Deals
Private equity firm OpenGate Capital is to sell Bois & Matériaux (B&M), a French building products distributor, to Chausson Matériaux, a major building materials distribution company.
Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, and the final sale is subject to closing conditions and works council consultation. OpenGate Capital acquired B&M in March of 2016 from Wolseley Plc, representing the firm’s second investment within Fund I.
Bois & Matériaux, with headquarters in Pacé, France, is one of the leading building materials distributors in France. The business has more than 2,100 employees and operations across the northern region of France
A fund managed by Odyssey Investment Partners (Odyssey) has acquired Applied Technical Services (ATS), a provider of high-quality testing, inspection, and calibration services, in partnership with Jim J Hills, the Company’s President, and the existing ATS management team.
Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
ATS, headquartered in Marietta, Georgia with more than 40 offices across the US, is a leading technical service platform that deploys a national network of experienced, highly technical professionals to provide mission-critical testing, inspection, certification, and compliance (TICC) services. Powered by innovative technology, significant operational scale and expertise, and deep knowledge of complex
UK mid-market private equity investor Livingbridge has agreed the sale of Broadstone, an independent provider of specialist pensions, trustee, and employee benefits solutions, to ICG.
Livingbridge’s investment was originally made from the Livingbridge 5 fund.
Founded within BDO Stoy Hayward in 1989, Broadstone offers coordinated, end-to-end pensions, trustee, and employee benefits solutions to SMEs and large corporates – helping them to navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape and evolving employee demands.
Livingbridge first invested in Broadstone in 2016, having identified the potential to build a mid-market leader of scale in the highly fragmented pensions and employee benefits sector.
Turquoise, a UK merchant bank specialising in energy, environment and efficiency, has announced its seventh deal for the Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 (LCIF2), a GBP330,000 investment in mobility app company SKOOT RIDE.COM Ltd (SKOOT).
SKOOT was founded in 2019 to promote and facilitate lift sharing amongst friends and colleagues. Passengers share the costs of the journey, but as the driver does not make a profit, this ensures that the driver is not subject to the regulations governing taxi services. The passenger will pay between 10% and 30% of the cost of a traditional taxi.
SKOOT’s app went live on
Innovate Finance, an industry body representing UK FinTech, has released investment figures for the global FinTech sector in 2020 that reinforce the UK’s position as a global and European leader.
The UK FinTech sector has retained its role as the top-ranking investment destination in Europe, with USD4.1 billion venture capital and growth private equity invested across a total of 408 deals. This represents a YoY drop of 9 per cent – an expected shift given the global Covid-19 pandemic and the surrounding economic challenges. Globally, the UK ranks second only to the US in total capital raised.
Overall, global
Greenspring Associates, has successfully completed a continuation fund transaction for Giza V, a 2008 vintage venture-capital fund, managed by Giza Venture Capital (Giza).
The continuation fund, with around USD100 million in commitments, provides Giza with the opportunity to increase the value of the portfolio companies by providing additional time and capital for growth. The portfolio companies were transferred into the continuation fund with limited partners in Giza V having the option to cash-out or to roll-over into the continuation fund.
“As global venture investors in fund, direct and secondary opportunities, we have seen increasing volume in GP-led restructurings, both on
BV Investment Partners (BV), a middle-market private equity firm focused on the tech-enabled business services, software and IT services sectors, has invested in PixelMEDIA (Pixel), a digital commerce services firm dedicated to helping brands launch, manage, and grow their ecommerce business on Salesforce.
Co-founders Erik Dodier, Chief Executive Officer, and Thomas Obrey, Chief Technology Officer, will continue in their current roles and maintain a significant ownership interest in partnership with BV.
Pixel is a digital commerce services firm dedicated to helping brands launch, manage, and grow their ecommerce business on the Salesforce platform.
Pixel’s certified global team covers
BlackCurve, a pricing optimisation company, has closed a GBP1 million funding round, led by Chairman, Martin Fincham, with participation from Nauta Capital, The Cambridge Angels Network and other prominent Angels, members of the ScaleUp Group and then bolstered by a matching contribution from the UK Government’s Future Fund.
Founded in 2016, BlackCurve’s pricing optimisation platform helps retailers manage and optimise the price of every item they sell to achieve their business goals. This SaaS platform, powered by Artificial Intelligence, ingests data sources ranging from sales history and web shop transactions, through to competitor pricing and stock levels, enabling every retailer
M&A valuations are soaring, with rich valuations and intense competition for many digital or technology-based assets driving global deals activity, according to PwC’s latest Global M&A Industry Trends analysis.
Covering the last six months of 2020, the analysis examines global deals activity and incorporates insights from PwC’s deals industry specialists to identify the key trends driving M&A activity, and anticipated investment hotspots in 2021.
In spite of the uncertainty created by COVID-19, the second half of 2020 saw a surge in M&A activity.
“Covid-19 gave companies a rare glimpse into their future, and many did not like what they saw.
European private debt manager Pemberton has provided financing alongside Partners Group to support CapVest’s acquisition of Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN), a FMCG pet food company based in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1923, IPN has grown into a leading independent pet food company in the United Kingdom, providing premium, natural products at an affordable price point. The company owns two of the top three dry dog food brands in the UK, Harringtons and Wagg, and has a strong private label offering supplying leading pet specialist retailers and grocers.
IPN has an outstanding track record of
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