Deals
Instinctif Partners, the international business communications consultancy, has secured backing from LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group. The transaction provides an exit for Instinctif’s previous private equity backer, Vitruvian Partners.
Headquartered in London, Instinctif Partners provides strategic advice to the boards and executive teams of leading companies worldwide. It employs more than 300 professionals in 12 offices located in the UK, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Brussels, Dubai, South Africa, Hong Kong and the Greater China region. Its network of global affiliates supports clients in other territories.
LDC’s investment will support the management team’s strategy to deliver
Maven Capital Partners (Maven) has led a GBP750,000 equity investment into innovative ecommerce platform, Aero Commerce (Aero).
A total of GBP550,000 was provided via the North East Development Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Maven, GBP200,000 was provided by existing shareholders in this round taking the total investment to date to over GBP1 million. The funding will enable Aero to invest in its sales and marketing activities and open an office in Newcastle. This will also allow the business to create a number of new roles and deliver on its ambitious expansion plans, while
Weak economic indicators, uncertainty surrounding Brexit and growing protectionism in global trade have contributed to a shift in sentiment in the M&A community and the beginning of a downturn in dealmaking activity, according to the seventh edition of the European M&A Outlook, published by CMS in association with Mergermarket.
The report is a comprehensive assessment of dealmaking sentiment in the European M&A market. It has canvassed the opinions of 230 senior Europe-based executives, from corporate and private equity firms, about their expectations for M&A in the year ahead.
Over the last 12 months, European M&A value has dropped 22
Elliptic, a provider of crypto-asset risk management solutions for crypto businesses and financial institutions, has raised USD23 million in a Series B round led by Tokyo-based SBI Group, along with new investment from AlbionVC, and participation from existing investors including SignalFire, Octopus Ventures, and Santander Innoventures.
Tomoyuki Nii from SBI Group will be joining the Board of Directors, along with Ed Lascelles of AlbionVC.
The new investment will fuel Elliptic’s continuing expansion into Asia, with new offices opening in Japan and Singapore. Revenue from clients based in Asia has increased 11X over the past two years. The funding will
HC Private Investments (HCPI), a Chicago-based private investment firm, is investing in Epicurean Butter Company, a manufacturer of finishing butters for the retail and foodservice industries.
As part of the deal, company founders Janey and John Hubschman are remaining in senior leadership roles and maintaining a significant minority ownership stake in the Company. Additionally, HCPI is providing capital that will support the Company’s strong sales growth and ability to execute on strategic investments in manufacturing capabilities and personnel to better serve the company’s existing customer base. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Founded in 2004, Epicurean Butter enables consumers,
Bristow & Sutor, a judicial services and debt recovery group, and a portfolio company of private equity firm Sovereign Capital Partners, has acquired Credit Style.
This is the second acquisition Bristow & Sutor has made since Sovereign backed the management buy-out of the business in June 2017 following the Group’s acquisition of DRP.
Established in 1977 and headquartered in Redditch, the Bristow & Sutor group today fully-employs a team of over 450 staff who support the collection of commercial and local authority debt types. The expanded Group will manage circa 1.9 million cases per annum.
The acquisition of
Industrial edge computing platform provider, Litmus Automation, has secured USD7 million in a Series A funding round led by Mitsubishi Corporation.
Litmus Automation’s products LoopEdge and Loop allow businesses to implement Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions. Working with original equipment manufacturers and other industrial companies, Litmus Automation’s IIoT solutions offer data and device management so companies can optimise how they run their business and how their customers’ businesses operate.
Litmus Automation’s customer base includes Siemens, HPE, Intel and SNC Lavalin.
“We already have key customers and channels scaling up nicely but we are seeing the market expand
Chicago-based private equity firm CORE Industrial Partners (CORE) has acquired Fleco Industries (Fleco), a provider of lighting solutions through multiple brands, including Saylite, Texas Fluorescents Reinvented, Mobern, Lights Fantastic, Lights Fantastic Pro, Lite and LFP Lighting.
Headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, Fleco, which will transition its overall corporate name to Saylite, has two manufacturing locations and four state-of-the-art lighting experience showrooms that provide innovative lighting solutions for a variety of applications. The Company offers one of the most comprehensive selections of LED-based products in the industry, as well as controls and other related lighting products for the commercial, industrial, and premium
Oberberg Gruppe, a portfolio company of private equity firm Trilantic Europe has made its second and third bolt-on acquisitions under Trilantic Europe’s ownership with the purchase of Panorama Kliniken (including Privatklinik Hubertus and Panorama Fachklinik) and Jägerwinkel Privatklinik.
Oberberg is an operator of psychiatry, psychosomatic and psychotherapy acute clinics in Germany with a focus on treatments for depression and addiction. Including the newly acquired entities, the Group has grown from nine clinics at the time of Trilantic Europe’s investment in December 2017 to 13 clinics with over 800 beds in total. Oberberg continues to differentiate itself through a unique therapy
Papier, a direct-to-consumer personalised stationery brand, has secured USD11 million in a Series B funding round led by venture capital firm Beringea.
The investment will enable Papier to accelerate its growth in the US, which already accounts for 15 per cent of the brand’s total revenues, as well as building on its collection of leading design collaborations and expanding its range of innovative products.
Existing investors Felix Capital (backers of Farfetch, Goop and Mejuri), JamJar Investments (the venture capital fund run by the Innocent Drinks founders) and Downing Ventures also participated in the round, which brought the total funds
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
