California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.

Despite woes in the buyout market, private equity fund-raising continued to hold its ground
during the first half of this year, dropping only slightly from 2007's record levels, according
to the Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst newsletter.

In the first six months of 2008, U.S. private equity firms raised $132.7 billion across 185 funds,
down 3% from the $137.2 billion raised by 199 funds during the first half of last year. "For first
time since 2003, we've seen year-over-year fund-raising actually decline as some of the bigger
firms -- Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group and Madison Dearborn Partners -- ran into delays
raising capital for their latest buyout funds," said Jennifer Rossa, the managing editor of Dow
Jones Private Equity Analyst. "The weakness in the buyout industry, however, has been offset
by strong fund-raising by mezzanine funds and a decent showing by venture capital funds."

While leveraged buyout (LBO) fund-raising declined 20%, mezzanine fund-raising set a new first
half record with $24 billion raised and VC fund-raising increased by 15% to $11.5 billion raised
by 72 funds from $10 billion raised by 62 funds last year.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.