UK / Ireland
UK - AFM supports Greenberg acquisition
Alliance Fund Managers (AFM) has, through its MSIF Mezzanine Fund, provided a £250,000 mezzanine loan to support glass supplier GG Glass & Glazing in the acquisition of the assets of Greenberg Glass, in a deal worth £400,000.
Uk - Hotbed appoints new head of business development
Investor syndicate Hotbed has appointed Steve Howard as head of business development.
UK - Clarus et al invest £21m into Heptares
Clarus Ventures, MVM Life Science Partners and Novartis Option Fund have invested £21m in a first round of funding for drug discovery company Heptares Therapeutics Ltd.
GLOBAL - GIC and Future Fund acquire 7.7% of Apax
Apax Partners has sold nearly 8% of it its management company and future carried interest to GIC Special Investments and Future Funds, two Asian-Pacific investors.
UK - BVCA launches cleantech group
The BVCA has launched a new body called Energy, Environment and Technology Group, which will provide guidance and advice to government, investors and companies active in the cleantech and renewable energy sectors.
UK - Mid-market feeling the squeeze
Figures published today in the unquote" UK mid-market barometer, produced in association with LDC, reveal that investment levels in the UK mid-market saw broad declines across the board in 2008, though there were some areas that showed a degree of resilience.
UK - Graphite embarks on timber buy-and-build
Graphite Capital has acquired a majority stake in timber windows producer Performance Window Group (PWG) for an undisclosed sum.
UK - Barclays strengthens natural resource business
Barclays Capital has hired Meb Somani to join its national resource principal investment business.
EUROPE – 3i Group acquires 3i Quoted
3i Quoted Private Equity today agreed to be acquired by 3i Group in a deal that values 3i QPEP at £355.2m. The acquisition will be effected through a solvent liquidation of QPEP, allowing 3i to acquire the 55% stake in 3i QPEP it did not already own.
Everyone needs boundaries
Professionals concur that the mid-market is the true engine of European private equity growth. But what are the boundaries?
Size isn't everything
"My next fund will be the same size as my current one," said one mega buyout fund manager, chatting off-the-record to your editor at a recent event
EUROPE - 3i sells stake in Infrastructure
Listed private equity firm 3i has reduced its stake in its infrastructure fund to a third after selling 77 million shares. The placing raised £61m towards the £2bn debt pile the investor has accrued; half of which is due in the next three years.
UK - Carlyle to inject £25m into IMO
According to reports, Carlyle Group is negotiating a restructuring with creditors of portfolio company IMO Carwash designed to allow it to maintain control of the business, in a deal that would see it fork out up to £25m in return for a significant write-off...