PARIS, May 16 (Reuters) – French boutique investment bank
Rothschild said on Thursday that it had raised 235 million euros
($302.26 million) for a debt fund in a bid to capitalise on its
expertise in advising mid-market European companies.

The fund, to be formally launched this week by Rothschild’s
merchant banking arm, is the latest in a series of investment
vehicles aiming to profit from European banks’ withdrawal from
lending to many small- and medium-sized companies.

PARIS (Reuters) – Activist investor Guy Wyser-Pratte said he is seeking board seats at French phone directories company PagesJaunes (PAJ.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to force its biggest shareholder – U.S. private equity firm Cerberus – to cut the group’s debt.

PagesJaunes has been struggling with big debts since a private equity buyout of the company in 2006. The firm has also had to cope with the impact of the Internet on its printed directories businesses.

PARIS, May 9 (Reuters) – Credit Agricole’s part in
a 450 million euro ($592.8 million) capital injection into its
Italian consumer credit arm is a reminder that a retreat from
other parts of southern Europe leaves it with exposure to the
region’s largest economy.

The Agos Ducato unit, which Credit Agricole this week
confirmed is likely to provision for some 1 billion euros in bad
loans this year, is a reminder of the bank’s soured bet on Italy
even after it has exited Greece and cut its exposure to Spain.

PARIS, May 7 (Reuters) – French banks Societe Generale
and Credit Agricole vowed on Tuesday to keep
cutting costs after asset sales and lending cutbacks helped to
offset a weak domestic economy in the first quarter.

Banks across Europe are moving to slash spending and cut
jobs in the face of tougher rules about capital levels and the
uneven post-crisis economic recovery.

PARIS (Reuters) – Colony Capital, the $27 billion U.S. investment fund attracting controversy in France over its involvement in Carrefour and Accor, will invest up to $2 billion in Europe on a bet the business climate will soon improve.

Colony’s chief executive Thomas Barrack said the firm would allocate $1.3 to $2billion investment in France, Italy and Spain over the next eighteen months, aiming to fill a funding gap left by banks which must now comply with new Basel III regulation demanding higher levels of capital.

PARIS (Reuters) – Colony Capital, the $27 billion (17.4 billion pounds) U.S. investment fund attracting controversy in France over its involvement in Carrefour and Accor, will invest up to 1.5 billion euros in Europe on a bet the business climate will soon improve.

Colony’s chief executive Thomas Barrack said the firm would allocate 1 to 1.5 billion euros investment in France, Italy and Spain over the next eighteen months, aiming to fill a funding gap left by banks which must now comply with new Basel III regulation demanding higher levels of capital.

PARIS/LONDON, April 29 (Reuters) – A collapse of private
equity investment this year seems increasingly emblematic of
France’s deep-seated economic problems and how hard it may prove
to change a vicious cycle of poor growth and weakened companies.

Deals in a sector that is often essential to fuel the
expansion of small and medium-sized businesses have slowed to a
trickle – $437 million in the first quarter of 2013 compared
with a peak of $36 billion in 2006 – and sector players say
there is little prospect of a pickup anytime soon.

PARIS (Reuters) – AXA (AXAF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it agreed to buy 50 percent of Chinese property and casualty insurance company Tian Ping for 485 million euros ($631 million) to strengthen its position in high-growth markets.

AXA, which earlier this month sold a portfolio of old life insurance policies in the United States for $1.1 billion, has been expanding into emerging markets as developed markets remain sluggish in the wake of the global financial crisis.

PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) – Buyout firm Astorg Partners has hired Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to look for a buyer for France’s leading funeral services firm, OGF, sources familiar with the mandate said.

The auction of the company, which Astorg acquired for an enterprise value of roughly 300 million euros ($393 million) in 2007, is in its early stages and could be complicated by the links between economic growth – at a virtual standstill in France – and willingness to spend on funeral services.

PARIS (Reuters) – Rothschild is looking to double the size of its fund of hedge funds business via a U.S. acquisition to give it the scale it needs to flourish in an industry now dominated by a handful of big players.

Rothschild made its first push into the business last year when it bought fund of funds company HDF Finance for an undisclosed amount.