Toby Lewis

The South African mid-market outfit has closed its second fund, after returning the majority of its first fund to investors from just one exit.

The FTSE 100 investment firm is positioning itself in the first wave of investors needed by India to meet its target of $450bn infrastructure investments by 2012.

The fund’s manager NextEnergy Capital, a renewable energy-focussed merchant bank, is looking to use abundant leverage available for clean energy infrastructure projects.

The World Bank-backed investment company is looking to set up a body in partnership with another company to provide a gateway for investments into Africa.

Despite further gains in its portfolio’s value the fund of funds' discount to NAV is increasing as listed private equity firms continue to suffer.

The French fund of funds’ fundraising success comes as its core European mid-market remains buoyant despite difficulties in the worldwide credit markets.

The buyout fund could set a European record, as a parallel fundraising from employees nears completion. Rival CVC Capital Partners is also hard on the heels of record holder Permira.

TPG's $800m pure equity stake in the country's biggest pharmaceutical distributor should allow the global buyout firm to tap into the fast-growing Russian market.

The energy-focussed private equity unit of Middle Eastern financial services firm Swicorp has made its second renewables investment in a month.

The global mid-market buyout firm attracted interest nearly double its planned €5bn target, but it scaled back the fund giving existing limited partners priority.