Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking has part-financed the acquisition, through the provision of USD91.5m senior debt facilities, of a majority shareholding in Creganna-Tactx by the Permira Funds.  Headquartered in Galway, Ireland, Creganna-Tactx Medical supplies products, technologies and services to medical device and life science companies. It specialises in the design

Qype, a user-generated local review site in Europe, has raised EUR3.5m from Vodafone Ventures and a further EUR3.0m from its existing three investors, Advent Venture Partners, Partech International and Wellington Partners. Launched in March 2006, Qype’s communication platform is Europe’s largest site for user-generated reviews and recommendations of places, events

The OzForex Group, an online foreign exchange payments platform operating under the OzForex, UKForex, CanadianForex and NZForex country brands, has received a minority growth investment from Accel Partners and The Carlyle Group. The funds will help accelerate OzForex’s expansion into North America, Europe and Asia, as well as the development

Beauty company Coty has agreed to acquire skincare and cosmetics company philosophy from The Carlyle Group, an alternative asset manager. The acquisition of philosophy will allow Coty to further strengthen and expand its Coty Prestige division, which will manage the philosophy portfolio. philosophy is a beauty brand focused on skincare,

Financial Services Partners Fund I has invested USD11m in FirstAtlantic Financial Holdings and its wholly owned subsidiary FirstAtlantic Bank, located in Jacksonville, Florida.  The stock purchase agreement between the companies was originally executed on 11 June 2010, to enable this initial purchase of USD11m in common shares, and potentially up

IK Investment Partners intends to sell Welzorg, a distributor of mobility aids for elderly and disabled people in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden, to the Louwman Group. Financials for the transaction were not disclosed. Welzorg’s business consists primarily of the sale, long-term rental and maintenance of manual and powered wheelchairs

Alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has sold Britax Childcare, a manufacturer of children’s car safety seats, to Nordic Capital. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.   Carlyle Europe Partners acquired Britax Childcare from Britax International in October 2005 and focused on the growth of the business through

Yorkville Advisors, the US-based alternative investment manager, has entered into a GBP7m standby equity distribution agreement on behalf of one of its funds with AIM listed Ascent Resources. Ascent Resources is an independent, multi-project, European focused oil and gas exploration and production company. The transaction also included a promissory note

Matrix Private Equity Partners has launched a GBP21m linked fundraising across three of the venture capital trusts it manages that focus on investing in management buyouts.  Mark Wignall, chief executive of Matrix, says: “A tried and tested investment strategy that focuses on management buyouts at the lower risk end of

Drago Capital and an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management have acquired a real estate portfolio consisting of 97 bank branches from Caja Madrid in a sale and 25-year lease back transaction.  Caja Madrid is the fourth largest Spanish financial group.   The financing for the transaction is being provided by