Qatar-based investment bank QInvest has acquired a 40.8 per cent stake in Intercat Hospitality and Butlers Dry Cleaning and Laundry Services, a UAE outsourced business services company. The group, established in 1992, is comprised of Intercat, Butlers and restaurant concepts Mashawi and Toast. Intercat specialises in the institutional catering market

Salida Capital, a Canadian alternative investment management firm, is launching a private equity fund focused in the natural resources space. The fund’s official marketing period will begin in May and continue for a six to eight month period, or until it has hit its targeted maximum capital commitment. “We’re extremely

Lending Club, a peer lending network, has closed a USD24.5m investment round led by Foundation Capital. Foundation Capital was joined by existing investors including Morgenthaler Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners and Canaan Partners. "Lending Club is ideally positioned to capture a significant share of the US banking and investment market over

Jafco Ventures, a technology venture capital firm, has received an additional USD100m of capital to kick-off its latest fund and has named Paul Sallaberry as its newest venture partner. This addition to the team comes on the heels of Nick Sturiale and Jeb Miller joining Jafco early last year as

Vision Opportunity China Fund, a closed-ended fund traded on AIM that seeks investments in SMEs with operations principally within Greater China, has launched a set of initiatives that are designed to further improve the liquidity in the trading and rating of VOC’s shares and enhance shareholder value. It is introducing

I2BF, the clean technology asset management group, is raising a USD100m global renewable energy and cleantech focused venture capital fund. This comes after the successful raising of its first venture fund, I2BF Holdings One, which currently holds close to USD75m. I2BF’s Venture Fund II will invest in a diversified portfolio

Private equity firm The Carlyle Group has closed its Carlyle Asia Partners III fund at USD2.55bn, which is more than 40 per cent larger than its predecessor fund, Carlyle Asia Partners II. Carlyle Asia Partners III is the third ex-Japan Asia Pacific private equity fund advised by the Carlyle Asia

Private investment firm Sun Capital Partners says one of its affiliated portfolio companies, Elan Nutrition, has been purchased by ConAgra Foods. Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Elan Nutrition is a contract developer and manufacturer of nutritional bars serving the health and wellness, meal replacement, sports nutrition, energy bar, and nutraceuticals

Rembrandt Venture Partners has closed a second fund in the amount of USD160.5m. It will be invested in early-stage companies with ground-breaking technology offerings. The fund was oversubscribed, exceeding its initial target by USD10.5m. Rembrandt has been a participant in several recent successes in the high tech space, including Cavium,