Schoology, developer of a cloud-based collaborative learning platform for K-20 classrooms, has closed a new USD6 million round of financing led by FirstMark Capital, a leading NYC-based venture capital firm. Schoology has raised USD9.3 million in funding to date. Schoology’s mission is to improve communication and collaboration inside and outside

Bunge Limited, a global agribusiness and food company, has completed its previously announced acquisition of Climate Change Capital Group Limited (CCCG), the parent company of Climate Change Capital Limited (CCC), a UK-regulated sustainable asset manager and advisor.  James Cameron (pictured), CCC’s Vice Chairman, will replace Vivienne Cox as Chairman. Mark

Ancor Capital Partners has sold Tritrax Healthcare Services, a home health-care services provider to Dallas/Fort Worth area geriatric patients, to Jordan Health Services, a statewide provider of adult home health services. "The focus of our growth plan in the home care sector at Ancor is in paediatric care, and we

Vision Capital has acquired Vitopel from funds advised by DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and JP Morgan Partners.  Vitopel is the market leader in BOPP (bi-axially oriented polypropylene) film production in Latin America, generating over USD300 million of revenue in 2011. Its materials are widely used for products such as snack foods,

Friendgiftr, an e-commerce firm providing virtual pre-paid cards through the social web, has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Aurora Borealis Investments. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. "This is huge," says Rob Carpenter, Founder and CEO of Friendgiftr. "Since our launch, we have been

Alarm Capital Alliance (ACA) has partnered with Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), a global investment firm with USD3.7 billion in capital under management. ACA provides capital return and valuable operational resources to alarm companies via its dealer and portfolio acquisition programs as well as residential security services and home automation technologies

In Q1 2012, UK M&A activity saw 229 deals totalling GBP16bn, a 33% decrease compared to Q1 2011 (GBP23.9bn) but up 9.6% compared to Q4 2011 (GBP14.6bn), according to MergerMarket. The UK made up 9.6% of all European M&A by value this quarter, the lowest Q1 since Q1 2004 (8.4%).

Private equity firm Stirling Square Capital Partners has acquired SAR AS, a leading provider of total waste management solutions for the Norwegian offshore oil & gas industry, from AR Incoronato AS and Westco AS. The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, is the sixth from Stirling Square’s second fund, its second

BaltCap, a leading venture investor in the Baltics, has signed a EUR1 million investment in Clusterpoint, an ultra-fast database management system with built-in Internet-style search functionality. The company is an enterprise software start-up created by Latvian programmers and backed by seed investors from the UK and the Baltics.   Clusterpoint

Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners (AIP) has been awarded approximately USD1.3 billion in commitments for Morgan Stanley Private Markets Fund V (PMF V) and certain other separate accounts. AIP’s strategy is to combine primary funds, co-investments and secondaries in one globally diversified portfolio of private equity investments. The capital raise,