UK / Ireland
17Capital provides £125m in preferred equity to Exponent III
LPs in Exponent III include Aberdeen Standard Investments, Central Pension Fund and CNP Assurances
Zeus makes six promotions
Zeus has promoted Nick Cowles to deputy head of corporate finance and Jordan Warburton to director
M&A wave incoming in 2021, says Edmond de Rothschild CIO
Investment bank's H2 2020 outlook also emphasises continuing macroeconomic uncertainty, and singles out healthcare and data assets as winners
Palamon-backed Simplify acquires Cook Taylor
Simplify, a conveyancing law firm, was acquired by Palamon Capital Partners in 2014
LDC-backed Babble acquires Lake Technologies
Founded in 1995, Lake Technologies provides business telephony and network services
VGC promotes Lister to partner
Lister joined the firm last year from Marlin Equity Partners as an investment director
Kennet V closes on €223m
Registered in February 2018, the fund's original target was €200m, with a hard-cap of €250m
Global Founders, Partech in €5.6m seed round for Symmetrical
Partech is currently investing from its Partech Entrepreneur III global seed fund
Innvotec launches Female Ventures Fund
Fund provides initial capital, followed by further financial and advisory support after the early stages
Freeline closes $120m extended series-C round
Financing augments Syncona's previously announced series-C investment in Freeline of $40m
Auster Fund I holds first close on $500m
Auster intends to target equity tickets of $50-200m with the ability to commit larger amounts
Summit Europe Growth Equity III closes on €1.1bn
Summit Europe III is structured as a Luxembourg LP, while Summit Partners itself is based in the US
Elysian III holds first close on £270m
Domiciled in the UK as a UK limited partnership, the fund has a target of £300m
Kartesia backs £26m refinancing for BGF-backed Clearway
Debt has been invested from Kartesia Senior Opportunities I, marking the fund’s first UK investment
CBPE X nears final close towards £525m target
CBPE X is likely to target UK-based companies with enterprise values of £25-150m
Inflexion-backed Alcumus acquires Banyard and ContractorCheck
Management teams of Banyard and ContractorCheck have not retained stakes in the companies
17Capital hires investor relations director in London
Munte joins from CVC Credit Partners where he worked in a similar role
Equistone-backed FirstPort to merge with Mainstay
Hampshire-based FirstPort recorded a turnover of £28.9m for the year-ending in December 2018
VentureWave holds first close of Impact Ireland fund
Ireland-based VentureWave both supports buyouts and provides venture investments
The Deals Pipeline
A fortnightly highlight of deal processes underway and involving PE, either on the buy- or sell-side, across Europe
GCP takes minority in CubeLogic
CubeLogic's management team completed a buy back from parent company OpenLink in 2016
Harper to lead HIG’s London small-cap buyout team
Prior to joining HIG, John Harper was a partner at Inflexion Private Equity and previously worked at LDC
SEP-backed Dotmatics acquires BioBright
SEP invested in Dotmatics, a provider of data analysis software for laboratories, in October 2017
Carlyle exits Eggplant for $330m
The Carlyle Group acquired Eggplant from venture capital firm Seraphim in January 2016