Fundraising

The German mid-market private equity firm has held a first closing of its second fund with commitments of €74m, secured from new and returning financial institutions.

Actis has been selected to co-manage the Canada Investment Fund for Africa, a C$200m vehicle to be launched later this year.

Yet another Utah private equity firm, Peterson Partners, has closed a private equity fund and named an elite list of corporate executives as ‘investment partners.’ The firm was an early investor in discount airline success JetBlue.

Sorenson Capital, based in Salt Lake City, will invest in small- to mid-sized companies in the Western US with the help of a former American football star.

The Bethesda, Maryland venture capital firm touted its ties to the Washington DC research and development scene.

Vintage Venture Partners, a private equity secondaries investor focused on Israel, has completed the final closing of its debut fund with $64m of commitments.

Swiss Re Private Equity Advisers, the private equity fund of funds arm of reinsurance company Swiss Re, has announced the final closing of Swiss Re Private Equity Partners II at €409m.

Explorer Investments has held an initial close on €50m of its debut Explorer I fund, aimed at helping Portuguese companies invest in Spain.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts firm’s Fund II exceeds the previous $630m vehicle and is targeting middle market LBOs in the industrial sector.

The largest mezzanine fund raised in Canada brings capital managed by the Toronto-based private equity arm of TD Bank Financial to about C$2.6bn.