Fortune Finance: Hedge Funds, Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, Venture Capital, Wall Street, Washington

Ex-Harvard private equity chief goes down under

2013-06-17T19:08:21Z

Harvard's former private equity chief begins his next chapter.

FORTUNE -- Peter Dolan is picking up all sorts of part-time jobs in the two months since leaving Harvard Management Company, where he had managed the endowment's venture capital and private equity portfolio for 18 years.

First came word that he had agreed to work with Makena Capital as a senior advisor through year-end. Now we're hearing that he also has been named MORE

M&A and IPOs

2013-06-17T14:51:09Z

Telefónica is denying a Spanish newspaper report that it received a $93 billion takeover approach fronm AT&T. www.telefonica.com

Elan Corp. (NYSE: ELN) has formally put itself up for sale, after having rejected multiple takeover attempts from Royalty Pharma. www.elan.com CIE Automotive SA (Madrid: CIEA) has agreed to acquire a majority stake in the auto parts manufacturing unit of India's Mahindra Group for approximately $116 million. www.cieautomotive.com Nyloncraft Inc., a Mishawaka, Ind.-based provider of plastic molding solutions, has acquired NYX Fort Wayne, a Fort Wayne, Ind.-based MORE

Private equity deals

2013-06-17T14:50:31Z

Bain Capital and Altor have offered to acquire the fish feed business of Norwegian salmon farmerCermaq (Olso: CEQ) for $1.1 billion. The move comes after Main Harvest had agreed to buy all of Cermaq for $1.7 billion. www.cermaq.com Cinven has agreed to acquire CeramTec, a German advanced ceramics company, from Rockwood Holdings Inc. (NYSE: ROC). The deal is valued at 1.49 billion, and is expected to close next quarter.www.cinven.com Hilco Brands has acquired the eco-friendly Portico and Under the Canopy brands for an undisclosed amount. www.hilcocc.com

Singapore Telecommunications has MORE

Venture capital deals

2013-06-17T14:49:24Z

XO1 Ltd., a UK-based developer of an anticoagulant drug that has the potential to prevent heart attacks and strokes without causing bleeding, has raised $11 million in first-round funding from Index Ventures(which formed the company). www.indexventures.com Mirabilis Medica Inc., a Bothell, Wash.-based developer of non-invasive ultrasound technology for treatment of uterine fibroids, has raised $7 million in Series A-1 funding led by GSR Ventures. Existing backer Charter Life Sciences also participated in the round, MORE

All eyes on the Fed when they should be on the G-8

2013-06-17T14:25:59Z

The G-8 Summit should be the most consequential economic attraction this week. Unfortunately, it won't be. Here's what to expect from both.

By Mohamed A. El-Erian

FORTUNE -- Of two big events occurring this week -- the G-8 Summit in Northern Ireland and the policy meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve -- which do you expect will attract more attention in economic policy circles and markets? It should be the former MORE

As interest rates rise, banks face new stress tests

2013-06-17T13:25:27Z

Banks are starting to come clean about their rate risks.

FORTUNE -- Banks have mostly been tight-lipped about what rising interest rates would mean for their bottom lines. They will soon have to open up a little more to regulators and investors.

For the first time this year, the Federal Reserve is requiring the nation's 18 largest banks to submit mid-year stress tests, showing how they would perform if they were hit MORE

Pre-Marketing: Immigration bill's industry giveaways

2013-06-17T11:03:55Z

* Immigration: Industry deals inside bill

* Fitch: China's credit bubble is unprecedented

* Deal dispute: Did AT&T offer $93 billion for Telefonica?

* Morning Call: U.S. futures rise, Europe climbs and Japan rises.

* As Dell Turns: Icahn may be bailing

* Series A crunch: The "seed fund-ing" problem

* Bill Gates: 3 things I've learned from Warren Buffett

* Independent: JPMorgan spinning out last private equity biz

* Written off? A pen-maker defends its business in a digital world

* No MORE

Young investors return to stocks

2013-06-14T21:22:46Z

Millennials, once thought to have abandoned equities after the crisis of 2008, are increasingly willing to take on investment risk

By Sameepa Shetty

FORTUNE--The 2008 financial crisis drove many U.S. investors, especially young ones, out of the stock market. Investors between the ages of 20 and 29 slashed exposure to stock funds in their retirement accounts by nearly half from 2007 to 2012, according to data from mutual fund giant Fidelity MORE

Ben Bernanke threatens private equity

2013-06-14T16:34:54Z

Private equity's refinancing 'fun' may be coming to an end.

FORTUNE -- Some potentially seismic news for the private equity market yesterday, as Yankee Candle canceled a $950 million debt refinancing that would have resulted in a $187 million dividend for owner Madison Dearborn Partners. Not yet reported is that fellow Madison Dearborn portfolio company Asurion Corp. also ended its pursuit of an $850 million term loan to refinance existing debt that MORE

The real reason interest rates are rising

2013-06-14T18:44:15Z

Inflation isn't rising and the job market, while doing better, is creating just enough jobs to keep up with population growth. So why are rates rising?

FORTUNE -- A curious thing is happening with interest rates -- often the single-most critical influence behind economic and business decisions. Since the financial crisis, the costs of borrowing have sunk to historic lows after staying relatively low for the most part since the early MORE