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Reuters - Dow Chemical is scrambling to keep its $15 billion takeover of rival Rohm & Haas alive after a surprise decision by the Kuwaiti government to scrap a joint venture with Dow, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

The Kuwaiti decision deprived the U.S. group of about $9 billion in planned financing which it would have used for the Rohm deal, but unidentified people close to the situation told the FT that Dow could still tap a $13 billion bridge loan to pay for the takeover.

The sources also said Dow was likely to try to renegotiate the price of the deal to reflect the recent drop in Rohm’s share price, the newspaper said, adding that both Dow and Rohm declined to comment.

Midland, Michigan-based Dow agreed in July to buy Rohm & Haas for $78 a share to broaden its specialty product offerings. The deal carries a termination fee of $750 million payable to Rohm & Haas.

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Tags: amp, bridge loan, dow chemical, financial times, haas, joint-venture, kuwaiti government, midland michigan, product offerings, reuters, rohm, share price, surprise decision, takeover, termination-fee, unidentified people

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) - Hedge fund managers KP Securities and Sophia Capital Securities announced that they are joining forces, enhancing the 2 firms ability to raise capital for alternative investment managers. The transaction between the two firms was finalized on September 1, 2008.

The new combined company, Belvedere Global Investors LLC, is headquartered in Belvedere, California, a short distance from the San Francisco financial district. The company is a distribution boutique focused on alternative investments. It raises capital for investment manager clients that include hedge, private equity and venture capital funds and funds of funds, as well as for private companies seeking direct investments.

"This transaction will allow our team to continue deepening its geographic coverage of investing clients and fund managers, bringing under one roof a truly global collection of relationships", said Keith Pagan of KP Securities.

Over the past 4 years, the combined team, now run by Keith Pagan and Patrick Beaudan, the principals of Belvedere, has raised over $1.5 billion in capital for alternative investment managers in the U.S., Europe and Asia, working with investors in over 50 different countries.

"The combination of our firms enhances the depth of the professional assets we can deploy in supporting the capital raising efforts of an increasing range of clients in the alternative investment space, while preserving our focus on delivering top-notch investor relations services", said Patrick Beaudan.

As part of its activities, Belvedere also organizes private roundtables, where institutional investors meet select alternative investment managers over the course of a high-quality, one-day event that excludes vendors and the press.

Alex Akesson

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Reuters - U.S. hedge fund Fairfield Greenwich Group has merged with Swiss private bank Banque Benedict Hentsch, bringing their combined assets under management to more than $18 billion.

The deal will allow Fairfield’s clients to access Banque Benedict Hentsch’s (BBH) suite of wealth management services and provide it a broader base of operations within Switzerland, according to a letter by Fairfield founding partner Andres Piedrahita to investors.

BBH gains added products and infrastructure support from the deal and the combined company will try to grow the private bank, the companies said in a statement.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Geneva-based BBH, which was founded in 2004, serves institutional and private clients in areas such as banking, securities, foreign exchange, tax and estate planning, they said.

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