Allocations
Alternative assets specialist co-investment platform Astarte Capital Partners is to allocate a portion of its profits towards supporting the education of under-privileged young people.
The initiative is focused on Europe and North America, and will involve collaborating with a handful of relevant institutions, such as high schools, colleges and universities.
London-based Astarte, which invests in real asset investments including transportation, specialist real estate and natural resources, has outposts in New York, Sydney and Zurich.
“Education and giving back to the community is at the heart of our work ethics. We believe that the biggest investment that can be
CeriFi, a portfolio company of Leeds Equity Partners, has acquired Keir Educational Resources (Keir), a provider of training solutions for financial services professionals seeking to prepare for various financial and insurance certification exams.
Founded in 1968, Keir’s products prepare financial services professionals for the Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and several property and casualty examinations. Keir represents the third acquisition for the recently formed financial education, training and certification platform, CeriFi. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Henrietta Nye, President of Keir, says: “I am thrilled that Keir is joining the CeriFi platform. We have built
Atlas Holdings (Atlas) has held the first and final close of its third private equity investment fund, Atlas Capital Resources III LP (Fund III) with capital commitments of USD1.675 billion, after just three months of fundraising.
Atlas focuses on control investments in companies experiencing financial or operational stress, benefiting from Atlas’ ability to execute complex financial transactions, resolve enterprise challenges and systematically deliver exceptional operational and financial performance. Atlas has been an active acquirer of underperforming or discontinued operations from corporate sellers and has acquired businesses through bankruptcy purchases, out-of-court restructurings and reorganisations. Atlas will continue to pursue these strategies,
The Access Group, a provider of fully integrated business management software to UK mid-market organisations, has secured a strategic investment from Hg valuing the business at an enterprise value of approximately GBP1 billion.
Current majority shareholder TA Associates will retain joint control of The Access Group.
With its portfolio spanning Finance, HR, Payroll, Hospitality, Recruitment, Heath & Social Care, Manufacturing & Distribution, Education and Not for Profit sectors, The Access Group is the leading vendor of mission-critical business software to mid-market organisations in the UK.
Chris Bayne, CEO of The Access Group, says: “We have enjoyed our close
Assetz Capital has now reached a record number of loans available to investors using its Manual Lending Account (MLA), with well over 200 live loans with loan parts available for immediate investment on the secondary market.
The MLA allows hands-on investors to build a diversified portfolio of hand-picked loans that suit their personal investment preferences. While Assetz Capital also offers both access and automatic diversification accounts, it has always maintained a manual lending option – and the size of its current loan book makes this a more attractive proposition than ever before.
As the company nears the GBP0.5 billion
Cornerstone Partners Group has acquired a 10 per cent stake in luxurious co-working space Colony. The deal values the company, started by prominent entrepreneur Timothy Tiah, between USD15-USD20 million, representing a four-times return for its early investors.
The eight-month old company has raised a total of USD5 million to date and is looking to open more locations in Kuala Lumpur this year after having its first location at Jalan Kia Peng turn profitable in its first three months.
Cornerstone Partners Group which owns hotel assets around Asia including the DoubleTree Resort by Hilton in Penang, the Kimpton in Taipei
Sentinel Capital Partners, a private equity firm that invests in promising companies at the lower end of the midmarket, has acquired UBEO Business Services, a provider of printer, copier, and related office equipment sales and services in Texas.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, UBEO is a provider of best-in-class document management equipment and related services. UBEO facilitates business technology integration by offering the newest, best, and most innovative ideas in hardware and software solutions to its customer base of approximately 6,000 mid-sized businesses, schools, and municipalities. With a team of more
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
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
