Alternative asset manager Gresham House has made a £37.5 million investment in N Family Club (NFC), a nursery group operating 20 locations across the South East and Midlands. This is the first investment in the education sector made by its second flagship sustainability fund, the British Sustainable Infrastructure Fund II (BSIF II), and is driven by the long-term benefits from high-quality early years education on the outcomes of our children’s lives and society.

Atlantic Street Capital (ASC), a private equity firm that invests in lower middle market companies, is to increase its investment in portfolio company, Zips Car Wash (Zips). The transaction allows ASC to acquire equity from founding shareholders and build upon an operating strategy that has already driven considerable growth. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter.   ASC rolled and increased its GP commitment to Zips and partnered with lead investor, ICG, along with ASC IV rolling LPs, management, and minority owners for the acquisition.

Metatheory, a technology-driven entertainment company founded by Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, has secured $24 million in a Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Cryptocurrency firms Pantera Capital and FTX Ventures also participated in the round, among with Breyer Capital, Merit Circle, Recharge Thematic Ventures, Dragonfly Capital Partners, Daedalus, Sfermion, and Global Coin Research. Metatheory, which launched in Q3 last year, is focused on building Web3 games and virtual worlds imagined across innovative new story franchise IPs.

Private equity firm AI Partners (PAI) is to sell Perstorp Holding AB, a sustainability-driven global specialty chemicals company, to Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG), for EUR 2.3bn on a cash and debt free basis. Established in Sweden more than 141 years ago, Perstorp is a specialty chemicals player that develops sustainable solutions for the resins and coatings, engineered fluids, and animal nutrition end-markets. With seven state-of-the-art manufacturing sites and three research and development centres worldwide, Perstorp is present in 26 countries, including the US, in Europe and across the Asia Pacific. It has approximately 1,500 employees and serves more than

Werk, a platform that enables companies to hire skilled and vetted migrant construction workers, handling everything from recruitment, verification, and relocation, has raised a $1.3million in a pre-seed funding round led by Change Ventures, one of the leading early-stage funds in the Baltics. Participants in the round, which is among the biggest ever pre-seeds in European HR and construction tech, include Foundamental VC the largest global investor covering the Built-World – ConstructionTech and architecture, engineering and design technology, and angel investors Anthony Danon and Carmen Alfonso-Rico (Cocoa VC), Declan Kelly (Foreword VC), Gonzalo Manrique (Ironhack), and Andreas Klinger (On Deck

Optibus, an end-to-end software platform for public transportation planning and operations, has closed a $100 million Series D funding, with investments from new and existing investors Insight Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Verizon Ventures, Pitango First & Pitango Growth, Tencent, SOMV Momentum, and others.

O’Melveny has represented Eridan Communications, a 5G radio manufacturer that specialises in wireless connectivity infrastructure development, in a US$46 million Series B funding round. The round was led by Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund and Monta Vista Capital, along with Social Capital, Diamond Edge Ventures, and Pilot Grove Management. Based in Mountain View, California, Eridan is reimagining the world of wireless transmission by enabling fast, reliable, and affordable connectivity across the globe. With 28 US patents issued and pending, Eridan is the first and only company to build a direct polar transmitter in gallium nitride and silicon.

Pan-European private equity investor Oakley Capital’s (Oakley) portfolio company ACE Education Group (ACE) has acquired EIDM, one of France’s leading Fashion Business & Styling schools. Based in Paris, EIDM offers students a range of specialised programmes from Bachelor’s to Master’s, as well as recognised professional diplomas.  ACE is a diversified higher education group with over 30 campuses in France and abroad and over 5,000 students. The business operates under four brands: AMOS, the leading French sports management business school; ESBS, a sports management school based in Valencia, Spain; ESDAC, a leading French design school group; and CMH, a heritage international

RAM Tracking (RAM, a portfolio company of H2 Equity Partners, has acquired Rewire Security (Rewire), a UK-based, SaaS-enabled fleet management business with a subscription base of c45,000 across a largely SME customer base. The Rewire acquisition represents a further step towards RAM realising its ambition of becoming the clear number one operator in the UK’s growing SME fleet management market. RAM’s total subscription base now stands at c175,000 which collectively generates revenues in excess of £20 million.  As part of the transaction, RAM also acquired Rewire’s nascent European operation, thereby providing it with access to a new highly attractive fleet

Bagnall Energy Limited, the renewable energy and infrastructure arm of Downing Estate Planning Service, has agreed to acquire a 30MW onshore wind farm in Finland at the commencement of operations. The Konttisuo wind farm is located near Soini in the region of Southern Ostrobothnia and once constructed will produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of c37,000 UK homes a year. Construction is scheduled to be completed in Q2 this year. The acquisition represents Downing’s first investment in Finland and Bagnall’s second technology in the Nordic region.