Allocations
Pontifax AgTech Management (Pontifax AgTech) has held the close of its first fund, the Pontifax Global Food and Agriculture Technology Fund with commitments totalling USD105 million.
The fund attracted commitments from leading investors, comprised of financial institutions, university endowments, investment firms, large-scale growers and family offices.
Pontifax AgTech invests globally in revenue-generating businesses with proven technologies that improve the productivity, sustainability and efficiency of the agriculture supply chain. The Firm’s principals work with a proprietary network of leading growers, technology experts and strategic corporate partners to thoroughly evaluate and maximise the success of the Fund’s investments.
The announcement
Two well-known names in the structured finance market, Marc Sefton and Kieran McSweeney, have founded Aquilam Capital, which will focus on investing and lending into companies in the speciality finance sector.
This includes businesses in the consumer and SME finance, leasing and mortgage markets. Aquilam will offer both debt and equity solutions.
Aquilam Capital expects to complete six to eight quality transactions each year. Aquilam Capital will consider transactions of up to GBP25 million, although the typical range is likely to be around GBP2-GBP10 million.
Kieran and Marc have over 30 years’ combined sector experience, encompassing Barclays Capital, Morgan
Assetz Capital has facilitated trading in second-hand loan parts of GBP300 million on its secondary market since its inception.
Trades on the secondary market (or aftermarket) have given a whole new range of investors access to loans in Assetz Capital’s various non-access accounts, including the Manual Loan Investment Account, Great British Business Account and Green Energy Income Account. Secondary market trading is important for those who find they need access to their cash sooner than the end of the loan term and also to assist in them rebalancing their portfolio diversification over time.
In addition to the GBP300 million worth
Global law firm Ropes & Gray has advised Bain Capital Private Equity on its acquisition of NGA UK – a leading UK-based software provider of payroll and HR solutions – from NGA Human Resources.
The financial terms of the proposed transaction, which is expected to close in early 2018 subject to anti-trust and FCA approvals, have not been disclosed.
The Ropes & Gray team was led by private equity partner Will Rosen, with tax partner Brenda Coleman, IP transactions partner Rohan Massey and private equity partners John Newton and Kiran Sharma, all based in the firm’s London office.
Brookfield Asset Management’s Public Securities Group is to acquire Center Coast Capital Holdings,, an affiliate of Center Coast Capital Advisors, LP (“CCC”), a Houston-based SEC-registered investment adviser focusing on energy infrastructure investments, including master limited partnerships (MLPs), with over USD4 billion in assets under management.
In conjunction with the transaction, Brookfield also will acquire certain assets of Liberty Street Advisors (Liberty Street), a New York-based SEC-registered investment adviser that serves as the investment adviser to the Liberty Street family of funds. Additionally, Brookfield will acquire certain assets of Liberty Street’s affiliates, HRC Fund Associates, and HRC Portfolio Solutions (collectively, HRC),
PerformLine, a regtech company that delivers automated compliance solutions, has acquired social media technology company Silverback Social, with former CEO Chris Dessi joining as VP of Sales.
Former Silverback Social CMO John Zanzarella will be joining PerformLine as Director of Sales and Marketing Operations.
Dessi was CEO of Silverback Social since 2012 and brings 20 years of sales leadership expertise in the software and tech sectors. He joined Silverback Social as CMO in 2013 and acted as CEO of the Westchester Digital Summit.
“This acqui-hire is a clear sign of how intelligently PerformLine is growing. When your customers are the
Global law firm Ropes & Gray and Japanese firm Anderson Mori have advised Bain Capital on its tender offer for Asatsu DK, Japan’s third largest advertising agency. The tender offer price for 100 per cent of the company is approximately JPY152 billion, or approximately USD1.38 billion – making it one of the largest buyouts in Japan this year.
The Ropes & Gray team was led by private equity counsel Saeko Inaba and private equity partner Tsuyoshi Imai, with support from finance counsel Ben Morris, all based in the firm’s Tokyo office.
It is the forth deal that Ropes & Gray
PrimaLoft, a materials science company specialising in advanced branded technical products including insulation, fabric, and yarn for outdoor, fashion, and other industries, has completed a management-led transaction to recapitalise the business.
The new investor group is led by private equity firm Victor Capital Partners in partnership with the private equity group at Allstate.PrimaLoft management will continue to maintain a significant investment in the business.Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Latham, NY, PrimaLoft is a leader in research and development of high performance materials for leading outdoor and fashion brands, as well as
Albion Capital Group LLP (Albion) has sold its stake in Hilson Moran Holdings Limited (Hilson Moran), an engineering services group in the UK and Middle East, to Tyrens AB (Tyrens), a Swedish technical consultancy.
Hilson Moran’s management team will remain as shareholders and the company will continue to operate under its existing brand name. The investment comes on the back of strong growth for Hilson Moran and will enable the business to provide combined MEP and structural engineering services, joining forces with existing Tyrens investment AKTII.
Funds managed by Albion received total consideration over the course of the investment
Avignon Capital, a European property investment firm and asset manager, has launched Platinum Property Management in a joint venture with McCafferty Asset Management.
Avignon Capital has formed a strategic partnership with McCafferty Asset Management, a European asset and property manager, after identifying a gap in the market for a high-quality Pan-European property management service.
Platinum Property Management will offer a flexible and tailored approach and will act as the link between landlord and tenant to improve services by building stronger relationships and providing an all-encompassing real estate solution. Platinum’s services will build on McCafferty’s strong accountancy knowledge and will
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
