Vision Capital has acquired Vitopel from funds advised by DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and JP Morgan Partners.  Vitopel is the market leader in BOPP (bi-axially oriented polypropylene) film production in Latin America, generating over USD300 million of revenue in 2011. Its materials are widely used for products such as snack foods, fresh produce and confectionery products. Vision Capital intends to use Vitopel as a platform for consolidation in the BOPP industry and to capitalise on the high growth potential within the Latin American BOPP film packaging market, driven by increasing commercial and consumer demand.   As part of the transaction, Vision

Friendgiftr, an e-commerce firm providing virtual pre-paid cards through the social web, has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Aurora Borealis Investments. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. "This is huge," says Rob Carpenter, Founder and CEO of Friendgiftr. "Since our launch, we have been working to create innovative virtual solutions for the pre-paid economy, and this acquisition is validation of that. It’s definitely exciting." Friendgiftr is the first company to have commercialised social media with multiple major merchant brands by providing e-commerce storefronts, mobile storefronts and unique partnerships with digital content providers, among others.

Alarm Capital Alliance (ACA) has partnered with Norwest Venture Partners (NVP), a global investment firm with USD3.7 billion in capital under management. ACA provides capital return and valuable operational resources to alarm companies via its dealer and portfolio acquisition programs as well as residential security services and home automation technologies to households across the United States. The security alarm industry is expected to grow into a USD43 billion dollar market by 2015. NVP was drawn to ACA because of this significant market opportunity, an exceptionally strong leadership team and the company’s unique, multi-channel approach, including offerings to a traditionally underserved

In Q1 2012, UK M&A activity saw 229 deals totalling GBP16bn, a 33% decrease compared to Q1 2011 (GBP23.9bn) but up 9.6% compared to Q4 2011 (GBP14.6bn), according to MergerMarket. The UK made up 9.6% of all European M&A by value this quarter, the lowest Q1 since Q1 2004 (8.4%). Only six large-cap deals (GBP500m+) were announced this quarter. The largest transaction of the quarter was the GBP3.2bn acquisition of the UK based broadcast software provider NDS Group by Cisco Systems, from News Corp and Permira. With GBP4.8bn-worth of deals totalling 22 transactions, Technology was the most active sector in

Private equity firm Stirling Square Capital Partners has acquired SAR AS, a leading provider of total waste management solutions for the Norwegian offshore oil & gas industry, from AR Incoronato AS and Westco AS. The acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, is the sixth from Stirling Square’s second fund, its second in the oil & gas sector and its first in Norway.   SAR services the oil & gas industry through the handling and treatment of oil contaminated drill waste, hazardous and industrial waste from offshore oil installations and tank cleaning through its nine bases strategically located along the Norwegian coastline. 

BaltCap, a leading venture investor in the Baltics, has signed a EUR1 million investment in Clusterpoint, an ultra-fast database management system with built-in Internet-style search functionality. The company is an enterprise software start-up created by Latvian programmers and backed by seed investors from the UK and the Baltics.   Clusterpoint has built a highly scalable database platform designed for cloud computing infrastructure. Clusterpoint’s database software provides superior performance on modest hardware so that it delivers greater energy-efficiency in data centres. The company has paying customers and revenue and will use BaltCap’s investment to expand internationally, including hiring senior management in

Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners (AIP) has been awarded approximately USD1.3 billion in commitments for Morgan Stanley Private Markets Fund V (PMF V) and certain other separate accounts. AIP’s strategy is to combine primary funds, co-investments and secondaries in one globally diversified portfolio of private equity investments. The capital raise, which includes USD720 million for PMF V and USD580 million for related separate accounts, exceeded AIP’s initial USD1.25 billion target. "We are very gratified by the success of our business development efforts in this challenging fund raising environment," says Jacques Chappuis (pictured), Head of AIP. “We believe that our deep

Beanstalk, the boutique corporate finance advisor, has helped building energy efficiency software company Sefaira secure the largest series A funding round in the cleantech sector in the UK for over two years, with funding of USD10.8m.   The international series A funding round was led by New York-based venture capital fund Braemar Energy Ventures, in partnership with Netherlands-based Chrysalix SET and London-based Hermes GPE.   Founded in 2009, Sefaira has developed a unique whole building physics-based approach to managing sustainable building design. Sefaira enables architects, engineers and building owners to rapidly optimise the energy and environmental aspects of building design,

Metric Capital Partners (MCP) has completed an investment in LM Funerals (LMF), a leading UK provider of funeral services, in conjunction with Duke Street and Babson Capital Europe. MCP has provided financing across several tranches of capital to fund the acquisition of LMF from Sovereign Capital, and will also be a significant shareholder in the business. Headquartered in Wolverhampton, LM Funerals is the number 3 player in the UK market and has more than 60 branches concentrated in the Midlands and the South East.  The company has grown by both acquisition and organic rollout since its inception. Typically each acquired

Morgan Stanley Global Private Equity has acquired Access Cash General Partnership, a Canadian independent service organisation that manages the country’s second largest network of automated teller machines (ATMs). Morgan Stanley Global Private Equity partnered with the current management team who will remain in place and will hold a significant minority stake in the Company. Access Cash, with offices throughout Canada, manages a network of more than 6,000 ATMs in grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, bars, hotels and other merchant locations. The Company is a market leader in the operation of private label (non-bank branded) ATMs and a pioneer in the