Private Equity Holding and 5E Holding, two private equity funds managed by Swiss Life, have postponed plans to merge.

Eva Kalias, spokeswoman for PEH, said the delay was because the firm's separation from Vontobel is not complete. PEH became part of Swiss Life Private Equity Partners in July 2000 after shareholders voted that PEH leave the Vontobel Group having suffering losses during the last financial year. Shareholders were expecting to see merger proposal documentation by the end of July, followed by formal proposal recommendation at the company's annual general meeting on August 23. The company refused to disclose further details about the discussions with Vontobel, or estimate when talks might conclude. PEH made a loss of Sfr28.7m (€19m) in the second quarter of this year after writing down investments in its venture portfolio.