Bear private equity not exposed to subprime woes

LONDON (Reuters) - Bear Stearns BSC.N said on Wednesday that its private equity arm BPL.L is not invested in two of the bank's hedge funds that are exposed to troubles in the sub-prime mortgage market.

"Bear Stearns Private Equity Ltd. has no direct exposure to the U.S. subprime mortgage market and to its knowledge, its private equity holdings have no indirect exposure to this market," it said in a letter to assure shareholders following widespread media reports about the funds.