UK-headquartered buyout house Apax Partners announced at its annual general meeting that it has reached a first close of €4.3 billion ($5.6 billion) for Apax VIII. The firm raised the capital within 10 months and is aiming for a final close of €9 billion, a fifth smaller than the firm’s last fund which raised €11.2 billion in 2007.

Brilla Group, a Miami-based private equity firm focused on luxury hotel and resorts in South Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, and Colombia, has completed the first closing for its Colombian Beachfront Hospitality Private Equity Fund. The fund has raised $30 million from Colombian institutions, including Bancoldex and local pension funds.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board announced that it is delving deeper into the Vancouver real estate market, acquiring a 50 percent interest in two downtown Vancouver office properties whose total valuation is $230 million. Oxford Properties—the real estate investing arm of OMERS, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, another major Canadian pension fund and the CPPIB’s largest real estate partner—owns the other 50 percent interest of the two buildings.

Elevation Partners, the private equity group co-founded by Irish rock star Bono, has approached investors seeking $1 billion for its second fund, Reuters reported. Elevation Partners invests in the media, entertainment and technology industries. The firm is hitting the fundraising trail as Facebook, its most high-profile investment, prepares for a $5 billion IPO.

LongueVue Capital, a New Orleans-based private equity firm, has closed its LongueVue Capital Partners II LP with $175 million. The firm makes equity and debt investments in lower mid-market companies.

Morgan Stanley Global Private Equity has formed a strategic partnership with OSF Merchant Banking to explore investment opportunities in Brazil. Morgan Stanley Global has invested more than $8 billion equity across several industries.

Private equity asset manager Oaktree Capital Group filed its IPO terms, more than nine months after it first disclosed its plans to go public. The investment firm, which focuses on alternative markets, said it expects its offering of 11.3 million Class A units to be priced between $43 and $46 apiece, Reuters reported.

Special Situation Venture Partners III has closed with €231 million ($308 million) in commitments. The closing was advised by Orlando Management, a Munich and Zurich-based private equity firm focusing on special situations in the German-speaking market. MVision Private Equity Advisers acted as the global placement agent for the fund.

Scandinavian Private Equity has made an investment commitment of 80 million Norwegian kroner ($14 million) to private equity fund Norvestor VI. Norvestor is a Norwegian private equity firm with a single office in Oslo. Since 1993, the firm has invested approximately 3 billion kroner in 46 companies, of which 36 companies have been exited.

Symphony Technology Group, a software and technology-focused private equity firm has closed a new investment fund, STG IV, on target at approximately $870 million. Limited partners in STG’s new fund consist of a mix of return investors and new investors. As in previous Symphony funds, Romesh Wadhwani, the chairman and managing partner, is the single largest partner in STG IV.

Dallas-based Pyxis Capital has launched the Pyxis Natural Resources Fund. The Fund will invest through the Ascendant Natural Resources Master Fund into natural resources companies. The master fund is being managed by Ascendant Advisors. Pyxis invests using a range of investment strategies—from broad-based equity and fixed income investments to alternative strategies including long/short and trend following as well as alternative credit strategies.

Temasek Holdings, the smaller but more visible of Singapore’s two sovereign funds, is moving into a new phase with its investment strategy, Reuters reported. The shift in strategy could transform the institution into a group similar to Blackstone, another $160 billion institution, which has grown from a focused private equity firm to a global asset manager, Reuters wrote.