Deals
Gresham Private Equity, the UK mid market private equity specialist, has successfully exited Marston Group through the sale of the business to Inflexion Private Equity. The performance of the Marston Group will result in a strong return on investment for Gresham.
Gresham led the management buy-out of Drakes, a leading enforcement business, from its private owner. As is typical of a Gresham investment, the plan was to professionalise and grow – both organically and through acquisition. Drakes then acquired the business of John Marston & Co, a market leader in enforcement of High Court writs, in 2008.
The combined business,
Private equity firm Catterton Partners has made a capital investment in Mendocino Farms, the rapidly-growing gourmet sandwich casual restaurant brand.
Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed but Mendocino Farms plans to use the investment to fund expansion throughout Southern California and eventually to new geographic regions.
Mendocino Farms takes a fine dining approach to developing gourmet and classic sandwiches through its use of premium ingredients and unique flavour combinations with a value-conscious focus. The Mendocino Farms name and concept pay tribute to the county in Northern California that is known for its support of the slow food movement
Business Growth Fund (BGF), established to help the UK’s fast growing smaller and medium sized businesses, has invested GBP3 million of growth capital in the Cennox Plc group of companies (including ATM Parts and Mainet) which provides services to the ATM (cash machines) sector.
Cennox was founded in 2004 by Clive Nation as a specialist ATM services group and has been successfully built up through organic growth and acquisition to comprise of two main businesses: ATM Parts and Mainet. Blue chip customers include Barclays, HSBC, Nationwide, IBM, Bank Machine, Loomis and G4S.
ATM Parts is a leading international supplier of
MapMyFITNESS, a health and fitness technology company powering the Internet’s largest and fastest growing community of fitness enthusiasts, has secured USD9 million in Series B funding led by Austin Ventures and Milestone Venture Partners.
Strategic business partners Competitor Group, Inc. and The Running Specialty Group, LLC also announced their participation in the funding as part of larger business partnerships.
MapMyFITNESS is an online and mobile platform that helps over nine million active users plan workout activities, measure their fitness and track their progress both in real-time and over time. The company leverages a fast-growing business model that has doubled revenue
KPS Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of Robert Bosch’s global automotive foundation brakes business, through a newly-formed affiliate, Chassis Brakes International Group. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Lazard Freres & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor, and Hengeler Mueller as legal counsel, to KPS and its affiliates.
Activa Capital, the French mid-market private equity firm, is merging Armatis and Laser Contact (a spin-off of Laser – itself a subsidiary of BNP Paribas and Group Galeries Lafayette), two major French call centre companies, to create the leading independent French onshore call centre company with combined sales of over EUR200 million and 14 call centres.
Activa Capital will become lead majority shareholder of the combined group alongside CM-CIC LBO Partners, Omnes Capital, CDC Entreprises, Ouest Croissance and Multicroissance.
The management team will be headed by Denis Akriche, CEO of Armatis, and will benefit from the complementarity of the two
Symington’s Ltd, the convenience food manufacturer and Intermediate Capital Group plc (ICG), the FTSE 250 alternative investment firm and Asset Manager, have announced a new private equity partnership to support a management buy-out of the food manufacturer.
The move follows after a five year investment period with current private equity partner Bridgepoint. ICG are investing junior debt and equity, and will hold a minority stake of 49.9% in the food company, with the existing management team taking 50.1%.
The partnership with ICG will also see Symington’s replace their funding package from Yorkshire Bank with banking support from a
Hutton Collins Partners has sold portfolio company Windsor Limited, a leading Lloyd’s specialty insurance broker, to Hyperion Insurance Group Limited. The sale remains subject to FSA approval.
Hutton Collins backed the management and employees of Windsor in a public to private buy out in 2007. A GBP15m preferred equity investment from Hutton Collins Capital Partners II LP, alongside Windsor’s management and employee equity reinvestment, enabled the team to increase their shareholdings from 10% to 78%, with Hutton Collins holding the remaining 22%. Against a lacklustre market backdrop, this concentration of team ownership helped fuel a five year period of sustained
Leonard Green & Partners has closed the firm’s sixth private equity investment fund, Green Equity Investors VI, LP (GEI VI). GEI VI substantially exceeded its original target, closing at its hard cap of USD6 billion in limited partner commitments along with USD250 million from affiliates of LGP.
Investors in GEI VI include a diverse group of domestic and international pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, foundations and family offices. LGP engaged no intermediary to assist in the raising of the Fund.
LGP’s philosophy is to invest in middle-market companies with market-leading franchises and defensible competitive positions, attractive growth prospects
UK based private equity investment trust, Candover Investments (Candover) has outsourced its back office operations to Ipes, a fund services provider specialising in private equity.
The decision to outsource the back office was a strategic one, based on Candover’s need to match its operating model to a revised investment policy which now focuses on returning cash to shareholders.
Malcolm Fallen, Chief Executive for Candover, says: “Our number one priority is delivering value for our shareholders and we therefore needed to find an efficient and cost effective solution for managing our back office requirements. After analysing various options, we decided to
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
