GCP, a provider of blended equity and debt to the UK’s small to medium sized businesses, has backed the MBO of Excelsior Technologies (Excelsior), a North Wales based flexible packaging manufacturer, from its North American shareholder. Excelsior designs and manufactures a portfolio of innovative packaging products and supplies to a range of blue chip clients across the food and medical packaging sectors, including Birds Eye, Haribo, Premier Foods and SC Johnson. Excelsior is an excellent example of a UK high tech manufacturer that operates on a global basis demonstrating excellence and innovation, with two previous Queen’s Awards for Export. In

MidOcean Partners and Crestview Partners ave entered into a definitive agreement with a subsidiary of Liberty Global, Inc and investment funds affiliated with Searchlight Capital Partners, to sell 100% of the parent of San Juan Cable, LLC, dba OneLink Communications for an enterprise value of USD585.25 million, or approximately 8.0x LTM Q1 2012 Adjusted EBITDA.  OneLink is the largest provider of cable TV, high-speed data and telephony services in Puerto Rico. MidOcean and Crestview, together with co-investors and management, acquired OneLink in October 2005 from Adelphia Communications. At the time, its services were limited to basic and digital cable TV and

Guardian Financial Services, the consolidator of closed assets in the European life insurance sector, is to acquire 300,000 in-payment pension annuities from Phoenix Group.   Phoenix Group will transfer approximately GBP5 billion of assets to Guardian to meet all future payments to the annuity policyholders. The deal will be completed in July. The companies will then work together to transfer the policies to Guardian under Part VII of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Following the transfer, Guardian will manage approximately GBP13bn of assets on behalf of over 600,000 customers.   Cinven, the European private equity firm, acquired Guardian

AXA Private Equity has acquired a stake of 82.4% in Novotema Group, one of Europe’s leading rubber component manufacturers, from 3i. Novotema’s management team also invested, acquiring the remaining 17.6% of the business. Novotema is headquartered in Villongo, situated 60 km northeast of Milan. The company designs and produces rubber components for applications in the automotive, medical, gas control and industrial sectors. Founded in 1973, the Novotema Group currently employs 178 staff and generates the majority of its revenues in Germany (approximately 51%). The current management team, which has many years’ experience in multinational companies, will continue to manage the

Private equity firm ClearLight Partners has acquired a significant ownership interest in Consumer Safety Technology, LLC, manufacturer of the state-of-the-art Intoxalock breath alcohol monitoring devices. Commonly used by DUI offenders in order to retain driving privileges, Consumer Safety Technology’s core ignition interlock products prevent an engine from starting when alcohol is present on the driver’s breath. CST will use the investment from ClearLight to fund a range of attractive growth initiatives. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “Consumer Safety Technology has developed industry-leading technology and has displayed a strong and consistent track record of impressive growth. We look

Arma Partners acted as exclusive financial adviser to Saffar Capital (Saffar) on the sale of Zawya Limited (Zawya) to Thomson Reuters, Inc (Thomson Reuters).  Zawya is the leading independent subscription provider of online proprietary data, business intelligence and unique financial information in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Zawya enables approximately 750,000 unique visitors to find and connect to the best business and investment opportunities in the region.   Saffar’s investment in Zawya is one of the most successful internet and media investments in the MENA region. Since Saffar’s acquisition of a majority stake in the company, Zawya has

Groupe SVP, a services company for businesses and local authorities, has acquired FYM Conseil, a vocational training company founded in 1976 and based in Lorient, western France. The acquisition is Groupe SVP’s fourth since 2005 and represents a new milestone in its build-up strategy. It was completed with the support of Omnes Capital (formerly Crédit Agricole Private Equity), which first acquired a stake in Groupe SVP as part of a majority LBO in 2011.   FYM Conseil has developed expertise in the areas of team management, business efficiency and personal development. Its training is designed to be pragmatic and innovative

LumeJet, the Coventry-based technology developer, has just raised GBP1.87 million in a major funding round. The new investment will be used to develop and commercialise LumeJet’s ultra-high quality imaging technology and brings the total investment in the company to more than GBP4.5m. The funding round has been notable as one of the largest Angel rounds in the UK, a reflection of the interest in this company and its technology. LumeJet has developed a new enabling imaging technology that can provide high precision "printed" solutions for a variety of specialist markets and will launch an LED based printer product later this