The first half of 2009 saw extremely low levels of European financial services M&A activity, but an increase in deal activity is on the cards as we move into 2010, according to Nick Page, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Page says: “’Steady as she goes’ has been the ethos throughout the 2009

Synergex, an international sales, marketing and distribution company, has closed private equity placements with several of its insiders, resulting in proceeds of approximately USD85,000. The proceeds will be added to the company’s working capital in exchange for common shares issued from treasury. The company received full consideration for the issuance

Mourant International Finance has topped Lipper’s league table of fund administrators for funds serviced in Jersey. Mourant had net assets of USD72.4bn at 30 June 2009. The next largest administrator was Bedell Trust with net assets of USD22.4bn, followed by Saltgate (USD15.9bn), Aztec Group (USD13.7bn) and R&H Fund Services (USD13.5bn).

A.P. Pharma has entered into a definitive securities purchase agreement with existing investors for a private placement of up to USD13.1m in two tranches. Participants in the transaction were Baker Brothers Investments, Tang Capital Partners, Tavistock Life Sciences and Deerfield Partners. The first tranche will consist of common stock and

Clinverse, has completed a series A financing of USD2.2m to assist its development of ClinPay, the pharmaceutical industry’s first eClinical trial payment network. The investment syndicate comprised current investors and Vital Financial. Umair Akeel has joined Clinverse as its chief technology officer. Akeel was an inventor and the chief architect

Venture Capital firms invested USD77m over 17 deals in India during the three months ending September 2009, according to a study by Venture Intelligence in partnership with the Global India Venture Capital Association. The amount invested during the period was significantly lower compared to the same quarter in 2008 (which

The Rainbow Seed Fund, a fund investing in early stage technology companies, says five of its investments raised over GBP22m over the summer. The Rainbow Seed Fund is a GBP10m independently managed seed capital fund dedicated to investing in technologies from its publicly funded research base of ten partners who

Société Générale Asset Management has acquired a 34 per cent shareholding in Opalia Pharma, a generic pharmaceutical company based in Tunisia, by SGAM AI Kantara. The fund will also provide EUR2m of new funding to support the growth of the business.  The Kantara Fund will be represented by three directors

Sometrics, which helps developers and brands monetize the social web, has closed a series B round of financing led by Steamboat Ventures. Concurrent with the investment, Beau Laskey, a managing director at Steamboat Ventures, has joined Sometrics’ board of directors. Original investors, including the Mail Room Fund and Greycroft Partners,