International legal practice Norton Rose LLP has advised its client Duet Private Equity on the acquisition of a controlling interest in Dashen Brewery, Ethiopia’s largest independent brewer. The value of the acquisition is USD90 million, making it the largest private equity investment in to Ethiopia to date. The investment will

The shareholders of Savcio today confirmed the sale of the company to ACTOM. Savcio is the largest privately owned provider of maintenance and repair services for motors and transformers in Africa. ACTOM focuses on manufacturing, distributing and contracting in the electrical engineering sector.   Private equity firms Actis, Ethos and Old

Hicks Equity Partners (HEP), the private equity investment vehicle of the Thomas O Hicks family, is leading an investor group that has acquired a majority interest in Directional Rentals, Inc, a privately held oilfield services company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Based in Lafayette, Louisiana with satellite

Finam, the largest Russian brokerage and investment holding, that previously invested in Badoo and a host of other web companies, has invested USD10 million in IM+, a mobile messenger services with 17.5 million users and 800 million mobile ad impressions/month. As a part of the deal Finam and Shape Services,

Claude Paoli (pictured), majority shareholder and President of the French group BPI, has announced an intention to conclude a strategic capital partnership with Perceva Capital. The operation should be finalised in March 2012. The transaction would see Perceva Capital taking a majority stake. Created in 1984, BPI group is a

Morgenthaler Private Equity, the Boston and Cleveland-based private equity team focused on lower middle-market buyouts, has completed the sale of Phillips & Temro Industries, a designer, manufacturer and distributor of highly engineered diesel engine components to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers of construction equipment, light and heavy duty trucks,

Business Growth Fund (BGF), established to help Britain’s fast-growing smaller and medium sized businesses, has invested in GCI Telecom Group (GCI Com), an independent telecoms and data services provider, led by Midlands-based IT and communications entrepreneur, Wayne Martin. BGF has invested GBP10 million of equity capital to support GCI Com’s organic

EmVest Asset Management, a diversified agricultural investment company in sub-Saharan Africa, has received its first allocation from Truestone Impact Investment Management, which focuses on delivering market rate returns from social and environmental investments. EmVest manages the Emergent African Land Fund, a private equity fund focusing on the agricultural sector, with

General Atlantic is to acquire a minority equity stake in FNZ, a provider of technology, transaction and custody services to the wealth management industry, investing alongside HIG Europe and the management team. Completion of the transaction remains subject to EU competition commission approval.   HIG originally backed an MBO of