The tepid global economy has greatly slowed the pace of US M&A activity, as deal flow dropped by 15 per cent to 3,159 deals in the first half of 2012 from 3,729 in 2011. Deal value also tumbled by 43 per cent from the prior year. While the US economy

BlackRock has entered into a definitive agreement whereby it will acquire Swiss Re Private Equity Partners, the European private equity and infrastructure fund of funds franchise of Swiss Re. BlackRock and Swiss Re have also entered into a strategic alternative investment relationship agreement, centred on BlackRock Alternative Investors (BAI), which

Private equity firm HarbourVest Partners has announced that HarbourVest-managed funds together with HarbourVest Global Private Equity, a closed-end investment company, have signed a definite agreement to acquire the entities that hold Conversus Capital’s portfolio of  private equity fund interests and direct co-investments for USD1.4bn.  In conjunction with the purchase, up

Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), a later-stage venture capital and growth equity firm, is to launch IVP XIV, a USD1 billion fund.  This is the largest fund raised in the firm’s 32-year history and brings the cumulative committed capital to $4 billion. The fund was significantly oversubscribed with IVP’s existing Limited

NBGI Private Equity (NBGIPE) has acquired Horizon Care, a Midlands based specialist child care provider. NBGIPE has signalled its intention to double the size of the business through acquisitions and organic growth over the next three to five years.  Horizon Care caters for children with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Pan-Euopean private equity investor Montagu Private Equity is to acquire St Hubert alongside the comany’s existing management team from Dairy Crest Group plc, for a consideration of USD430m in cash. St Hubert is a leading producer of standard and low fat spreads in France and Italy. Founded over 100 years

Skrill (formerly Moneybookers), the online payment company owned by Investcorp, has agreed to acquire 100% of paysafecard.com Wertkarten AG, an Austrian provider of prepaid vouchers that enable consumers to shop online. The total consideration for the acquisition is up to EUR140 million.   Paysafecard provides a prepaid electronic payment method. People

LogRhythm has closed a USD15 million Series D round of funding. Siemens’ Venture Capital group, which is a part of Siemens Financial Services, led the round, with participation from existing investors Adams Street Partners and Grotech Ventures. The additional funding will be used to further accelerate growth, product innovation and

Munich-based venture capital firm Target Partners (www.targetpartners.de) has made a seven figure Series A investment in Theva Dünnschichttechnik GmbH (Theva) (www.theva.de). BayBG Bayerische Beteiligungsgesellschaft (www.baybg.de) joins Target Partners as a co-investor in the Munich-based technology company. Theva is a specialist in 2nd generation (2G) high temperature superconductors (HTS). The funding