Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Amadeus, headed locally by Dr Hermann Hauser, is expected to raise its third major fund and fourth in the last seven years during 2005.

The company raised £235m for Amadeus II in 2000 and is still making investments from the remaining money in the war chest.

The new fund will be sizeable but will be kept to “a realistic target,” a source told Business Weekly.

“A number of European technology funds have had to rein in their initial expectations in the last year or so and have probably ended up raising half of their original targets,” said the source.

Amadeus made 24 investments from its first fund, Amadeus I, which was closed in 1997 and has a reputation for raising solid amounts quickly from enthusiastic backers on an international basis. It has backed more than 20 businesses to date from Amadeus II.

The firm also raised a £3m mobile seed fund in 2001.