UK / Ireland
Seedcamp Fund IV holds £60m final close
Seedcamp's fourth fund has made 15 investments in the six months following its first close
Hg and ICG in £1.3bn Iris buyout
Hg6 generates a 4.2x return from the sale of the accounting software group, equivalent to a 26% IRR
Terra Firma mandates Christie & Co for Wyevale sale
GP has secured a 12-month extension to its 2007-vintage fund to enable the sale of remaining assets
NorthEdge's Direct Healthcare Group bolts on Qbitus
Following this last acquisition, Direct Healthcare expects to reach a turnover of £24m in 2018
Sovereign reaps 8x on sale of Kindertons to ExamWorks
Sale of the UK-based accident management business was based on EBITDA of around £20m
Foresight injects £3m into DA Languages
UK interpreting and translation business will look to expand its private sector activity
BC Partners launches real estate arm
Stéphane Theuriau, former CEO of Altarea Cogedim, is hired as managing partner
Edge leads £4m Hoop series-A
Deal will enable the online booking platform to expand its operations team and prepare for a US launch
PAI acquires M Group from First Reserve
Acquirer is currently investing from its sixth flagship fund, which writes equity cheques of €100-300m
BGF invests £3m in Ruroc
Company will use the fresh capital to support the launch of its new Atlas motorcycle helmet
Permira sells remaining Just Group shares
Final selldown follows GP's share sale in January, in which the investor sold shares worth £78.5m
Inflexion raises £2.25bn in double fundraise
GP also announces the launch of Inflexion Foundation, which will receive 1% of the vehicles' profits
Epiris acquires The Club Company from Lone Star
Deal is the third made by Epiris Fund II and reportedly values the country club chain at around £100m
NorthEdge hires two new portfolio directors
Keven Parker has experience from 3i, while Andy Tupholme previously worked at Gresham
Highland Europe injects $21m into Incopro
IP protection software and consultancy business will build out its Chinese operations
Blue Wolf acquires majority stake in TGW
Deal for the industrial knife producer was made with capital drawn from the GP's $540m fourth fund
GMT sells MeetingZone to trade for £61.4m
Sale ends a holding period of almost seven years for GMT Communications Partners
Livingbridge to acquire Love Holidays
Proposed deal will reportedly value the UK-based online travel agent at around £180m
Alliance of equals: PE's evolving buy-and-build approach
Portfolio companies are increasingly making larger bolt-ons, as GPs look for new ways to boost returns in a market with high entry multiples
Investec launches $100m venture fund
Vehicle will target UK fintech and enterprise software businesses between the seed and series-A stages
Downing exits Goonhilly
Exit marks the end of a four-year ownership after Downing acquired the firm in March 2014
Core invests in Alpine Fire Engineers
GP is currently investing from its second fund, which typically invests £5-15m per transaction
Bridgepoint preps for first credit fund launch
Firm's first debt vehicle will invest in Bridgepoint's own deals as well as third-party ones
Spice PE in $300m deal for The Craftory
GP is funding the launch of a new UK-based, consumer-goods-focused investment group