Pine Brook raises $1.4 bln fund, sees deals ahead

By Megan Davies

NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - Private equity firm Pine Brook Road Partners said on Tuesday it has finished raising its first fund, with more than $1.4 billion committed by investors.

The firm, which focuses on the financial services and energy sectors, started raising the fund in mid-2007 and had an original target to raise $1.5 billion.

Pine Brook has invested about $250 million of the fund to date in nine businesses, said Chief Executive Howard Newman, who founded the company in 2006 after 22 years at Warburg Pincus.

"A substantial portion of (the remaining fund) will go to the nine portfolio companies we have, but there's still a very substantial amount that will probably go elsewhere," he said.

"We're working on two energy deals and two interesting financial services deals," Newman added.

Pine Brook said it doesn't do leveraged buyouts but typically makes equity investments of $100 million to $200 million starting up companies, making the capital investment over a period of time rather than all upfront.

Companies it has backed include Common Resources, LLC, a start-up oil and gas exploration and production company and Aurigen Re Capital Limited, a start-up life reinsurer that offers mortality reinsurance to Canadian primary life insurers.

(Reporting by Megan Davies; Editing Bernard Orr)