Exits

The deal allows the troubled infrastructure fund manager to proceed with a sell down of its assets over a two to three year period as it begins to repay the A$3.2bn it owes to a syndicate of 25 banks on a 'pay if you can' basis.

Valuation difficulties have prompted the Texas-based mega-firm to cease talks that began more than a year ago with the Kuwait Investment Authority and two California pensions over the potential sale of a single digit stake in its management company.

Fund placement agents active in the asset class say LPs are likely to stick with infrastructure despite the economic downturn and may even up their commitments as a result of it.

Michael Queen will steer the private equity firm following Philip Yea's resignation from the top spot. Last year, 3i invested a total of £841m, down dramatically from the £1.8bn the prior year. 3i's share price has plummeted in recent months, this morning losing nearly 4%, giving it a £941m market capitalisation.

The Latin America-focused private equity firm’s $90m sale of a natural gas compression facility and pipeline in northern Mexico represents the second investment realisation from its Latin Power III fund.

The UK-based private equity firm had a total negative return of £182m for the first half of 2008, due in part to £411m in write-downs and an £87m drop in value of its quoted portfolio. Its buyout and infrastructure businesses produced positive returns.

The public pension has committed to Carlyle’s fourth Asian growth fund, Welsh Carson’s 11th buyout fund, First Reserve’s 12th energy fund and Clessidra's second Italy-focused fund. Together these four funds are targeting more than $22bn.

Existing LPs have committed $3bn toward the latest buyout fund from the MENASA-focused firm, which has just purchased a controlling stake in the Karachi Electric Supply Company for an estimated price of $400m.

Private equity investments in New Zealand fell by more than 90 percent in the first half of 2008, compared to the same period last year.

The global mid-market buyout group has upped its investments in buyout and infrastructure deals, despite a roughly 40 percent fall in the total value of its investments over the past five months. The firm’s realisations also slowed significantly.