RiskMetrics’ re-capitalisation tops venture capital deal table

A cash injection into RiskMetrics Group of $122 million by private equity investors last month was the largest venture capital deal of the second quarter.

Spectrum Equity Investors, a Boston-based private equity company, General Atlantic Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm, and Palo Alto-based venture capital company Technology Crossover Ventures closed the re-capitalisation deal with the New York-based risk analytics specialist last month.

The $122 million investment in RiskMetrics Group was the largest venture capital deal of the second quarter, according to the Quarterly Venture Capital Report released by international professional services firm Ernst & Young and Dow Jones subsidiary VentureOne, a venture capital research firm based in San Francisco.

The investment, which topped the deal league table for the second quarter of 2004, will be used to “rapidly advance its strategy of delivering a wide range of middle-office services", the company said.

Speaking last month, Spectrum’s founder, William Collatos, pinpointed RiskMetrics’ increasing penetration in the hedge fund space as one of the reasons Spectrum decided to invest. “More recently, [it] has established itself as the market leader for hedge fund and other alternative investment managers – in effect, the equivalent of a rating agency for complex securities,” he said.