Riverside Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in middle market healthcare and technology companies, today announced the closing of Riverside Fund V with USD561 million of committed capital. Riverside Fund V follows the firm’s USD406 million Riverside Fund IV, which was raised in 2009. Riverside Partners was able to secure very significant support from its existing investors. Fund V builds on the firm’s 23-year track record of partnering with founder- and management-owned healthcare and technology companies.  "We are very pleased to have completed our fundraising, achieving our hard cap in six months. We are particularly appreciative of the substantial support from our

Private equity firm Superior Capital Partners has acquired the gourmet desserts division of Heinz North America.  The newly formed entity will be called Dianne’s Fine Desserts and will be led by Michael Knowles as CEO and Daniel Scales as President. This investment represents the twelfth acquisition and the fifth platform company from Superior’s 2008 inaugural fund.  Newly named, Dianne’s Fine Desserts is a leading provider of gourmet frozen thaw and serve desserts to the foodservice industry and in-store bakeries. The purchase includes the brands Dianne’s Fine Desserts and Alden Merrell Fine Desserts in addition to other brands including Black Tie and Skooopz. The

Platte River Ventures, a Denver-based private equity firm, has sold its portfolio company, PRV Aerospace, LLC (PRV Aerospace), to an affiliate of Court Square Capital Partners (Court Square), a private equity firm headquartered in New York, NY.   Headquartered in Everett, WA, PRV Aerospace is an aerospace and defence group that supplies components, subassemblies and assemblies to the world’s leading manufacturers of aircraft, aero-equipment and other defense platforms. Comprised of six operating facilities, PRV Aerospace performs complex machining of hard metals and aluminum, sheet metal fabrication, assembly and test, repair and overhaul, and lower tier supply chain management. Platte River

K+S Aktiengesellschaft has signed an agreement with EuroChem to sell K+S Nitrogen a supplier of nitrogenous fertilisers. A team led by lead partners Dr Thomas Meyding and Dr Barbara Wössner advised K+S AG on all aspects of the transaction. The EUR140 million euro transaction is currently awaiting approval from the EU competition authorities and is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2012.  

Private equity found Triton Fund II has agreed to sell the technical installation and service solutions company Bravida AB (Bravida) to Bain Capital. The transaction value has not been disclosed. Triton acquired Bravida in 2006. During its ownership and in partnership with management, Triton implemented a comprehensive program to turn around the company. This included improved project selection, increased focus on higher margin service and maintenance revenues, reorganisation of the branch network and restructuring the Norwegian business. As a result Bravida has successfully positioned itself as the market leader in Scandinavia.   Mats O Paulsson, president and CEO of Bravida,

KPS Capital Partners’ portfolio company American & Efird Global (A&E) has acquired the outstanding two-thirds share ownership of A&E Sri Lanka and A&E Bangladesh from its two joint-venture partners, Brandix Lanka Limited and Brandot International Ltd.  A&E now owns 100% of both businesses. Financial terms of the transactions have not been disclosed. A&E is the largest US manufacturer and the world’s second-largest manufacturer and distributor of premium quality industrial sewing thread, embroidery thread and technical textiles. A&E thread is used by producers of apparel, automotive components, home furnishings, medical supplies, footwear and certain industrial products.  A&E owns or operates 23

Property portal Zoopla.co.uk has acquired UpMyStreet.com, one of the UK’s leading and longest standing property information websites, for an undisclosed sum. Launched in 1998, UpMyStreet.com was one of the first property websites in the UK and has been helping consumers find places to live and discover local information and services since. Recent figures from independent website monitoring firm, Nielsen, show that in March UpMyStreet.com attracted over 600,000 unique users.   With immediate effect, users of UpMyStreet.com will be re-directed to Zoopla.co.uk, the UK’s most comprehensive property website that focuses on property search, helping consumers find their next home and property research, helping them

Citi has been appointed by Phase4 Ventures, a London-based venture capital firm, to provide document safekeeping and fund administration services. Citi has been serving private equity funds and investors for nearly two decades and is a leading global provider of accounting, administration and tax services for private equity, venture capital and institutional investors. Phase4 Ventures was established in 1999 to invest in and manage a portfolio of global life science companies for Nomura, the global investment bank. Since then, Phase4 Ventures has invested in 28 companies and built a reputation as one of the world’s premier life science venture capital

Cinven and GS Capital Partners have completed of the sale of Ahlsell, the leading distributor of building products in the Nordic region, to CVC Capital Partners for SEK15.5 billion (EUR1.8 billion). This follows the announcement in February 2012 of the signing of a definitive agreement to sell the business. Cinven and GS Capital Partners invested in Ahlsell in January 2006 having identified the company as an excellent platform for growth and continued consolidation in the Nordic building products market.  Despite challenging trading conditions, Ahlsell performed strongly during Cinven and GS Capital Partners’ ownership – with revenues and EBITDA up over