VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Italian airline Alitalia said on Thursday that it was able to raise EUR173 million of EUR300 million it needed in its cash call from investors with help from Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit.

SwissRe's recent report titled "Global insurance review 2013 and outlook 2014/15" provided an otherwise positive global economic outlook, which was a good sign in the non-life business as more people will seek financial protection for their properties.

New data released by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reflected the increasing activity in structured products purchases by US banks to offset effects of low interest rates.

A report on the Financial Times recounted the similarities of the rise, and possible downfall of the popular Bitcoin to early virtual currency favorite e-gold.

The partnership of US software company and QuickBooks maker Intuit's partnership with banks Capital One and Wells Fargo for a loan facilitator program was a clear indication of companies turning into cloud computing and data analytics to improve their services, said an article published on the Financial Times.

UK Crowdfunding Association (UKCFA) Chair Julia Groves called out Christine Farnish of the Peer-to-Peer Finance Association regarding the latter's insistence that the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) definition of online crowdfunding was misleading.

Shore Capital Partners Managing Partner Justin Ishbia disclosed to Reuters' Private Equity (PE) Hub its plans to launch and institution-focused private equity fund next year.

The Corporate Advisory Group of Swiss lender UBS, said three unnamed sources, will be scaling back its team in charge of providing corporate advisory and investment banking services to the ultra-rich in emerging markets including Asia and the Middle East.

Private equity firms T. Rowe Price Group Inc, Magnetar Capital LLC and over 100 shareholders of Dell Inc invoked their rights for an appraisal of their collective 2.7% interest in the company through the Delaware court system in contest of the USD24.9 billion buyout of Dell.

According to sources who were familiar with the deliberations, Telecom Italia SpA obtained the services of Morgan Stanley to decide on the telecommunications company's divestment of its 7,000 tower lot in Brazil.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development latest EUR20 million capital infusion into the Baltic region through BaltCap Private Equity Fund II, L.P. aimed to help small and medium-sized businesses and small mid-cap firms with much-needed long-term financing.

BitPesa Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Rossiello claimed that the startup will reduce money remittances transaction costs and its turnaround time, which will challenge major players Western Union and MoneyGram International Inc.

Because Japan's central bank absorbs JPY7 trillion worth of debt, primary dealers of Japanese government bonds are not concerned over plans of Government Pension Investment Fund to reduce its government debt holding.

The auction frenzy seen in Hong Kong's latest auctions by Christie's International Plc was not caught on in London, wherein seven of the 24 lots put up for sale did not attract bidders.

The accessibility of purchasing and selling Bitcoins via ATMs were popular, that a Robocoin Bitcoin ATM stationed in Vancouver, Canada raked in over 1,500 transactions at more than CAD1 million in 29 days.