VENTURE CAPITAL POST

It was agreed that Apollo Global Management is taking over Fresh Market Inc. Chairman and founder Ray Berry is not so pleased and is considering of making the company private where he and his son own 9.8% of shares. This would be Apollo's third largest acquisition that is worth more than a billion dollars.

The bankruptcy of the operating unit of Caesars Entertainment Corp's will proceed in Chicago, a victory for the casino company's private equity backers over its hedge fund creditors who wanted the case in Delaware.

Private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC (APO.N) is considering making a bid for Portuguese lender Novo Banco SA, the bank carved out of Banco Espirito Santo SA (BES) (BES.LS), Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Apollo Global Management (APO.N) is nearing a buyout of PetSmart Inc (PETM.O) for about $8 billion in what would be the largest leveraged deal for a U.S. company this year, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing unnamed sources.

GlaxoSmithKline said on Thursday it had decided not to sell a portfolio of older drugs marketed in North America and Europe after considering offers from potential buyers.

Buyout firms KKR & Co LP (KKR.N) and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC (CD&R) have teamed up to take PetSmart Inc (PETM.O) private for more than $7.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, as the auction for the pet food retailer heats up.

Private equity fund managers are employing approaches other than traditional buyouts so they can avoid overpaying for Western companies as competition pushes valuations higher, Reuters reported.

The board of Texas, US-based games and restaurant chain Chuck E. Cheese's approved its acquisition by an affiliate of investor Apollo Global Management in a $950-million leveraged buyout deal.

As the New Year starts to roll, private equity firm Carlyle joins the other firms racing to make acquisitions with its $4.15 billion purchase of a Johnson&Johnson unit, the Financial Times reported.

Institutional investors contributed $216.56 billion to US private equity funds last year, a sign of their renewed confidence in the asset class, a report from Private Equity Beat of The Wall Street Journal Blogs said.

Of all the capital raised for private equity buyout funds last year, half of it went to the biggest funds, according to data published on Friday by London-based research firm Preqin.

The biggest bank in Spain, Banco Santander SA, sold its real estate arm to US-based private equity group Apollo Global Management in a deal valued at €664 million ($903 million).

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.

A Bloomberg report said Berry Plastics Group Inc is seeking to refinance its debt, offering to pay 2.75 to 3 percentage points more than the London interbank offered rate.

Lloyds Banking Group is to divest its Irish home loans to an affiliated company of private equity firm Apollo Global Management in a deal worth GBP 257 million.