James Taylor

US buyout firm TPG is considering a bid for cable broadband company Virgin Media. It is also lining up its first Russian deal.

Finland’s state pension fund wants to increase its alternatives allocation still further after another strong set of results.

Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan has hit out at the proliferation of equity bridge facilities used on large buyout deals, suggesting that they are not good for the lending banks or the private equity sponsors.

The proportion of European corporates rated as speculative grade has more than doubled in the last decade, according to ratings agency Standard and Poor’s – thanks largely to the growth of private equity.

The listed debt and equity provider has reported strong quarterly results and increased its dividend expectations, arguing that its “one stop buyout” model gives it a crucial advantage in the current market.

Emap, the media group that is currently being circled by various private equity firms, has paved the way for its forthcoming £2 billion sale by offering its shareholders a way of minimising their potential tax bills.

A real estate investment fund owned by KKR suffered a 31 percent fall in its share price yesterday, after the vehicle was forced to sell $5 billion of residential mortgage loans at a loss.

Exponent Private Equity has teamed up with old ally Clive Kahn, the former boss of Travelex, for the £70 million acquisition of Cardsave, a UK-based firm that supplies credit card terminals to small retailers.

Alchemy Partners is backing an £80 million buyout bid for UK-listed recruitment group Imprint. The company’s shares jumped 20 percent on the news.

Boutique investment bank Augusta & Co believes the credit markets are in a much healthier state than recent coverage might suggest, arguing that the current jitters are due to temporary factors, rather than underlying weakness.