Deals
Kirkland & Ellis has advised Oakley Capital on the acquisition of a majority stake in Globe-Trotter Group, the British luxury luggage brand, from entrepreneur Toshiyasu Takubo.Founded in 1897, Globe-Trotter is a British luxury luggage brand. Its world-renowned suitcases are known for their distinguished design and construction, with products that are handcrafted in the UK by skilled artisans using original manufacturing methods and machinery. Globe-Trotter luggage has built a loyal customer base that includes a number of prominent and influential individuals, while the business has also collaborated with numerous premium brands including Hermès, Tiffany, Gucci, Berluti and Aston Martin.
The Kirkland
London-based Hoxton Ventures has led a USD10 million funding round in online learning platform Preply, with participation from European investors Point Nine Capital, All Iron Ventures, The Family, EduCapital, and Diligent Capital.
The capital raised in this round, which doubled the total raised previously, will be used to grow the Preply network of 10,000 verified tutors teaching 50 languages to tens of thousands of students in 190 countries worldwide, according to the company.
Using the new funding, the company plans to scale the marketplace, mainly in North America, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK.
In addition, the company aims
Aksia has completed the acquisition of TorreyCove Capital Partners. In January, the firms announced that they had entered into an agreement and expected the transaction to close in the first half of 2020. Financial terms have not been disclosed.With the integration, the combined firm now advises on over USD160 billion in alternative assets with more than 250 professionals globally, including over 160 professionals focused on investment research, operational due diligence, risk management and client operations. As a specialist alternatives research and investment advisory firm serving the needs of institutional investors, Aksia’s expertise now covers private equity, private credit, hedge funds
Harbert European Growth Capital Fund II (HEGC) has funded UKCloud Limited (UKCloud) with debt capital. UKCloud’s platform supports hundreds of public services across government, healthcare and the wider public sector, many of which underpin critical services used by citizens, businesses and public sector workers (such as health professionals) nationwide. The debt will be used to help UKCloud continue on its expansion of its multi-cloud platforms and provide cash runway for organic growth.
UKCloud is an early pioneer of digital transformation within UK public sector where the market opportunity in this segment alone is north of £2 billion. UKCloud specialises in the
Aurelius Equity Opportunities has finalised its acquisition of Armstrong Ceiling Solutions, the Armstrong ceiling tiles and grids businesses, from Knauf International.
The Blackfinch Spring VCT has raised over GBP3.3 million to invest in a portfolio of technology and tech-enabled companies, since its launch in December.
SoftIron Ltd, a London-based developer of energy-efficient Ceph storage hardware and software for data centres, has secured USD34 million in new capital. The funding, led by company chairman Norman Fraser, supported by Earth Capital, the global investment firm, and various existing investors, will be deployed to expand its presence across North America, Europe and the APAC region. SoftIron will also use the injection of new capital to strengthen engineering initiatives to further build out its portfolio of data centre appliances based on open-source software.
Using open-source Ceph software, SoftIron makes task-specific appliances for scale-out data centre solutions, delivering industry-leading performance
Council Capital, a healthcare-focused private equity firm based in Nashville, has invested in Physician Housecalls,. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.Physician Housecalls provides home-based primary care services at private residences, assisted living centers, and independent senior apartments. The company employs teams of physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who provide comprehensive, compassionate, and tailored medical care to homebound patients who are most often geriatric and/or chronically ill. In addition to primary care provided both in-person and virtual visits via telehealth, Physician Housecalls offers annual wellness visits, chronic care management, care plan oversight, transitional care management, cognitive assessments, and
Ancala Partners (Ancala), an independent infrastructure investment manager, has acquired a majority interest in UK care organisation Holmleigh Care Homes Limited (Holmleigh), on behalf of its European Infrastructure Fund II (Fund II). Ancala has partnered with Holmleigh’s founders Rod Correia (Managing Director), and Matt Western, (Commercial Director), (together, ‘Founder Managers’) who will continue to own a minority interest in, and oversee management of, the Company through this next phase of growth.
Holmleigh was founded in 2000 and provides essential residential care, supported living and domiciliary care services to adults with a varied range of disabilities and challenges, with specialist expertise
Edison Partners, a growth-equity investment firm, has completed the sale of its stake in Solovis to Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ), generating over a 50 per cent IRR on its USD13 million total investment.Headquartered in Dallas, Solovis offers multi-asset class portfolio management, analytics and reporting tools for asset owners and allocators. Solovis’ solutions, which enable public and private assets to be managed on the same platform, will become available through Nasdaq’s eVestment group and broaden eVestment’s capabilities for institutional investors.
The third fintech exit for Edison Partners this year following the acquisitions of Scivantage by Refinitiv and Clearpool by BMO Financial
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
