Vodafone has obtained unconditional merger control clearance from the European Commission for the voluntary public takeover offer for Kabel Deutschland.   With merger approval from the European Commission, all conditions to the offer have been met and Vodafone expects to close the transaction on 14 October 2013.   Kabel Deutschland shareholders who have not yet accepted the offer can tender their shares until midnight (CET) on 30 September 2013.   Vodafone’s offer values Kabel Deutschland at EUR87 per share.

International law firm Edwards Wildman has advised Bessemer Venture Partners as lead investor on a USD35m series D financing for UK technology firm NewVoiceMedia.   London based partner Shawn Atkinson led the cross-border team with assistance in the London office from Jill Hanson, Costa Smith and Joel Marris. Providence based partner Eugene McDermott, along with tax partner Scott Pinarchick and associate Katie Day (both Boston), provided advice on the US aspects of the transaction.   NewVoiceMedia is a provider of true cloud contact centre and voice solutions. Established over 10 years ago, it now serves over 8,000 agents and has over

Resource Capital Partners (RCP), a private equity fund management company with offices in Denver and Almaty, Kazakhstan, has made its first investment.    The fund will allocate up to USD6m through a convertible debt instrument to finance a CapEx programme for the Maxut copper-nickel deposit in Kazakstan. The developer of the project is BAST LLP.    The fund will obtain an equity interest of 50.1 per cent.   Richard Waryn, managing director, says: “We are pleased to announce our fund’s first investment.  The Maxut copper-nickel project offers a compelling opportunity for the fund to acquire a majority stake in a substantially

Branding Brand, a mobile commerce platform for major retailers, has secured USD9.5m in series B funding led by existing investor Insight Venture Partners.   The round also includes repeat investment from CrunchFund and Lead Edge Capital, along with new participation from eBay Enterprise. This brings the company’s total funding up to USD17m.   Branding Brand will use the investment to scale sales, marketing, and operations. Since its Series A investment last year, the company experienced 100 per cent year-over-year growth and was recently named to Inc. magazine’s Inc. 500 list.   It also made numerous key hires, including Jeffrey R.

Investec Growth & Acquisition Finance has provided financing to Lomond Capital, a regional residential letting and property management group, to support the company’s growth strategy.   The senior and subordinated financing package will provide additional firepower to assist Lomond as it continues its “buy and build” strategy, acquiring residential lettings and property management businesses in attractive regional markets.   Lomond is the largest letting agent in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, managing over 5,000 properties, and is also already active in the Manchester market through their most recent acquisitions of Penny Aston and Thornley Groves. Lomond intends to expand its current operations

Detroit-based Rockbridge Growth Equity has acquired Rapid Financial Services, a Bethesda, Maryland-based provider of capital for small businesses.   RapidAdvance has created a technology-powered platform that underwrites small business loans and advances, providing its customers with capital quickly and efficiently. The company has opened up the market for capital to small businesses through its web-enabled system.   "RapidAdvance’s product innovation, data driven ‘best-in-class’ underwriting, customer-first approach and talented team are a great addition to our family of companies. We will provide all the necessary resources to accelerate its growth," says Kevin Prokop, managing director, Rockbridge Growth Equity. "We are excited