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Elsewhere on Friday:

What do you get when you cross good, thematic long-term investors and stock pickers with quarterly or annual redemptions? Perverse decision-making and style drift. Or a portfolio manager with an ulcer. More…

SVG Capital has announced plans to raise £220m from selling a convertible bond and some of its portfolio assets in anticipation of a slowdown in activity at its main investment, Permira, the buy-out firm. More…

Shinsei Bank has revised its group earnings forecast for the fourth time, reflecting the volatility of its businesses and deterioration in the overall market environment. Shinsei, 32.6% owned by a group of investors led by JC Flowers, More…

The numbers vary a tad - but the leveraged loan clearout continues.

The WSJ relays comments from Bill Winters, the co-head of JPMorgan, suggesting that the overhang of bridge loans has been reduced by about half globally since the credit markets seized up last summer. More…

Elsewhere on Thursday,

- “No-one in the City feels the need to change his underpants. After all, what chance do public sector workers have of ever recognizing a well-informed decision?”

- “Nearly 80% of affluent Americans believe a recession has already hit the US and optimism about the US is at a record low among the well-to-do.” More…

Cerberus Capital Management said it has had talks with China’s sovereign wealth fund about possible co-operation. John Snow, chairman of the US buy-out group and former US Treasury secretary, said there More…

Elsewhere on Wednesday,

- Do contracts matter any more?

- You say tomato….Saudi’s “investment company”, “not a sovereign fund”

- “It isn’t unrealistic to think the Saudis oil export revenue could approach $400 billion a year if oil stays above $120.” More…

Kamal Tabet, the London-based global head of financial entrepreneurs at Citigroup, and one of the best-connected bankers among private equity firms, is taking a sabbatical following a wider restructuring at the US bank. More…

A massive thank you to all who voted - and left such kind comments. FT Alphaville has been honoured at the Webby Awards, taking both the judges’ panel and the People’s Voice awards in the business blog category. More…

Elsewhere on Tuesday,

-  Microhoo! postponed..

- … but don’t expect a a knee-jerk Yahoostock buyback

-  Bloggers dissect the Microsoft-Yahoo nondeal

-  Borrowing from retirement plans is surging. More…

The latest on Tuesday:

- UBS confirms Blackrock sale and reports a first quarter loss of SFr11.5bn, along with job losses of 2,600 this year in its investment bank - statement

- “More recently, conditions in the housing market have deteriorated sharply.” More…

Speculation continues to dog troubled UK housebuilders - not least, Barratt Developments which has on been approached by US buyout group Apollo with an offer to buy a substantial stake, according to The Times. More…

French hotel company Accor on Monday warned it will act to prevent a takeover after private-equity firms Eurazeo and Colony Capital said they plan to increase their combined stake in the company to 30%, More…

A London deal for a London day. As the capital eagerly awaits the announcement of its newly anointed Mayor, and Gordon Brown nervously ponders whether his electoral humiliation will be complete, a London landmark has been sold. More…

Apax is considering selling an equity stake to outside investors. And they’re sovereign wealth funds.

From Financial News:

Apax Partners, a UK-based buyout firm, is negotiating with three investors about a sale of part of itsmanagement compnay as part of its plans to expand globally. More…

Elsewhere on Thursday.

- Criticism of the Fed chairman seems unfair and after the fact. Not only have Bernanke’s unorthodox moves staved off a full-fledged financial meltdown, but they also have done so while reducing the inflation risks inherent in the traditional policy response of merely slashing interest rates. More…

Kroll’s former European chairman is leading a move to buy the world’s biggest corporate security group from Marsh & McLennan, its owners. David Buchler, the turnround specialist, has joined BC Partners, More…

Warburg Pincus, the US buy-out firm, said Wednesday it would acquire Safetykleen Europe in a deal valuing the auto and manufacturing component cleaning group at £565m. The takeover, following a competitive auction between at least five private equity buyers, More…

Initial public offerings by UK companies acquired through private equity buy-outs outperformed other types of IPOs and the overall London stock market in their first year of trading, according to new research. More…

Elsewhere on Wednesday,

- “We are not running out of food or natural resources; this is an entirely man-made disaster caused by the Fed opening wide the monetary floodgates.”

- Is the lack of an uptick rule to blame?

- Private equity ranking - Carlyle come top

- “I’m skeptical. More…

Sir Adrian Montague, chairman of Friends Provident, on Tuesday defended the life assurer’s handling of a £3.5bn proposed offer from JC Flowers, which the US buy-out group withdrew two weeks ago blaming Friends’ refusal to hold talks. More…

Elsewhere on Tuesday:

- Bear - the “worst policy mistake in a generation.”

- “By buying equities, SAFE is encroaching on CIC territory. Word has it in Beijing financial circles that CIC is furious.” More…

Comment and analysis from the FT

Willem Buiter: Mavercon on the SLS
The assertion by the Chancellor that “This means that the banks will continue to hold the risk on the securities they provide, More…

The prices of risky loans commonly used to fund private-equity backed takeovers are showing a marked improvement as the market recovers from waves of forced selling by leveraged investors this year. The improved sentiment has been driven mainly by a rebalancing of supply and demand, More…

First Reserve, the buy-out group specialising in energy investments, on Monday announced plans to invest €600m ($938m) in a solar energy company it created through recent acquisitions in Spain and Italy. More…

Kazaka Financial, a company owned by Japanese buy-out firm Advantage Partners, has won the bidding to acquire Credia, the first publicly-listed Japanese consumer finance company to file for court protection amidst an industry downturn driven by new legal curbs. More…

Elsewhere on Monday, 
- Quantum’s Jim Rogers is buying Chinese shares again.

- “If China goes into a recession, God knows.”

- “What Chairman Ben Bernanke needs isn’t a gradual withdrawal from easy money but membership in Central Bankers Anonymous.” More…

US buy-out group Blackstone is raising a European property fund of up to €3.5bn (£2.8bn) to pursue deals amid falling valuations in the sector. The fund would be Blackstone’s third internationally-focused real estate fund. More…

Blackstone has made its first foray into Indian real estate with the acquisition of a stake in a project management company that it can use as a springboard for other investments. The entry of Blackstone’s property unit comes amid a record year for private equity investment in India, More…

Summit Partners, the Boston-based private equity group, will on Monday announce it has raised a maiden €1bn ($1.56bn) European fund to finance investments in mid-sized buy-outs and growth capital investments. More…