Energy group Winch Energy has invested in Sicily-based energy trader Onda Energy and its subsidiary Energit, based in Sardinia. The Onda Energy Group is the largest gas and electricity broker in both Sicily and Sardinia, with some 35,000 commercial customers in Sicily, Sardinia and Italy. The combined group has turnover of over EUR100m and employs some 100 people. The acquisition will give the Onda Group access to significant funding to grow its activities and strengthen its balance sheet. Winch Energy will bring its expertise in solar PV and LED lighting to the Onda Group and expects to roll out funded

Private equity firm TA Associates has completed a majority investment in DigiCert, a provider of enterprise security solutions. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Founded in 2003, DigiCert provides online authentication and encryption services primarily through Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificates to companies, government agencies, financial institutions, and educational and medical institutions worldwide. SSL protocol enables applications to transmit information securely. DigiCert is the world’s third largest issuer of high-assurance certificates, serving more than 60,000 clients in 176 countries. The company is headquartered in Lindon, Utah. “DigiCert offers a compelling value proposition to its customers,” says Jason P Werlin,

Moonray Healthcare has acquired Lexum, a provider of ophthalmology in Czech Republic and Poland. The deal will see a phased transfer of ownership from current investors ARX Equity Partners and founder Professor Martin Filipec, who will remain with the group. Lexum operates 10 hospitals across Central Europe including the European Eye Centre, a new 2,500 square metre flagship eye hospital in Prague. Moonray Healthcare intends to combine the group with Optegra, its UK based eye hospital group which operates 11 specialist hospitals across England and Germany. Together the group will annually perform more than 40,000 surgical procedures and be one

Silverfleet Capital, the European private equity firm, has acquired La Fée Maraboutée, a French wholesaler and retailer of women’s fashion, for EUR65m. The founder of the company and its joint-chief executives are also making a significant investment alongside Silverfleet Capital.   Founded in 1996 in Roanne, which is located west of Lyon, by its founder and current head designer, Jean-Pierre Braillard, La Fée Maraboutée is a women’s fashion brand that is distributed by 1,700 French and international wholesale partners, as well as a store network of 90 outlets including 35 own and affiliate stores and 55 franchise stores (37 of

GI Partners, a middle market private equity firm, has acquired a data centre and office building in San Diego. The investment was made through DataCore, a fully discretionary core real estate fund managed by GI Partners that was launched earlier this year with the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). CalSTRS created DataCore as a core investment vehicle to invest in technology-focused 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. This is the first investment for the DataCore fund.

Graycliff Partners has completed a mezzanine investment in Naumann Hobbs Material Handling. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Naumann Hobbs is a full-service material handling equipment distributor and aftermarket service provider. Graycliff provided subordinated debt financing in support of a recapitalisation of the company. Graycliff, a middle market investment firm, was founded in November 2011 by the former management team of HSBC Capital, the US and Latin American private equity investment group at HSBC. Graycliff will continue its mezzanine investment strategy in Graycliff Mezzanine II by partnering with profitable mid-sized businesses providing capital for acquisitions, management buyouts, recapitalisations, growth and development. The

Nautic Partners has completed the sale of Aavid Thermalloy to an investor group led by Audax Private Equity. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Headquartered in Concord, New Hampshire, Aavid is a designer and manufacturer of high-performance thermal management products. Aavid’s products are used to dissipate heat and maintain optimal temperatures of electronic components that are used in servers, telecommunications equipment, transportation systems and industrial electronics. “We are very fortunate to have partnered with an outstanding management team at Aavid,” says Doug Hill (pictured), managing director of Nautic. “During the last two years the company has experienced

CitySprint has acquired Eagle Express Worldwide Couriers, its seventh acquisition since it was backed by UK mid-market private equity house Dunedin in December 2010. This comes at a time of high transactional activity for Dunedin, which in the past two weeks has announced its exit from conference and training venues business, etc.venues, and the management buyout of Premier Hytemp which Dunedin backed in a GBP34.5m transaction.   Nicol Fraser, partner at Dunedin who sits on CitySprint’s board, says: “This acquisition demonstrates Dunedin’s ongoing commitment to supporting the growth of our portfolio companies. We have now completed a total of 14