Allocations
Archangels, the business angel syndicate, increased its funding support for Scottish early stage business in 2012, making it Scotland’s largest provider of business angel funding for the year.
Last year, Archangels – which was established by Edinburgh-based entrepreneurs Mike Rutterford and Barry Sealey in October 1992 – invested GBP9.5m in new business (up from GBP8.75m in 2011), with GBP5.73m coming from the Archangels themselves (up from GBP4.88m in 2011) and the remainder coming from partners, including the Scottish Investment Bank which invested GBP2.78m (from the Co-Investment Fund and Venture Fund).
Throughout 2012 Archangels completed three new investments – Calcivis
Independent oil and gas company Aladdin Middle East has raised USD20m in new equity from 4D Global Energy Advisors SAS (4DGEA), a Paris-based private equity investor that specialises in the energy sector.
The equity financing will enable Aladdin Middle East to finance its committed and contingent work programmes and working capital to build on its asset base in the Republic of Turkey.
The natural resources team at UK tax, audit and advisory firm Crowe Clark Whitehill worked alongside Murphy Richards Capital to provide investee due diligence services to the transaction.
Stephen Bullock, head of natural resources at Crowe Clarke
Sovereign Capital portfolio company City & County Healthcare Group has acquired ISS Healthcare (ISS), extending the group’s complex care offering and marking its first acquisition in Wales.
ISS provides care in the home from its two branches in Torfaen, South Wales and Birmingham. The Torfaen branch was established in 2001, with the Birmingham branch following two years later. It employs nearly 200 care staff, who provide a mixture of complex care, 24 hour care, elderly care and private care, supporting each service user to live independently in their own homes.
Post-acquisition, the two branches will continue to be run by
GI Partners, a Bay Area-based multi-strategy private equity investment manager, has acquired a data centre-anchored property in Hayward, California.
The investment was made through DataCore, a fully discretionary core real estate fund managed by GI Partners.
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) created DataCore in 2012 as a core investment vehicle to invest in technology-advantaged real estate in the US, including data centres, internet gateways, corporate campuses for technology tenants and life science properties located in primary MSAs and leased to industry leading tenants. In November 2012, the fund acquired its first asset, Lightwave Corporate Centre in San Diego,
Private equity firm Nautic Partners has completed the sale of Big Train to Kerry Group.
The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Headquartered in Lake Forest, California, Big Train is a manufacturer and marketer of liquid and powdered beverage concentrates used for blended ice coffee, fruit smoothies, chai tea, cocoa drinks and various syrups.
The company distributes its products through multiple channels, including independent coffeehouses, large retail chains, and international distributors. Big Train serves its approximately 14,000 coffeehouse customers directly, as well as through distributors. Coffeehouses sell the company’s product under the “Big Train” brand as well as
Trac ID Systems, a provider of RFID solutions for asset tracking and process optimisation in the oil and gas industry, has completed a EUR3m round of funding led by Northzone.
Trac ID’s main value proposition to the oil and gas industry is significant annual cost savings and improved safety by enhancing lifecycle management and visibility of all rig assets through automated tracking.
The company’s products can easily be configured to solve challenges within manufacturing control, stock management, transport tracking, and inspection/maintenance handling. The products are designed for flawless operations in rough offshore environments, and initial focus is the oil and
NBGI Private Equity has acquired Stiplastics for an undisclosed sum.
Stiplastics is a manufacturer of injection-moulded plastic dosing, packaging solutions and medical devices for the pharmaceutical industry including pillboxes, medication blister packs, and “tamper proof” systems.
The company employs around 70 staff and operates production facilities in Beauvoir en Royans, France.
NBGI will support the company’s existing management team, which has ambitious plans to almost double revenues in the next five years, from EUR12.5m in 2012 to EUR23m in 2017. The strategy is to expand Stiplastics’ range of products and to leverage its reputation and relationships around the world. Over
Nearly all retail chief financial officers (94 per cent) expect merger and acquisition (M&A) activity will increase or remain steady in 2013, according to a survey from BDO USA.
CFOs’ bullish forecasts follow USD324.6bn in global retail and consumer M&A activity in 2012, which was up 33 per cent over 2011 and the busiest year since 2007, according to Dealogic.
A majority of CFOs (68 per cent) expect the US markets to see a majority of deal volume, followed by the Asia-Pacific market (20 per cent) and Latin America market (seven per cent).
Retail CFOs also forecast robust IPO activity
Poorer-performing private equity firms are increasingly being squeezed out as investors look to partner with the best performers, according to the latest research from private equity placement agent Acanthus Advisers.
Acanthus’ European Mid-Market Fundraising Review 2013 shows that in the past two years, just three per cent of capital raised went to the lowest-tier GPs, as ranked by Acanthus’ proprietary Perception Analysis – down from 13 per cent raised by the same group between 2004 and 2012.
The flight to quality was emphasised further, with top-tier GPs attracting nearly half of all funds raised in 2011-12, up from just a
NorthEdge Capital, the private equity firm focused on backing businesses based in the North of England, has completed its maiden deal after investing for a significant majority stake in FPE Global, a high-growth specialist engineering firm with an international customer base.
The deal is the first investment by Manchester and Leeds-based NorthEdge, which has GBP182m currently under management. The firm’s maiden fund achieved first close in summer 2012.
Stockport-based FPE Global develops bespoke materials-handling processing systems with proven applications in a range of high-growth end markets including sugar, cement, chemicals and energy from waste.
The business has developed a market-leading
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12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
