An affiliate of private equity investment firm Paine & Partners has entered into a definitive agreement with Aquanova International, a company controlled by Global Capital Investors II, a private equity fund advised exclusively by Global Finance, as well as with Bellaria Holding, for the sale and purchase of majority ownership

3i-backed SLR Management, the international environmental consultancy, has acquired GSS Environmental, an Australian provider of environmental consulting and project management services to clients in the mining, minerals, land development and natural resource sectors. GSS Environmental is a top three environmental consultant to the coal extraction industry in Australia, having advised

Palatine Private Equity portfolio company Air Energi Group has completed a management buyout led by LGV Capital. The deal sees LGV acquire a majority interest in the business. HSBC provided a senior debt package and various increased working capital facilities globally. Palatine Private Equity, Air Energi Group’s previous investor, has

Graphite Capital, a UK mid-market private equity specialist, has sold NES Global Talent, the international technical recruitment group, to funds advised by AEA Investors for GBP234m. NES places highly skilled contract engineers and project managers with blue chip, multi-national clients, principally in the oil and gas industries, and also in

Econocom, a European business-to-business IT and communications technology infrastructure management provider, has acquired 100 per cent of the shares of Cap Synergy. Cap Synergy, known in the field of IT security and which generates a turnover of nearly EUR10m, brings to Econocom its portfolio of clients consisting of medium and

Houston-based private equity firm Rock Hill Capital Group has closed on a majority recapitalisation of Big Lake Services, a West Texas oilfield services provider operating throughout the Permian Basin. Big Lake, founded in 2006 by chief executive Casey Davidson, has a management team with over 150 years of Permian Basin

IntraLinks Deal Flow Indicator (DFI) for the second quarter of 2012 shows a 23 per cent increase in global merger and acquisition deal activity compared to Q2 2011.   All regions also showed a year-over-year positive trend for Q2 2012 over Q2 2011, with the strongest growth in Asia Pacific

Morgan Stanley Global Private Equity has completed a majority investment in Creative Circle, one of North America’s largest professional staffing firms specialising in advertising, creative and marketing talent. Morgan Stanley Global Private Equity partnered with the current management team who will remain in place and retain a considerable equity stake.