First Reserve is celebrating its 30th year in global energy investing, making it the oldest and largest global private equity firm exclusively focused on energy. Having begun their careers in energy investing in the early 1970s, William "Bill" Macaulay (pictured) and John Hill co-founded First Reserve in 1983 with the takeover of several distressed private energy funds. Since that time, the firm has raised more than USD23bn of aggregate capital since inception and now maintains the largest energy-focused private equity investment team in the industry. Its 41 active portfolio companies in the Buyout Funds and Infrastructure Fund trade on five

Mid-market private equity firm CBPE Capital has sold Rosemont Pharmaceuticals to Perrigo, the USD10bn US listed pharmaceuticals business. CBPE acquired Rosemont in August 2006 for GBP93m. The sale to Perrigo represents an investment multiple of 3.25x CBPE’s GBP52m equity investment over the investment period for CBPE’s investors.   Rosemont develops, manufactures and supplies oral liquid medicines for patients who have difficulty in swallowing tablets and capsules. Its customers include hospitals, wholesalers and retail pharmacies. Rosemont’s range of medicines improves the lives of patients with swallowing difficulties which typically affect the elderly and young children.   CBPE has funded significant investment

Cleantech investment specialist MTI Partners has completed a GBP2m investment round in Oxford Photovoltaics (OPV), an Oxford University spin-out materials/cleantech company commercialising solid-state dye sensitized solar cells for the building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) sector. These new, transparent solar cells can be produced from inexpensive, abundant, non-toxic and non-corrosive materials and be scaled to any volume. They can be printed directly onto glass in a range of colours, making them ideally suited to use in glazing panels and facades. This latest investment round allows OPV to build on its technical and commercial teams and construct its own product development and test

Salvepar, an investment company which is 92 per cent owned by the Tikehau Group, has sold three of its holdings. Salvepar conducts an active policy of minority and medium-term shareholding acquisitions in listed and non-listed companies. The firm has accepted a firm and binding offer for its entire shareholding in Polygone SA from its co-founder Olivier Ginon for a total amount of EUR9.2m. As a result of Qualium Investissement’s sale of its shareholding in Socotec to Cobepa (a Belgian investment company) and to funds managed by Five Arrows Managers, as well as to the management and employees, Salvepar’s mezzanine bonds

EQT IV has signed an agreement with an affiliate of Sun European Partners, the European adviser to Sun Capital Partners, to sell BTX Group. BTX is a wholesaler comprised of five brands: Brandtex, Jensen Women, Signature, Imitz and Ciso, all of which have their own identity, addressing various sub-segments of the mature womenswear market.  During EQT IV’s ownership period, BTX has been through a significant transformation. Being initially a traditional manufacturing and wholesale company, the company is today a focused clothing business, targeting the classic mature woman and having a clear retail-focus, including more than 120 shop-in-shops solutions with its

The London office of international legal practice Norton Rose has advised UBM on the proposed GBP160m disposal of certain parts of its data services business to Electra Private Equity Partners. UBM’s proposed disposal of its data services business consists of five divisions: Aviation, Global Trade, Medica, RISI and Tech Insights. The disposal involves the sale of 70 companies in 44 jurisdictions and asset sales in the UK, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan. As well as London, the transaction involved additional advice being sought from 15 Norton Rose offices globally, in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong, Japan,

Bacchus Capital Management, a San Francisco-based private equity firm providing strategic capital in the wine industry, has made a follow-on investment in Wine by Joe, one of Oregon’s largest wine producers. This capital infusion enables Wine by Joe to further expand its national and international distribution, as well as build inventory and infrastructure. Concurrently, Wine by Joe has added Anthony Van Nice, an industry veteran, to the position of chief operating officer. Van Nice will be responsible for all business operations of the winery including the development and implementation of the company’s sales, marketing and strategic plans. He will work

Private equity firm Paine & Partners and the Costa Group are to acquire Adelaide Mushrooms. Completion is subject to customary conditions. Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Under the terms of the agreement, Costa will acquire all of Adelaide Mushrooms’ assets, including its state-of-the-art Monarto production complex in South Australia, farms at Spreyton and Huon Valley in Tasmania, and Mushroom Centre at the Adelaide Markets. Adelaide Mushrooms’ chairman, Douglas Schirripa, will work with Costa’s mushroom team in an advisory capacity. Adelaide Mushrooms services supermarkets and greengrocers, as well as institutions and food service operations across Australia. Its

The North West Fund for Digital & Creative, managed by AXM Venture Capital, has led an equity investment of GBP250,000 into Gateway 3D, alongside a personal investment from its new chairman. Gateway 3D is a fast-growing software and solutions vendor, providing an integrated 3D visualisation and e-commerce solution for the personalisation and promotional product markets. The system allows end-customers to view products in 3D and personalise them with their own artwork, and process the online transaction on behalf of the retailer. Gateway 3D powers personalisation sites for some of the largest retailers in the UK, including Pets at Home. The

Fujitsu Limited and Panasonic Corporation are to consolidate the design and development functions of their system LSI businesses. With the backing of capital contributions from third-party investors, Fujitsu and Panasonic will establish a new company under a fabless business model, enabling LSI design and development functions. At the same time, the two companies have agreed to discuss the transfer of business to the new company. In establishing the new integrated company, Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) has been asked to assist with investment and financing. Fujitsu and Panasonic are currently engaged in detailed discussions with the goal of promptly finalising