Private equity and venture capital firms invested USD126m across nine Indian agri-business companies during the first six months of 2013, 75 per cent more than the USD72m invested across six companies during the same period last year, says data from Venture Intelligence.   The largest PE investment in the industry during 2013 was Multiples Private Equity’s Rs.250 crore (USD43.24m) investment in Bangalore-based Milltec Group which develops technology and machinery for rice milling, roller flour milling, maize (corn) milling and agro processing plants.   Another buyouts focused PE firm, India Value Fund, has committed USD40m to pick up a majority stake

HgCapital has made a majority investment in IntelliFlo, a provider of front and back office software to financial advisors, advisor networks and brokers.   The investment was made from its Mercury Fund which was raised to specifically target software and other technology companies across Europe.     Led by chief executive Nick Eatock, IntelliFlo combines a decade-long track record in the UK market, with a best in class SaaS product and significant capability created by investment ahead of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR).  Nearly 10,000 advisors and administrators use IntelliFlo’s software on a daily basis to manage front and back-office workflows

Host Europe Group, the largest privately-owned hosting group in Europe, has been acquired by European private equity firm Cinven from Montagu Private Equity.   Headquartered in the UK, Host Europe Group is a provider of hosting and domain services to small and medium enterprises, with around 600 employees. It offers an end-to-end product suite including domain registration, application hosting, cloud hosting and managed hosting, with most of its revenues generated in the UK and Germany.   The business has established market-leading positions in its core markets leveraging a large base of 1.5 million customers, well-recognised brands (including 123-reg, Webfusion, Heart Internet

HIG Capital’s Brazilian affiliate has completed a strategic investment in Creme Mel Sorvetes, a Brazilian ice cream company.   Headquartered in Goiás, Creme Mel is the largest ice cream producer in the Mid-West of Brazil. The company has over 900 employees and sells ice cream in nine Brazilian states.   HIG’s investment will allow Creme Mel to expand its production capacity with the construction of a new plant and will provide capital for a faster expansion throughout Brazil.   “We are very excited to have HIG as a partner. Their ability and experience in helping companies grow all over the

Venture capital funds TT Venture, a fund managed by Fondamenta SGR, and Atlante Seed, a fund managed by IMI Fondi Chiusi SGR, an Intesa Sanpaolo Group company, have invested in MilkyWay, a start-up in Modena focused on the design, manufacture and online sales of bike-trial and extreme sports equipment.   The investment operation totals an initial EUR720,000, which MilkyWay will use to expand its range of products on the extreme sports market (such as kitesurfing, downhill biking and parkour) and to develop the online community (www.milkywaytribe.com).   In just a few months the MilkyWay community has positioned itself as a

Edison Ventures has made a USD5.5m investment in a USD7m total financing round in Ontario, Canada based eSentire.   Existing investor VentureLink joined Edison in the round.   The proceeds will be used to increase sales and marketing, expand product development to address markets beyond financial services eSentire combines behaviour-based technology with seasoned security professionals to provide a unique managed services offering. To date, the company has focused exclusively on serving the financial services market, specifically hedge funds. With Edison’s investment, eSentire will continue to penetrate the hedge fund sector and, expand into other markets.   Lenard Marcus, Edison principal

NBGI Private Equity (NBGIPE), the lower mid-market buyout firm, has sold its majority stake in Ochre House to US-based Pinstripe backed by Accel-KKR, which delivers a 4x return on NBGIPE’s original investment.   The sale will result in the combined business becoming the largest independent provider of global recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and talent management solutions.   Ochre House has rapidly grown to become a leading provider of talent management services in the UK, Continental Europe and the Middle East and represents a significant EMEA platform for the US buyer, Pinstripe. The EMEA market is estimated at approximately USD967m and

AnaCap Financial Partners and the management of Simply Business have completed the management buyout of the small business insurance provider.   Under the terms of the agreement, funds advised by AnaCap and Simply Business’s management will acquire 100 per cent of Simply Business.   Established in 2005 by parent company Xbridge, Simply Business was amongst the earliest online brokers within the commercial insurance market. Using technology to simplify the process of buying small business insurance, the company has achieved rapid growth, from revenues of GBP4.2m in 2006 to GBP22.9m in 2012, and now insures more than 225,000 small businesses across

Germany’s largest online optician Mister Spex, a portfolio company of private equity firm DN Capital, has acquired two Swedish online eyewear operations, Lensstore and Loveyewear.   “With this step we demonstrate our leading position in Europe and accelerate our international expansion,” says Dirk Graber, founder and chief executive of Mister Spex. “We merge the business activities of the three fastest growing online eyewear companies in Europe. As early as 2013 we will jointly generate revenues of EUR48m.”   Lensstore sells contact lenses with a geographic focus on Sweden, Norway and Finland. Loveyewear offers premium brand prescription glasses and sunglasses in

Livingstone Partners’ debt advisory team has concluded a debt refinancing in support of Dunedin’s recently announced GBP43m buy-out of York-based Trustmarque Solutions.   Livingstone arranged a GBP19.5m debt package with HSBC Bank, with additional capacity for acquisitions.   Trustmarque is a provider of technology services and solutions to private and public sector organisations. The company helps organisations license, deploy and manage technology solutions from a wide range of developers including Microsoft. The business currently serves over 1,200 clients including RBS, Lloyds Banking Group, Sainsbury’s and Capita. Public sector clients include the NHS, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Justice, HMRC, local