An affiliate of The Wicks Group, a New York-based private equity firm, has acquired Antenna Audio from Discovery Communications. Antenna specialises in the production and delivery of educational content for use in multimedia and mobile tours for museums, exhibitions, historic sites and visitor attractions throughout the world. Antenna operates in

Private equity firms Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and CVC Capital Partners have signed a definitive agreement for CD&R to acquire a 42.5 per cent ownership interest in Univar, a distributor of commodity and specialty chemicals. The transaction values the company at approximately USD4.2bn. Funds advised by CVC will retain a

As traditional Hollywood studios struggle to assemble funding – MGM has been forced to postpone the 23rd film of the James Bond franchise because of debt problems – more and more financiers are looking to the independent film fund model for reliable returns, according to Guernsey-based tax expert Ben Tustin.

CallMiner, a provider of enterprise speech analytics, has closed USD4m in series C financing from Sigma Partners, Intersouth Partners, Inflexion Partners and an undisclosed partner. CallMiner plans to use the proceeds to fuel its growth and expansion activities. Terry Leahy, CallMiner’s president and chief executive, says: “CallMiner’s industry leading speech

Arsenal Capital Partners’ portfolio company Novolyte Technologies, a manufacturer and supplier of specialty electrolyte materials for lithium ion battery and energy storage applications, has created a joint venture with Foosung, a producer of specialty lithium salts for lithium batteries. The joint venture platform will create an integrated producer of lithium

Aquiline Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm investing in financial services, has made a USD225m investment in CRT Capital Group, an independent institutional broker-dealer based in Stamford, Connecticut.   The investment, which also includes funds from CRT’s management, will expand the firm’s balance sheet with the objective of

Market conditions are now providing opportunities for private equity managers and their investors in selective areas of the market, according to research produced by professional services company Towers Watson. The research asserts that portfolio company operating performance is stabilising, pricing for new deals is becoming more compelling from a buyer’s

Galtere, a US registered investment manager, has launched an agribusiness private equity strategy that aims to take advantage of a fundamental shift in global market dynamics and a growing worldwide demand for commodities from institutional investors. The agribusiness strategy makes direct investments in industrial scale commodity production facilities in Brazil,

Irving Place Capital, a middle-market private equity firm, has signed a purchase agreement to acquire Alpha Packaging, a blow molder of plastic bottles and jars for the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and personal care markets. Irving Place Capital is investing in partnership with Alpha’s current management team, led by president and chief

The fund managed by BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners has acquired 100 per cent of Gortahile Windfarm, which owns and operates a 20 megawatt wind farm in County Laois, Ireland, from ABO Wind Ireland.  The Gortahile Windfarm began commercial operation at the end of August 2010. It is forecast to