UK / Ireland
August Equity hires Walsh, Stevens and Coates
UK-based PE firm August Equity hires Greg Walsh, Mark Stevens and Michael Coates
QPE hires three
Queen's Park Equity has hired Alison Price, Valentina Matheus and Prudence Jones
Synova scores 4.5x on sale of Fairstone to TA
UK-based IFA consolidation platform is the first exit for Synova's third fund
Octopus-backed SimplyCook acquired by Nestlé
SimplyCook will continue to be led by its founding team from its base in London
Quantile sold to minority owner Spectrum for £11m
In January 2021, Spectrum Equity injected $51m in growth capital funding into Quantile
FPE sells IWSR to Bowmark Capital
FPE Capital acquired the business in April 2018 and Allied Irish Bank provided acquisition finance
Tikehau closes T2 Energy Transition Fund on €1.1bn
Fund targets European companies operating in the clean energy production, low-carbon transport and energy efficiency segments
Primary Capital takes minority in Sigma Sports
Founders Ian Whittingham and Jason Turner will both remain with the company following the deal
Downing leads $10m StorageOS series-B
StorageOS intends to invest further in its go-to-market strategy and scale its sales
Multiples Heatmap: average pricing hits 11x in busy Q4
Healthcare, financial services and TMT assets continue to drive valuations up, while Nordic and UK regions see highest multiples
Skylake Capital holds first close, makes first deal
Debut fund leads a $3m round in UK-based deep-learning startup Mindtrace
RJD's Survey Solutions acquires Survey Systems, Kempston
Survey Solutions has made the acquisitions to augment its geographical coverage and service offering
Mobeus leads £5m series-A for Vivacity
Vivacity manufactures sensors and develops software to improve traffic insights and safety procedures
OCI invests £13m in Dexters
OCI's liquid resources that are available for future deployment are estimated to be ТЃ176m
The Deals Pipeline
A highlight of deal processes underway and involving PE, either on the buy- or sell-side, across Europe
HQ Capital registers HQ Capital IV GP
Luxembourg-domiciled legal structure will allow HQ Capital to launch its next funds in 2021 and 2022
Video: "A day in the life" of Beringea CIO Karen McCormick
McCormick shares her experience of a typical day working from home, and her outlook for venture and growth capital trends in 2021
Moore Strategic Ventures, Rovida et al. in $120m round for Blockchain.com
Company has raised $190m since being founded in 2011
Advent Life Sciences raises $215m across two new funds
Funds invest in early- and mid-stage life sciences companies developing new therapeutics and technologies
VC-backed Apcintex acquired by Centessa
Centessa was launched this week following the merger of 10 private biotechnology companies, including Apcintex
Bestport invests in Playful Promises
Will Hobhouse, previously chairman of Heals, Jack Wills and Sunspel, is joining the board as chairman
Kempen co-invests in £46.5m Eque2 MBO
WestBridge acquired Eque2 in December 2020, marking the firm's sixth investment from its second fund
Oxx leads $21m series-B for Peak
Funding round was oversubscribed and saw participation from MMC Ventures and Praetura Ventures
Secondary pricing flies high for infra funds; venture sees big jump
Across all strategies, highest prices are paid for 2016-2018 vintages, Setter Capital research shows