Private equity and venture capital firms invested USD126m across nine Indian agri-business companies during the first six months of 2013, 75 per cent more than the USD72m invested across six companies during the same period last year, says data from Venture Intelligence.   The largest PE investment in the industry

HgCapital has made a majority investment in IntelliFlo, a provider of front and back office software to financial advisors, advisor networks and brokers.   The investment was made from its Mercury Fund which was raised to specifically target software and other technology companies across Europe.     Led by chief executive

Host Europe Group, the largest privately-owned hosting group in Europe, has been acquired by European private equity firm Cinven from Montagu Private Equity.   Headquartered in the UK, Host Europe Group is a provider of hosting and domain services to small and medium enterprises, with around 600 employees. It offers an

HIG Capital’s Brazilian affiliate has completed a strategic investment in Creme Mel Sorvetes, a Brazilian ice cream company.   Headquartered in Goiás, Creme Mel is the largest ice cream producer in the Mid-West of Brazil. The company has over 900 employees and sells ice cream in nine Brazilian states.  

Venture capital funds TT Venture, a fund managed by Fondamenta SGR, and Atlante Seed, a fund managed by IMI Fondi Chiusi SGR, an Intesa Sanpaolo Group company, have invested in MilkyWay, a start-up in Modena focused on the design, manufacture and online sales of bike-trial and extreme sports equipment.  

Edison Ventures has made a USD5.5m investment in a USD7m total financing round in Ontario, Canada based eSentire.   Existing investor VentureLink joined Edison in the round.   The proceeds will be used to increase sales and marketing, expand product development to address markets beyond financial services eSentire combines behaviour-based

NBGI Private Equity (NBGIPE), the lower mid-market buyout firm, has sold its majority stake in Ochre House to US-based Pinstripe backed by Accel-KKR, which delivers a 4x return on NBGIPE’s original investment.   The sale will result in the combined business becoming the largest independent provider of global recruitment process

AnaCap Financial Partners and the management of Simply Business have completed the management buyout of the small business insurance provider.   Under the terms of the agreement, funds advised by AnaCap and Simply Business’s management will acquire 100 per cent of Simply Business.   Established in 2005 by parent company

Germany’s largest online optician Mister Spex, a portfolio company of private equity firm DN Capital, has acquired two Swedish online eyewear operations, Lensstore and Loveyewear.   “With this step we demonstrate our leading position in Europe and accelerate our international expansion,” says Dirk Graber, founder and chief executive of Mister