Quad Partners, a private equity firm focused exclusively on the education industry, has announced the closing of the firm’s fourth investment fund, Quad Partners IV LP (Quad IV). Quad IV closed at its hard cap of USD200 million with commitments from leading institutional limited partners. Quad Partners was founded in 2000 to make value-added private investments in the education industry. Today, Quad is one of the most active investors in privately-owned education companies in the United States. "We appreciate the continued support of our investors and the tireless efforts of our portfolio company management teams. Our strategy is to invest

Rapid7, a provider of security risk intelligence solutions, has secured USD50 million in a series C round from Palo Alto, California-based Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV). The new funding will support Rapid7’s growth strategy in three main areas: hiring critical talent to accelerate product innovation, strategic acquisitions and international expansion.   “In the security battle, attackers currently have the edge and Rapid7 intends to change this by recruiting the most talented people and organisations to drive innovation. We are looking for great people that are passionate about helping customers solve the hard problems they face in security,” says Mike Tuchen, CEO

Some 291 secondary buyouts worth USD60.4bn have been announced in 2011 to date, surpassing 2010 figure in both volume and value. Transaction type has doubled market share since 2008, and the surge in secondary buyouts is likely to continue apace, with 48% of GPs expecting the number of such transactions to increase going forward, the latest Preqin research reveals. The findings come as the number and volume of post-Lehman secondary buyouts almost reach levels seen during the buyout boom of 2006-2007. Q3 2011 was one of the strongest quarters for secondary buyouts since 2007, surpassed only by Q2 2011 and

Medtronic and Bain Capital have entered into a definitive agreement under which affiliates of Bain Capital will acquire Physio-Control, a leading provider of emergency medical response technology for use in the intervention and treatment of cardio-respiratory and other medical emergencies. The stock of Physio-Control and related entities will be purchased for cash in a transaction valued at approximately USD487 million. Medtronic expects to use a portion of the proceeds to offset any potential dilutive impact from this transaction to fiscal year 2012 non-GAAP earnings per share. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, Physio-Control is the global leader in professional emergency response products

Biocartis has completed a EUR 71 million (USD 100 million) Series C equity fund raising backed by existing investors, new investors and industrial collaborators and partners. Investors in the round were Debiopharm Group, Philips, Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation (JJDC), the Wellcome Trust, Korys (investment holding of the Colruyt family), Valiance, Biovest, the family office of Dr Paul Janssen, IHL SA (Luc Verelst), PMV, New Rhein Healthcare, certain members of the Biocartis senior management team and the family office of founder Rudi Pauwels (Benaruca). Rudi Pauwels, the founder and CEO of Biocartis, says: “Completing one of the largest life science

Forbion Capital Partners has invested in Oxyrane UK Limited, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of enzyme replacement therapies (ERT) to treat lysosomal storage diseases, a class of more than forty rare inherited diseases. In its oversubscribed Series D financing round the company raised USD26.5m. Other investors in the round include Morningside Groups and existing investor New Science Ventures. On behalf of Forbion Sander Slootweg (Forbion Capital Partners) has joined the board of Oxyrane next to Dr. Gerald Chan of Morningside Group.   The current fundraising will enable Oxyrane to advance its lead ERT treatment for Pompe disease from

Dutchess Opportunity Cayman Fund, Ltd and First Columbus have provided a GBP10 million equity line facility (ELF) with Solo Oil.   All companies, including energy companies like Solo, have found the benefits of the ELF over other structures because the efficiency and ease to raise capital. Dutchess continues to increase its presence in global markets providing funding for all types of companies.   Douglas Leighton (pictured), managing partner of Dutchess, says: “We are pleased to have been chosen by Solo to be the provider of this ELF. The ELF will give the company the flexibility to raise funds when the management deems it

The private equity group HgCapital is in preliminary talks to re-purchase the main part of Iris Software Group, four years after selling it to Hellman & Friedman. The deal is valued at GBP425 million, although sources have stressed that a possible deal is still several weeks away, and is by no means certain. Richard Moulton (pictured), head of private equity at international law firm Eversheds, says: “News that HgCapital is in talks with its previous investee company, Iris Software Group, is less surprising than many would at first think. Given the scarcity of high quality businesses for sale at the

Phoenix Equity Partners, a UK mid-market private equity investor, has funded an additional GBP12 million to its portfolio company edif Group to complete the acquisition of NDE Global Technical Services GmbH and its subsidiaries (together NDE), from its private owners. NDE’s founder shareholders and management team will become shareholders in edif Group. NDE’s services include vendor inspection, expediting, project management, mill pipe surveillance, project staffing and outsourced quality assurance. NDE’s network of qualified field inspectors supports customers, principally in the oil and gas sector, to ensure that major capital projects are completed to specification and in a timely manner. NDE

Independent venture capital firm, Panoramic Growth Equity (PGE), has secured a GBP1m investment in Concorde Solutions Limited, a multi-award-winning software asset management company based in Reading. Funding from PGE’s Panoramic ECF1 will be used to help Concorde, which turned over GBP1.8m in 2010 – up 140% YOY, launch a new SaaS product in 2012 into the data centre and cloud computing markets and expand its professional and managed services to markets worldwide. David Wilson, partner at PGE, says: “We are delighted to have acquired an equity stake in Concorde, a young and dynamic IT services company. Concorde has all the