Corporate and financial law firm Gattai, Minoli, Agostinelli & Partners has advised Bain Capital in the secondary buyout of Italian tyre distributor Fintyre from BlueGem, advised by Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners. Gattai, Minoli, Agostinelli & Partners assisted Bain Capital with a team composed by partner Cataldo Piccarreta, senior associates Lorenzo Fabbrini and Maria Pia Palma and associate Domenico Garofalo for the corporate profiles and by partner Cristiano Garbarini and associate Alban Zaimaj for the fiscal aspects of the transaction.   Studio Pirola Pennuto Zei & Associati advised Bain on the fiscal due diligence and business profiles, with a

Independent Growth Finance (IGF), a commercial finance provider for SMEs, has delivered a GBP1.95 million combined invoice finance and asset based lending line for Pearl Automotive, a supplier to the automotive aftermarket. The funding delivered by IGF will help to consolidate and grow Pearl Automotive’s existing business, and allow the firm to invest in new machinery to make the processes more efficient within its Essex headquarters.   Pearl Automotive has over 40 years’ expertise in supplying the automotive aftermarket with more than 7,500 lines, including fitted and workshop consumables, servicing and display stands. The firm supplies customers throughout the global

Socially responsible lender LendUp has closed another USD100 million credit facility with investment firm Victory Park Capital (VPC) to fund future loan growth. The facility brings LendUp’s total equity and debt financing to USD325 million.   The firm has also now originated more than 3.3 million loans and surpassed USD1 billion in loan originations since its inception in 2012.      “This is an important milestone for LendUp because it proves the viability and sustainability of the market opportunity for socially responsible lending,” says Sasha Orloff, LendUp CEO and co-founder. “I’m proud that our business growth and customer loyalty, combined

London-based alternatives investment manager Astarte Capital Partners has formed a partnership with BlueLake Associates, a Zug-based investment consultancy and asset allocation specialist. Through this partnership, Astarte will act as the private equity and real assets adviser to BlueLake, while BlueLake will contribute macroeconomic, asset allocation and risk management advisory services to Astarte.   “We believe that this cross-fertilisation of skill sets will strengthen each company’s respective research infrastructure, resulting in added value for our clients,” says Stavros Siokos, managing partner for Astarte. “The goal is to strengthen our respective offerings and provide innovative financial solutions to our clients.”   Astarte

UK private equity house Maven Capital Partners has completed a GBP6.5 million management buy-out of Healthpoint Limited, a supplier of healthcare and beauty products into the retail sector. The equity investment was funded through Maven’s co-investment network for professional clients, Investor Partners, with debt and working capital funding provided by Barclays.    The investment will enable Healthpoint to fund further new product development, with around 30 new product lines in the pipeline for launch in the next year, and support the business in driving organic growth from its long-established relationships. The company is also focused on a buy-and-build strategy with

International law firm Proskauer has advised European buyout firm HgCapital on the close of two new funds with a combined value of GBP3.1 billion. HgCapital 8 closed with GBP2.5 billion in commitments, five months after launching in September 2016, and HgCapital Mercury 2, closed on its target of GBP575 million in capital commitments; with both Funds significantly oversubscribed and receiving strong support from existing investors. These fundraisings will continue to extend HgCapital’s investment focus on software and technology-enabled services across Europe. “The whole team have excelled themselves on the HgCapital 8 and Mercury 2 fundraisings,” says Andrew Jessop, General Counsel

Monroe Capital has acted as sole lead arranger and administrative agent on the funding of a unitranche credit facility to support the acquisition of Midwest Wholesale Hardware Co (Midwest) by private equity sponsor, High Road Capital Partners. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, Midwest Wholesale Hardware Co. is a leading wholesale distributor of commercial door hardware and security products, including locks, exit devices, electronic access control products, and door closers.  The company’s national footprint enables next-day delivery to its customers in commercial and institutional end markets.

Global investment bank GCA Altium has advised AXIO Aviation Holdings on the sale of OAG to Vitruvian Partners in a deal worth approximately USD215 million. OAG is the global leader in aviation information and intelligence, providing customers with flight schedule and status information, in addition to related data analysis tools. The company’s flight information database holds future and historical flight details for over 900 airlines and more than 4,000 airports, offering unprecedented insight into scheduling and planning, flight status and day-of-travel updates, post-journey analysis and on-time performance. With the most extensive real-time database in the market, OAG’s delivers 35 million