Manfield Partners has acquired two packaged food businesses – MCM Select Foods Limited in the UK and MCM Foods BV in the Netherlands – from Mitsui & Co Ltd of Japan.   The two businesses import, distribute and market a mixture of exclusive brands and own label foods for retailers and food service companies. The product range comprises a selection of foods but primarily canned fish (tuna, salmon etc) and fruit. The combined business is expected to generate revenues of circa GBP75m in the year to March 2012 with profits in excess of GBP1m.   Manfield was attracted to the

VTB Capital and I2BF Global Ventures have jointly launched a USD100m nanotechnology venture fund with cornerstone backing from the Russian state nanotechnology fund RusNano and Kazyna Capital Management, the sovereign wealth fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan. These entities have committed USD25m each to the new fund, with VTB Capital and I2BF expecting to raise a further USD50m from external investors. The agreement was signed on 21 December 2011 in Almaty at a ceremony attended by Aset Isekeshev, Vice-Premier of Kazakhstan and Minister of Industry and New Technologies, and will soon be followed by the opening of offices in Moscow

The Riverside Company and Tensator  have completed the acquisition of Portuguese customer journey management specialist Newvision. Newvision offers a range of products including dispersed queue management systems, self-service and multimedia information kiosks, and digital displays. Newvision develops integrated products through five product lines that provide virtual queue management, people counting, self-service, multimedia kiosks and corporate television. Since 2008, Newvision has achieved 20% growth per annum in revenues and has more than 3,000 installed solutions serving  more than 400 customers, mainly in Europe, but also in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. Customer sectors include postal, retail and public administration,

An affiliate of Sun European Partners is to acquire American Golf, Europe’s largest golfing retailer from LDC. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed. American Golf has 88 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland, the company has two online sites and around 760 employees. The business commenced trading in the late 1970s and has since grown into the largest and leading specialist golf retailer in the UK and Europe. It operates the UK‘s premier nationwide retail chain of specialist golf equipment stores, selling a comprehensive range of clubs, bags, balls, clothing and accessories supplied by major

Google and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) have teamed up to invest in a portfolio of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects held by Recurrent Energy. The portfolio of projects is financed with a combination of debt and equity, which includes a significant equity investment from Google in addition to equity from SunTap Energy RE LLC (SunTap), a new venture formed by KKR to invest in solar projects in the US. “The investment is a clear demonstration of solar’s ability to attract private capital from well-established investors like Google and KKR,” says Arno Harris, CEO of Recurrent Energy. “This transaction provides an example

Sterecycle, the waste treatment and renewable power company, has raised GBP5.1 million in equity finance from four investors. New investor Finance Yorkshire led the round investing GBP1.25 million. A second new investor, German businessman Lars Windhorst, and existing investors including Aston Hill Financial from Canada contributed the remaining £3.85 million. The investment will fund the next expansion phase of Sterecycle’s Rotherham plant which will increase capacity from 100,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) to 175,000 tpa by the third quarter of 2012. Sterecycle CEO Tom Shields (pictured), says: “We’re very pleased to have two new backers on board and for the

Centre Partners, a middle market private equity firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles, has acquired Bellisio Foods, Inc, together with the management team of Bellisio. Bellisio is a leading manufacturer of branded and private label frozen foods, based in Minneapolis. Bellisio is one of North America’s largest manufacturers and distributors of frozen single-serve entrees and meals, sold primarily under the Michelina’s brand. The company also produces private label frozen products for a number of the nation’s largest retailers, and provides co-packing services to leading consumer packaged goods customers. Bellisio Chief Executive Officer Joel Conner, says: "We are

The law firm Ashurst LLP has advised Crédit Agricole SA in it’s sale of Credit Agricole Private Equity (CAPE) to Coller Capital. The sale is subject to authorisation from the competent authorities, which should be obtained in the first quarter of 2012. Crédit Agricole SA’s decision to sell CAPE forms part of a plan to optimise capital allocation and refocus the bank’s private equity activities on local business. The sale will reduce Crédit Agricole SA’s risk-weighted assets by about EUR900 million. Crédit Agricole SA will continue to provide financing for SMEs through the private equity vehicles owned by Crédit Agricole

Hermes GPE LLP (“Hermes GPE”), one of Europe’s leading independent private markets specialists with assets under management of GBP4.8 billion, has announced a revised ownership structure. Hermes Fund Managers Limited and the Hermes GPE management team have acquired the interests in Hermes GPE previously held by a subsidiary of Henderson Group plc (Henderson). Hermes GPE will continue to operate independently of its institutional partners and its business strategy will remain unchanged. Alan MacKay, CEO of Hermes GPE, says: “Hermes GPE has one of the most experienced investment teams in international private equity and infrastructure. We recently announced new offices in