PE fund briefs, week of Feb. 22, 2010

Evercore buys Trilantic Capital Partners

Evercore Partners (NYSE: EVR) has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Trilantic Capital Partners, a private equity firm formed last year by the former principals of Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking. As part of the deal, Evercore has committed up to $50 million for Trilantic’s next fund.

The deal is not expected to affect Evercore’s existing private equity vehicles, which will continue to be managed independent of Trilantic.

TVM launches growth equity fund

TVM Capital has launched as a Sharia-compliant growth equity fund focused on health care companies in the MENA region. It already has $40 million in founding commitments from Saudi Health Investment Co., the International Finance Corp. and GE Healthcare.

The fund is led by managing director Marios Fotiadis, who previously was a general partner with TVM in Munich and Boston. Other investment pros include Youssef Haidar, formerly managing director with Unifund Capital.

RW Capital raising $50M

RW Capital Partners, a new firm formed by former Lazard and GE Capital execs, is raising $50 million for a fund that would provide loans to small businesses. If successful, the fund could be eligible for a $100 million match from the Small Business Administration as a Small Business Investment Co.

The firm has offices in Beverly Hills, Calif., and San Francisco.