Deals
Private equity firm The Riverside Company has merged Montage, a solution to engage, interview and hire candidates, with Shaker International, a provider of predictive talent intelligence and assessment software solutions.
The combined company will help its client base, including hundreds of prominent global brands and 47 of the Fortune 100, transform talent acquisition by embedding predictive intelligence into automated hiring workflows that enable better candidate experiences and smarter hiring decisions.
The company will be led by Kurt Heikkinen from Montage as CEO, Brian Stern from Shaker International as President and a leadership team comprised of executives from both companies. All
Building on the acquisition of property finance firm Titlestone, Paragon’s development finance business has led the way for new lending within the specialist lender’s Commercial Lending division.
Paragon’s half year results announced show Commercial Lending has seen strong business growth as it focuses on helping British SMEs gain access to funding.
Across Commercial lending, which includes development finance, asset finance, motor finance and structured lending, lending increased by 69 per cent to GBP455 million and there was a three-fold increase in underlying profits to GBP20 million.
Within the division, development finance showed the strongest performance with new lending increasing four-fold
Private equity firm OpenGate Capital has acquired SMAC, a global manufacturer of waterproofing and building envelope solutions, from Colas Group. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
SMAC operates across two divisions: Travaux and Industrie. SMAC Travaux specialises in waterproofing solutions typically utilized on flat roofs structures and facades. SMAC Industrie manufactures bituminous membranes, skylights and resins. As one of the largest players in the segment, SMAC has a dedicated service and maintenance business, SMAC Assistance Service, and Essemes Services, focused on fire safety maintenance. SMAC is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux and has operations across France, Morocco, and South
Frontier Capital (Frontier), a Charlotte-based growth equity firm focused exclusively on B2B software, has made a strategic growth investment in Phone2Action, a digital advocacy platform that connects citizens to lawmakers.
Phone2Action enables companies, non-profits, and associations to engage their customers, members, and stakeholders in grassroots advocacy, connecting them over social, email, text, and phone to lawmakers about the issues that matter to them. Its differentiated platform is optimally designed for the mobile and smartphone experience, prompting timely action to leverage mission-aligned messaging inspiring lawmakers to act.
Since 2013, more than 15 million people have used the platform to reach
An on-demand removals marketplace that allows both consumers and businesses to move items using its UK wide network of drivers has received backing from leading London-based VC fund, Fuel Ventures.
The fund, which recently raised GBP20 million in its third round, has invested GBP1.3 million as part of their GBP2.5 million raise, allowing the company to strengthen its operations and expand its team.
An on-demand removals marketplace aiming to bring on-demand technology to the removals and deliveries sector has secured investment from leading London-based VC fund, Fuel Ventures.
The investment fund, which recently raised GBP20 million in its third round,
Castle Corpoate Finance has advised on the sale of the UK headquartered Brightwell group of companies, designer and manufacturer of branded professional hygiene equipment, and chemical dispensing and dosing systems, to Seko, a EUR130 million turnover Italian group specialising in dosing pumps.
Brightwell is already active in 85 countries worldwide, generating total revenues of over £25 million and EBITDA of over GBP4 million in 2018, and will continue to expand Seko’s expertise and presence in the professional hygiene market, as well as offering opportunities to further develop avenues in the aerospace industry via WSM Plastics Limited, a specialist toolmaker and
Funds advised by YFM Equity Partners (YFM), a specialist private equity fund manager, have made a GBP3.5 million investment in e-learning software business Elucidat Limited.
The investment from YFM’s advised funds will be used to accelerate product development so that Elucidat’s customers can produce learning content faster and at a higher quality. The funds will also be used to invest in their team and drive growth in North America, which currently accounts for 35 per cent of Elucidat’s revenue.
Elucidat is a learning technology SaaS business that offers smarter, faster ways for global organisations to produce, distribute and measure
Private equity firm The Riverside Company has acquired Naturally Slim of Dallas, Texas, a digital health platform focused on helping participants reduce Metabolic Syndrome, lose weight and lead healthier lives.
Naturally Slim is a clinically proven solution that drives behavioural changes to deliver long-lasting results, including sustained weight loss and a reversal of Metabolic Syndrome risk factors that can lead to serious health conditions, like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and many forms of cancer. The company’s scalable, self-paced digital program utilises the latest behavioural health and teaching concepts to make weight loss achievable for all participants. The company primarily
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has acquired a significant stake in MOD Super Fast Pizza Holdings (MOD), an operator and franchisor of fast casual restaurants offering customisable, made-on-demand artisan-style pizzas and hand-tossed salads.
The USD150 million investment will help accelerate the Company’s continued expansion in the rapidly growing fast casual restaurant market. Ken Giuriceo, CD&R Partner, and Paul Pressler, CD&R Partner and former CEO of Gap Inc and senior Disney executive, will both join the MOD board of directors.
With 433 locations system-wide, MOD is a purpose-led, people-focused fast casual pizza business. The MOD menu offers individual artisan-style pizzas and hand-tossed
Wireless Innovation, a specialist Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity and communications provider, backed by Horizon Capital, has acquired Ground Control Systems Inc.
California-based Ground Control, founded in 2002, delivers a broad range of IoT and M2M connectivity and hardware. It has experienced substantial levels of growth serving both corporate and government agency clients.
Jeff Staples, CEO of Ground Control, says: “We are excited to have joined the Wireless Innovation Group. The strength and credibility of the broader group will significantly help us in meeting our client’s requirements for long-term connectivity in a range of global environments, further
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
