Allocations
Blue Bay Travel, an online luxury travel agent specialising in long-haul holidays to the Caribbean, Mexico and Indian Ocean, has celebrated a record start to 2018 by increasing year-on-year sales by 71 per cent and securing a record numbers of bookings made in a single day, week and month.
The business, which has been backed by mid-market private equity firm LDC since February 2017, has also continued to invest in its technology platform, increased headcount by 30 per cent, expanded its office space, and launched its premium Xclusivity brand to provide a broadened geographic and bespoke product offering to customers.
Idinvest Partners, an investor in SMEs across Europe, has held the first close of its third digital fund – Idinvest Digital Fund III – at EUR180 million.
The first close of the fund has exceeded that of its predecessor, Idinvest Digital Fund II, which raised EUR154 million, and the fund is targeting a final close of EUR300 million. Idinvest Digital Fund III is backed by a number of existing and new European LPs.
The new fund, managed by a team of nine investors, will finance European businesses with high growth potential and support serial entrepreneurs in the following sectors:
Scandinavian equity crowdfunding platform FundedByMe, which has a network of 110,000 investors, is expanding into Poland with the opening of a new office in Warsaw on 17 April.
The new Polish office, which will be headed by Maciej Gajewski, is the fifth international market location beyond Sweden where the platform is headquartered.
“The aim of our platform is to connect individual investors and entrepreneurs. In Poland, we are looking for the most innovative startups that are targeting international markets and seeking to raise EUR100,000 to EUR900,000 in Sweden and other countries. We are going to help Polish companies reach the Nordic market, as
New data shows that, once biases are eliminated, European venture capital has consistently matched the performance of US funds over the past 20 years.
European venture capital funds are often compared unfavourably to their US peers, but the latest analysis from eFront shows that this consensus has been reached through a biased analysis of data, and European VC funds have matched the performance of US funds over the past 20 years.
According to eFront’s data, the all-time pooled IRR US venture funds is nearly 10 percentage points higher than for European ones at 14.35 per cent versus 4.95 per
Global law firm K&L Gates LLP represented Patricia Industries, a part of Investor AB, on the USD903 million acquisition of a majority stake in healthcare product specialty distributor Sarnova Holdings from Water Street Healthcare Partners and Sarnova founder Matthew D Walter.
The acquisition, which closed on 4 April, consisted of Patricia Industries injecting USD513 million in equity financing for an 86 per cent ownership of Sarnova. The remainder of the enterprise value has been financed by external debt and equity participation from Water Street Healthcare Partners, Matthew D Walter, and Sarnova’s management group and board of directors.
New York
Quinag Acquisition (FDI) Limited, a company backed by funds advised by Apax Partners, is to acquire a controlling stake in Healthium MedTech Private Limited (Healthium), an independent medical devices player in India.
The controlling stake was acquired from existing shareholders including TPG Growth, CX Partners, and founding shareholders. Financial terms of the transaction, which is subject regulatory approval, are not being disclosed.
Founded in 1992, Healthium manufactures and sells a broad range of medical devices and consumable products including wound closure products, minimally invasive products including endo surgery and arthroscopy consumables, and urology products. The Company’s key brands include
By George Ralph, RFA – As many firms in the alternative investment sector, and certainly many of our clients, look for new ways to improve investment strategies and drive efficiencies in their businesses, against a backdrop of strict regulations and compliance requirements, investment in technology and innovation continues to rise.
Whilst automation of workflows and business processes are not new concepts, the introduction of robotic process automation (RPA) is fairly new and is gathering rapid pace in the media.
RPA utilises software bots to automate routine and repetitive tasks to increase business productivity, challenging how businesses operate. It sounds incredibly
The EQT Mid Market Europe Fund (EQT Mid Market) today announced that it is partnering with co-founders Josef Wildgruber and Uwe Behr to invest in BBS Automation.
BBS Automation is a provider of flexible and high-quality automation solutions for complex manufacturing and testing processes. The company develops, builds and installs high-quality automated systems for a wide range of industries and requirements. With more than 600 employees across production sites in Germany, China, Malaysia and the US, BBS Automation partners with blue chip customers on a global scale.
EQT Mid Market intends to leverage its long-term experience in the Industrial
Tikehau Capital has acquired a stake in Filiassur to support the company’s expansion and growth in Europe. Tikehau is investing EUR30 million in the firm, a leading French direct distributor of personal insurance.
Filiassur was founded in 2007. Following a period of rapid growth in France driven by its expertise in designing and marketing innovative niche insurance solutions, it now has 300,000 policyholders. Filiassur operates in a market with a large untapped potential: ageing populations and the progressive roll-back of social security systems mean that demand for tailored personal insurance solutions now far outstrips supply.
Tikehau Capital’s investment will
ACA Compliance Group (ACA) is to acquire Cordium, a provider of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) services. The financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close this summer, subject to regulatory approvals, have not been disclosed.
The complementary strengths of both firms will ensure that clients will have access to the highest calibre regulatory consultancy services and technology – and will serve as the springboard for further product innovation and global expansion. The acquisition also will expand ACA’s services in Europe to include Cordium’s regulatory hosting platform, Mirabella, and a post-Brexit EU office.
Robert L Stype, CEO
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
