Portal Innovations, a venture development engine that provides  seed funding, specialised equipment, lab space, and management expertise to high-potential early-stage companies, is partnering with Life Technologies Corporation, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. This partnership will further Portal Innovations’ mission to provide premier scientific equipment and resources to its portfolio companies that work out of Portal’s 50,000 sq ft of life science laboratories in Fulton Labs in Chicago. The partnership will combine Life Technologies’ lab equipment and software with Portal’s seed investments and laboratory infrastructure to allow its portfolio of life sciences startups to quickly and efficiently access premier equipment

Private equity firm MiddleGround Capital’s Race Winning Brands (RWB) platform, has completed its second add-on deal with the acquisition of TPT Solutions (TPT). TPT trades under three market-leading brands—TransGo, RevMax and Transmission Specialties, providing transmission-focused automotive aftermarket performance products for light truck, automotive and SUV/CUV market. MiddleGround, which makes control investments in North American middle market B2B industrial and specialty distribution companies, acquired RWB in December 2021, and made its first add-on acquisition earlier this month with the purchase of PAC Racing from Peterson American Corporation. 

Keensight Capital, a private equity managers dedicated to pan-European growth buyout investments, has exited its investment in SFA Romani, a high-end fragrances house based in France, to Symrise, a global supplier of fragrances, which is acquiring 100% of the shares of the company, held until now by the Romani-Caruso family and Keensight Capital. Founded in 1963, SFA Romani is internationally recognised for its choice of the finest natural raw materials, its craftsmanship in fragrance creation and the quality of its compositions. For nearly 60 years the company has developed unparalleled know-how in high-end fragrance compounds. The company’s strong reputation is

Green Angel Syndicate has secured a further £5 million commitment from British Business Investments, bringing its total investment since November 2021 to £10 million. Green Angel Syndicate is the UK’s largest network of specialist investors fighting climate change. This commitment is being made through British Business Investments’ Regional Angels Programme, which seeks to reduce regional imbalances in access to early-stage equity finance. It will match funds raised via Green Angel Syndicate’s network of investors and their EIS Climate Change Fund.  The GAS EIS Climate Change Fund supports a portfolio of UK-wide start-up and early-stage companies across the following sectors: energy,

Grant Thornton UK LLP’s Thames Valley Corporate Finance team has completed on three transactions to US private equity-backed companies within the first quarter of 2022, as activity levels continue to remain strong after a record 2021. The first of the three deals is the sale of international development consultancy IMC Worldwide, as it joins the DT Global family, a US leader in the international development market.  The second deal saw global technology marketing agency bChannels sold to another private equity backed US-buyer The Channel Company, while deal number three saw Grant Thornton advise on the sale of the Vaccine Manufacturing

Eurazeo has completed a minority investment in Gisou, a high-growth premium haircare brand offering an authentic bee-based approach to beauty.

Afterparty, an NFT platform empowering creators with the tools and community to directly monetise and manage their fan relationships, has closed a $4 million funding round to bring total capital raised to $7 million. The strategic community round accelerates platform growth as Afterparty introduces the world’s first NFT ticketing platform for artists, providing for transparent, verifiable and artist-first ticketing. Over 25 entrepreneurs, creators, and VCs participated in the round, including Paris Hilton, Spencer Rascoff (Zillow), Jason Calacanis (The Syndicate), David Friedberg (The Production Board), Nicole Farb (Headline), Andre Iguodala (NBA player, Catalyst Fund), Rudy Cline-Thomas (Mastry, Inc), Reade Seiff (Sunset

Italian private equity firm Progressio SGR has exited its stakeholding in Save The Duck, a 100% animal-free down jacket brand and the first fashion company in Italy to obtain B-Corp certification. Two entrepreneur-managers, Reinold Geiger and André Hoffmann, respectively Chairman and CEO of the multinational corporation L’Occitane International SA, who already owned a minority interest in Save The Duck alongside Progressio and other minority shareholders, have acquired a majority interest in the business from Progressio SGR and the other minority shareholders.  Both Geiger and Hoffmann are investing in their personal capacity through certain investment vehicles controlled by them, namely Société

European private equity investor Nordic Capital is to acquire Ascot Lloyd, a UK-based, independently-owned independent financial advice (IFA) firms. The transaction will see Nordic Capital acquire Ascot Lloyd from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management (Oaktree), alongside the interests of Ares Management Corporation (Ares), subject to regulatory approval.   Nordic Capital will partner with Ascot Lloyd’s management to support the Company’s client offering including through further developing its digital proposition, accelerating organic and inorganic growth and further increasing its focus on sustainable savings.   Oaktree has invested in the business since 2013 and acquired Ascot Lloyd in 2017.

Prometheus Group, a global provider of asset management operations and optimisation software and a portfolio company of Genstar Capital, has acquired LUCY Industrial Management Solutions (IMS), a provider of software solutions designed to optimise the execution of capital-intensive projects by ensuring safety, technical integrity, and timely certification and handover. With an office in the Netherlands, LUCY IMS’s digital platform streamlines and controls construction, mechanical completion, and commissioning processes with an easy-to-use front end accessed by commissioning managers, project managers, inspectors, and contractors in any industry.   The acquisition of LUCY IMS represents the ninth made by Prometheus Group since being