Ongoing access to capital and financing, strengthened balance sheets and divestiture activity will continue to fuel deal activity in 2013, according to PwC US.  An acceleration of deals taking place during the final months of 2012 may result in a lull in activity during the first quarter; however, these sound

Private equity firm PAI Partners has completed the purchase of a 78.6 per cent stake in Marcolin, an Italian eyewear manufacturer, in a proprietary primary LBO transaction in one of its core investment sectors. The purchase has been carried out by Cristallo, a company indirectly controlled by certain investment funds

Albion Ventures has sold its six cinema investments for approximately GBP12.5m. Funds managed or advised by Albion Ventures initially invested GBP1.2m alongside UK art-house cinema operator City Screen to develop the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse in 1999. Albion subsequently invested further funds to develop the Picturehouse at FACT in Liverpool in

US deal flow is likely to remain tempered in 2013 with activity remaining at or near a 10-year low. Ernst & Young’s transaction advisory services says macroeconomic ambiguity combined with a continued corporate focus on lower risk, organic growth opportunities and smaller, strategic deals will define deal-making in 2013. "In

Bertram Capital has made a growth investment in Paula’s Choice, a skin care and cosmetics company with distribution in 50 countries around the world.  Paula’s Choice is known for its content-driven ecommerce platform offering proprietary products, extensive skin care research, and exclusive reviews of more than 45,000 products from other

CI Capital portfolio company Transplace, a provider of transportation management services and logistics technology, has acquired Torus Freight Systems, a Canadian-based logistics services company focused on Canadian cross-border and intra-Canada freight. Torus was represented by Corporate Finance Associates. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. “Acquiring Torus, a leading

Young Innovations is to be acquired by an affiliate of Linden Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm that focuses on middle market leveraged buyout investments in the healthcare and life science industries. Young Innovations develops, manufactures and markets supplies and equipment used by dentists, dental hygienists and consumers. Under

High Road Capital Partners has sold Accentus, marking the second exit for the firm’s debut fund, High Road Capital Partners Fund I. The sale generated a 3.1x gross cash-on-cash return and a 49 per cent gross IRR for High Road. The firm’s first exit was Milwaukee Gear in February 2012.