Fund Management

Inside one of London's most striking towers, four European bankers recently gathered to discuss the liquidity in the debt markets, the requests of their clients and why Europe is more sophisticated than the US. By Robin Marriott

Neil Cable, the head of European real estate for Fidelity, is busy hiring as the US firm gears up for direct property investing.

Lawyers have notoriously itchy feet, as the esteemed fund franchise of SJ Berwin has discovered.

For many investors, Irish venture capital is a niche industry within European private equity. However, recent developments anticipate a bright future for the market, writes Jo Nash.

Recent developments in the direct secondary market anticipate a more positive future for European early stage capital, writes Jo Nash.

On the south side of the equator and east of the Atlantic lies a country that some private equity heavyweights increasingly consider to be a hidden gem.

Private equity houses have bucked the consensus that leverage ratios will rise in 2007 as 40 percent predict a decrease.

Along with members of the company’s management team, the two firms have agreed to buy Nasdaq-traded Educate in a deal worth $545m. It is Citigroup’s and Sterling’s second education-related deal announced today.

In the same week, the New York private equity firm has acquired $74m in Boston properties and closed a net-lease fund on $160m.

Jonny Maxwell, one of the industry’s most high-profile executives, has walked away from the fund of funds business he built over almost two decades after failing to agree a buyout with his employer.