VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The African private equity industry in Africa may be young and subject to various shortcomings but political stability, infrastructure growth and increasing consumer activity has given it a more positive outlook for this year, the Financial Times reported.

Data from Cambridge Associates showed that 2013 was a good year for private equity as they returned $120 billion to their institutional backers, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

Venture capital investors and startup CEOs are feeling optimistic and confident about the venture ecosystem next year, according to a survey from National Venture Capital Association and Dow Jone VentureSource.

An report published on The Financial Times detailed how private equity moves in markets to ensure that quantitative easing of the US Federal Reserve will not be further reduced.

Private equity firm KKR & Co. on Monday announced that it will acquire specialty finance company KKR Holdings LLC for $2.6 billion in an all-stock deal. The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year.

The pension funds in Canada were said to have shifted towards private equity in their quest to avoid fees and improve performance to better serve the needs of its retirees, a Businessweek report said.

A report cited an example on how private equity had benefited greatly from US Federal Reserve's quantitative easing policy instead of the monetary policy's true beneficiaries - US companies and the American people.

Friends and family of startups were found to be its biggest supporters, shelling out USD23,000 in a business on average, totaling USD60 billion in fresh capital annually, based from data collected by online crowdfunding platform Fundable.

A major trend reversal was observed in private equity investing and foreign investing by local firms in India. Venture Intelligence's recent data noted that investment by private equity and strategic investors in Indian assets surpassed amount spent by local firms to invest abroad.

The exit of private equity from their investments in contract research organizations (CROs) could threaten its growth, says two financial experts at Partnerships in Clinical Trials.

Tyber Medical, a privately-held medical device company, said it was able to successfully close its initial funding round. Names of the private equity investors who participated, as well as the amount raised were not disclosed.

In a report, the Business Standard said private equity firms are a significant contribution to the consolidation of IT services and BPO sector in India. There were five private equity transactions closed this year that totaled USD1.13 billion in value.

Reforms made in the financial services industry through the retail distribution review or RDR implemented in January by a UK regulator has brought private equity to the arms of wealth managers, according to a report from Citywire.

Burger King Worldwide said that it has inked a joint venture partnership with South Asian private equity firm Everstone Group to bring the hamburger restaurant chain in India.

Singapore's Ascendas Pte Ltd. on Tuesday said it would raise SGD600 million (USD481.6 million) to invest in real estate in India. Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC Pte Ltd. would be a principal investor in Ascenda's fund.