Morgan Grenfell Private Equity, the Deutsche Bank-owned private equity firm, is looking to restore some of its lustre with an acquisition of SeraCare, a US blood products diagnostic company, despite the fund's suspension.

The fund is suspended pending a vote by investors in mid-October on whether to fold the once autonomous fund into DB Capital Partners. SeraCare was actually acquired by Probitas Pharma, a Spanish bio-pharmaceutical group formerly known as Grupo Grifols and a Morgan Grenfell portfolio company. The purchase does not legally fall within the suspension period, which was triggered by the departure of key executives from Morgan Grenfell.