Sevin Rosen Funds, one of the oldest and most successful venture-capital firms that backs technology start-ups, says it is returning money to its investors, rather than investing those funds, because it now thinks current investment opportunities are not attractive. Might this attitude migrate to the private-equity funds and hedge funds that back oil and gas deals? This question was posed recently in a report by long-time service analyst G. Allen Brooks of Houston-based Parks Paton Hoepfl & Brown, an energy investment-banking firm that specializes in the service and supply sector. Sevin Rosen was raising Fund X when it did an about-face and told its investors that the current environment was indicating poor returns lay ahead, problematic exit opportunities in the future, and that too much money is chasing too few good deals. The firm stopped raising money. Many oil industry experts have noted that in the energy space, the same problem holds true-that too much money is chasing too few deals. "Sevin Rosen's decision, and the rationale behind it, presents an interesting backdrop for the current surge in energy private-equity investing," Brooks said. For more on this, see the December issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.

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