The financial backers of Orchid Underwriters Agency, a specialty underwriter of catastrophe-exposed property insurance, led by TowerBrook Capital Partners are to sell the company to Brown & Brown, an insurance brokerage firm. The sale comprises all of Orchid’s Managing General Underwriter (MGU) and wholesaling business, along with its High-Net-Worth segment and CrossCover Insurance Services, LLC (CrossCover).  Financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close by April 2022 and is subject to standard closing conditions, have not been disclosed.

Ropes & Gray has advised Sezzle Inc on its acquisition by Zip Co. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022. The agreement was announced on 28 February in a press release. Sezzle stockholders will be entitled to receive 0.98 Zip ordinary shares for every share of Sezzle common stock. The total consideration for Sezzle shares in the proposed transaction represents an implied value of approximately AUD491 million or US$352.6 million.  Minneapolis-based Sezzle is a “buy now, pay later” company that operates a payment platform that increases the purchasing power for millions of consumers by offering

Thetanuts Finance has closed an USD18 million seed round, led by Three Arrows Capital, Deribit, QCP Capital, and Jump Crypto. The funding will finance the development of Thetanuts Finance’s structured products platform and user-friendly instruments in the crypto derivatives ecosystem.

Qventus (Qventus), a provider of AI-powered of software for care operations, has secured a growth investment led by Thomas H Lee Partners (THL), a private equity firm investing in growth companies, and a strategic partnership and investment by Premier, a healthcare improvement company. THL and Premier are joined by Thedacare, along with existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, and Norwest Venture Partners. The funding round and partnership position the Company to expand its technology to additional hospitals and health systems across the United States.

The Riverside Company, a global private investor focused on the smaller end of the middle market, has invested in ESHA Research (ESHA), a provider of SaaS-based nutritional analysis, labeling compliance and product formulation software. ESHA is trusted by food and beverage manufacturers, foodservice companies, health and wellness organizations, supplements manufacturers and more, to ensure regulatory compliance. The company’s software enables customers to collect and store ingredient data, create regulatory-compliance nutrition facts labels, analyze the nutritional content of recipes, manage product formulations, calculate recipe yields and costs, produce ingredient certification statements and validate dietary claims. Riverside will invest meaningfully in product

Private Equity house, Key Capital Partners (KCP), has completed a minority investment into Jellyfish Pictures. Jellyfish provides high-quality animation, visual effects (VFX) and art department services to media corporations around the world. Clients include Disney+, Netflix, DreamWorks, Apple TV, HBO, Sky, BBC and Amazon. Jellyfish Pictures has worked on a slate of well-known productions such as three Star Wars films (Lucas Films), numerous drama series (Black Mirror, The Book of Boba Fett), and recently completing animated feature film Spirit: Untamed and special How to Train Your Dragon: Homecoming for DreamWorks Animation. The business has won over 40 industry awards including

Investcorp Technology Partners (ITP), a European technology investor, has acquired a majority stake in cybersecurity company HWG. HWG co-founder and CEO, Enrico Orlandi, and the other co-founders, Claudia Rangogni, Andrea Boni and Andrea Pomari, will continue to lead the company, having retained their ownership in HWG alongside Investcorp. Established in 2008 and headquartered in Verona, Italy, HWG is an independent provider of cybersecurity solutions in Italy, with strong expertise in security operations centre solutions.  The investment in HWG is the first investment from Investcorp Technology Partners’ Fund V and marks the third cybersecurity transaction that ITP has had involvement with

Fearless Adventures, a Manchester, UK-based growth vehicle for direct-to-consumer (D2C) start-ups, co-founded in 2021 by three stalwarts of the British start-up scene, has completed its first investment round, bringing together a team of 14 highly successful entrepreneurs. Investors include: Steve Oliver, Co-founder and Group CEO of musicMagpie; James Cox, co-founder of Simba Sleep; and tech-entrepreneur Alex Packham, who recently sold his company ContentCal to Adobe. Fearless Adventures offer full-service support to its portfolio companies, including strategic expertise, best-in-class digital marketing capabilities, and talent sourcing support to rapidly accelerate the growth of their investments. With five start-ups already onboard since Fearless

Co-living company DoveVivo has acquired ALTIDO, one of the largest short-term property management groups in Europe. The transaction, which involves the reinvestment of capital by ALTIDO’s management team in DoveVivo, has created the largest residential management platform in Europe with more than 2,500  properties and apartments under management in 40 cities, in six countries (Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, the UK and Scotland).   DoveVivo’s leading shareholder remains DV Holding SpA, a vehicle controlled by the founders Valerio  Fonseca and William Maggio together with the minority shareholder Tamburi Investment Partners SpA. The transaction follows the recent entry of US fund Starwood

Cairngorm Capital Partners portfolio company, Independent Builders Merchant Group (IBMG), has acquired Cornish Fixings (Redruth) Limited (Cornish Fixings). Cornish Fixings is a single branch builders’ merchant based in Redruth, supplying a broad range of building materials to trade and retail customers across Cornwall. It is a trusted local brand, with a reputation for outstanding customer service. This acquisition continues IBMG’s strategy of developing its divisions through a combination of acquisition, new site development and organic growth. Strategically it strengthens its south west division, extending RGB’s presence in Cornwall and provides a strong platform for further growth across the Redruth area.