As the TimesOnline reports another European player cleans up the basement:

"WESTLB, the German bank, is pulling out of venture capital once and for all as it prepares to sell its last remaining private equity investment subsidiary.

West Private Equity, best known for its previous ownership of Southern Cross, the care home chain now owned by Blackstone, is set to be spun off from its parent with a new name next month.

The disposal will mark the final retreat from private investment eight years after WestLB hired Robin Saunders, a star banker from Deutsche Bank, to spearhead a multibillion-dollar push into the market."