VENTURE CAPITAL POST

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.

New York-based private equity firm KKR & Co was able to gather $2 billion for a fund called the KKR Special Situations Fund that will provide financing to distressed firms in North America, Europe and Asia.

Alternative asset manager Carlyle Group has introduced its first two publicly listed mutual funds, paving the way for Carlyle to offer its investment platform to retail investors, Reuters reported.

The following are mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process.

The New York Times said private equity investors of Oriental Brewery in South Korea could stand to gain a 34% annualized return on their original investment of the brewery.

The following bids, mergers, acquisitions and disposals were reported on Monday including Greece banking, Fiat, BOFA, Mechel, Saputo, RBS, Lohmann, Carlyle Group, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Kuwait Airways, Dubai Holding, SunEdison, Blackstone, Greece National Bank, IMG Worldwide, KKR, Babcock, AMR, Orrick, BAC and Fisker Automotive.

A shift in demand from big firms like KKR, Blackstone and Bain Capital to midsize firms like HIG Capital, Sentinel Capital and KPS Capital in investors was seen in a recent survey conducted by Preqin.

A partnership was forged between KKR and KUFPEC to bid for the oil and gas subsidiary of DWE, DEA RWEDE.

Private equity company KKR purchased minority stakes in rural wireless infrastructure-focused companies run by Associated Partners.

New York-based private equity company KKR agreed to buy Avoca Capital for an undisclosed amount.

Tarkett filed an IPO to be listed on the NYSE Euronext Exchange.

Johnson & Johnson received numerous preliminary offers from hedge funds interested in acquiring its Ortho Clinical Diagnostics unit, said a Reuters report.

Private equity firm KKR agreed to buy a 10% stake in Chinese home appliance maker Qingdao Haier.

Poplar Partners announced today that it had started its search for possible acquisitions in companies that have annual cash flows between USD1.5 and USD7 million.

Kudu, the Saudi Arabian fast food chain, had opened bidding for 60% of its shares with KKR and Abraaj as the firms front running for the bids.