Deals
The total value of exits from private equity-backed portfolio companies throughout 2014 hit USD428bn, higher than any year previously and up from the USD330bn of exits in 2013. Christopher Elvin, Preqin’s Head of Private Equity Products, comments on the current deals and exits environment:
2014 represented the highest ever annual value of private equity-backed buyout exits. This has resulted in a significant increase in the level of capital being returned to buyout fund investors, which had almost surpassed the full-year 2013 amount as of June 2014 (the latest data available). Furthermore, the total value of private equity backed buyout deals
Verne Global has secured USD98m of equity funding, led by Stefnir, an Icelandic asset management and private equity firm that is working with several of the largest Icelandic pension funds.
Existing investors – the Wellcome Trust, Novator Partners and General Catalyst – also participated in the round.
Verne Global will use the funds to further expand its wholesale and colocation service offerings, as well as to design and develop high-density, flexible resiliency data centre space. This investment round ensures that Verne Global can deliver the infrastructure capacity to serve the rapid growth in demand it is seeing from new and
Private equity funds manager TPH Partners has partnered with Clark and David Nicklas to form Laurel Mountain Energy, an independent upstream company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Laurel Mountain is focused on the acquisition and development of oil and gas properties across the Appalachian Basin, with a primary focus on the Marcellus, Upper Devonian and Utica formations in Western Pennsylvania.
Laurel Mountain is led by Clark Nicklas (CEO) and David Nicklas (President), a father-son team that has worked closely together for eleven years at Vista Resources, a well-established, independent oil and gas company that was founded by Clark Nicklas in 1987.
Seafort Advisors GmbH and ThyssenKrupp have signed an agreement on the sale of the Emder Werft und Dockbetriebe shipyard in Emden.
Completion of the deal is subject to the necessary permits and approvals and is scheduled for the first quarter of 2015.
A team led by lead partner Dr Tobias Schneider advised Seafort Advisors on all aspects of the transaction. CMS also provided Seafort Advisors with comprehensive advice in 2013, when the Hamburg-based independent private equity firm acquired three companies, and has subsequently advised on several add-on acquisitions. Seafort Advisors has a medium to long-term investment horizon. The private equity
Intralinks DealNexus has partnered with PEI Services (PEI) in order to enhance its database of private equity portfolio companies.
DealNexus is one of the leading online deal sourcing and marketing platforms for M&A professionals. The partnership expands upon the high quality data already within the platform. This will enhance Intralinks DealNexus’ proprietary matching capabilities, providing a more robust, content driven platform that creates a destination for dealmakers.
The Intralinks DealNexus platform has seen tremendous growth this past year, with 46 per cent annual growth in member firm count and 96 per cent growth in unique members from year-end 2013
Rock Hill Capital Group has completed a majority recapitalisation of JP Hydro (JP Services), a provider of industrial integrity testing services along the Gulf Coast and throughout Texas.
JP Services is led by Founder and CEO, Justin Peter, and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. The Company provides hydrostatic and pneumatic testing, and torqueing and pigging services to its energy and industrial clients throughout the southeastern United States. JP Services is primarily focused on servicing three industrial segments – both new and existing pipelines, tanks and facilities.
“We’ve been looking for a midstream services platform and management team to invest
Polaris Private Equity (Polaris) has successfully completed a first closing of its fourth private equity fund – Polaris Private Equity IV – at DKK2.2 billion (EUR300 million).
The fund, which is believed to have a target size of DKK3.0 billion, became operational as of 1 January 2015, simultaneous with the expiry of the investment period of the predecessor fund, Polaris Private Equity III.
Jan Johan Kühl, Managing Partner at Polaris, says: “We are pleased to have held a quick and strong first close for our latest fund. We deliver strong returns to our investors, founded upon our philosophy of investing
Dynavax Technologies Corporation has entered into a credit facility with Hercules Technology Growth Capital for up to USD40 million of total funding.
Dynavax drew the first tranche of USD10 million on closing and has access to an additional USD30 million in 2015, at Dynavax's option, if it achieves certain milestones relating to the ongoing Phase 3 study of HEPLISAV-B (HBV-23).
"This credit facility provides us access to up to USD40 million of non-dilutive funding that can be used to support development and pre-commercialization activities for HEPLISAV-B, clinical trials of our cancer immunotherapeutic product candidate, SD-101, and advancement of our research
Ariadne Capital, which invests in digital technology start-ups, has just closed a GBP500,000 funding round for Taggstar making it the 8th company in its portfolio and its 4th deal in 2014.
Taggstar is also backed by Sir Stuart Rose, Rob Hersov, and Nigel Taee.
Taggstar is designed to allos shoppers to benefit from social trends by seeing how many others are buying a particular product at the same time as they shop, highlighting when it's selling fast, giving them confidence to purchase.
Taggstar will continue its rapid expansion with retailers and travel sites. Over the past year, Taggstar has worked
Private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP) has completed a recapitalisation of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners IV portfolio company Global Franchise Group (GFG).
"We are pleased to have completed this divided recapitalisation for GFG, which provided working capital and paid a shareholder dividend," says Arthur Levine, president of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners.
Levine says: "This is the second time in the last two years GFG was able to recapitalize its balance sheet, demonstrating the company's superior financial performance, cash generating ability and strong base of franchise brands."
Recapitalization by private equity groups such as LLCP is a common practice.
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
