Halyard Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, has formed Digital Fortress, a new data centre colocation platform, along with two initial acquisitions of digital.forest, Inc. and Fortress Colocation Services. Headquartered in Seattle, Digital Fortress capitalises on the underserved market of regional small to medium sized enterprises seeking to enhance their overall IT infrastructure capabilities through outsourcing with colocation service providers. The company is also well-positioned to meet the growing demand among national corporations for data centres that have access to abundant low-cost electricity with a high concentration of renewable energy. Recognising the favourable industry secular trends of: i) supply/demand

RiverRock European Capital Partners LLP has held the second institutional close for its European Opportunities Fund (EOF). The close is built upon new major UK and continental European institutional investors. The European Opportunities Fund is a five year fund targeting direct lending to strong, small to mid-sized European companies that are looking for growth or working capital in order to build their businesses. The fund typically invests between five and fifteen million Euros in each company and works actively with the management to strengthen and grow these companies. The second close brings the fund to approximately EUR120 million (USD160 million)

KBC has closed the previously announced transaction with affiliates of JC Flowers & Co for the sale of its subsidiary Fidea, having received the necessary regulatory approvals. The acquisition of Fidea represents an important investment in the Belgian market by JC Flowers & Co. Fidea is a well-established player on the Belgian insurance market and a well-known brand. The company offers both life and non-life insurance products to private customers, the self-employed and companies. It sells its policies through independent insurance brokers and – within a bancassurance co-operation agreement – through Centea’s and Crédit Agricole’s network of bank agents. JC

Joint Administrators, John Whitfield and Matt Ingram, both of financial advisory and investment banking firm Duff & Phelps, have confirmed that they have successfully sold the business and assets of AMI Blaymires Limited. The sale, which concluded on 30 March 2012, is to Unitech Blaymires Limited, part of Unitech Industries. Unitech Industries is a leading supplier of high quality stainless steel and aluminium equipment to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and other hygiene conscious industries. Whitfield and Ingram were appointed as Joint Administrators (“the Administrators’) to the Company on 9 March 2012 and continued to trade the business after their appointment whilst

Gulf One Investment Bank has established a new office, Gulf One GmbH, in Munich, Germany. Gulf One GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gulf One, will support the management of portfolio companies of the bank’s private equity funds and source new investments and advisory business opportunities for it. The new office will be supported by Gulf One’s private equity, structured finance, advisory and business development teams located in its offices across the GCC, said a statement. GmbH managing director, Günter Pröpster, will provide local clients with on-the-ground presence and access to Gulf One, the statement said. Dr Nahed Taher, co-founder

Sun Capital Partners’ portfolio company Sonneborn, Inc. (“Sonneborn”) has been sold to One Equity Partners. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Sonneborn, based in Parsippany, NJ, was acquired from a large publicly-traded company in June 2005 in a corporate carve-out transaction. Upon acquisition, a series of initiatives were implemented to improve manufacturing productivity and cash management, streamline corporate infrastructure, optimise the product offering, and reduce costs by developing non-traditional raw material sources. A disciplined approach was taken to supply agreements and the termination of unfavourable supply agreements generated substantial savings. In 2010, Sonneborn completed the acquisition of the

GCP Capital Partners has acquired Garrets International Limited, a leading international provider of marine catering management for the commercial shipping industry. Derrick Samms founded Garrets in 1991 and has since pioneered the market for outsourcing of catering services for the merchant navy. Garrets provides its customers with a range of services including provisions supply, stock keeping, quality control and chef training and support.   The business has grown rapidly over recent years and today manages a fleet of 750 vessels from its head office in Romford, making it the clear market leader. The company was recently featured in the Sunday

Mergers and acquisitions in the US financial services industry could increase in both number and value of deals, if markets improve and European banks sell noncore business units, PwC says in a new report. M&A prospects remain uncertain, however, after deal volume fell in 2011 due to the European debt crisis, volatile stock and bond markets, uncertainty around government regulations and a pullback in financing, according to PwC’s report, "Balancing uncertainty and opportunity: 2012 US Financial Services Insights" (www.pwc.com/us/fsdeals2012). US banking, insurance, asset management and other financial service companies announced 756 deals last year. The figure represents a 10 per

Maven’s Manchester team has led the MBO of Vodat International Limited (Vodat) from its founder Mike Bielinski in a GBP5m transaction. Vodat provides managed network and communications solutions to business customers, with a particular focus on the UK retail sector in which it has a leading market presence. Cheshire based Vodat was established in 2002 by the current CEO and senior management team, and has achieved year on year sales and profit growth, increasing sales by over 50% since 2008. The business has a current customer base covering over 7,000 live sites and places a strong emphasis on ensuring excellent