International legal practice Norton Rose LLP has advised its client Duet Private Equity on the acquisition of a controlling interest in Dashen Brewery, Ethiopia’s largest independent brewer. The value of the acquisition is USD90 million, making it the largest private equity investment in to Ethiopia to date. The investment will be used to increase the capacity at Dashen’s existing site in Gondar, Ethiopia and develop new production facilities in Addis Ababa. Last year, leading brewers Heineken and Diageo acquired the other two leading brewers in Ethiopia in transactions worth an aggregate US$400 million. Duet’s investment and partnership with Dashen will

The shareholders of Savcio today confirmed the sale of the company to ACTOM. Savcio is the largest privately owned provider of maintenance and repair services for motors and transformers in Africa. ACTOM focuses on manufacturing, distributing and contracting in the electrical engineering sector.   Private equity firms Actis, Ethos and Old Mutual, BEE shareholders Sphere Holdings and Aka Capital, and management received a conditional approval for the sale from the South African Competition Authorities.   Savcio was originally acquired from Delta Electrical Industries Limited in 2005, by a private equity consortium co-led by Ethos and Actis, with equity and considerable BEE

Hicks Equity Partners (HEP), the private equity investment vehicle of the Thomas O Hicks family, is leading an investor group that has acquired a majority interest in Directional Rentals, Inc, a privately held oilfield services company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Based in Lafayette, Louisiana with satellite locations in Houston, Texas, Casper, Wyoming and Bakersfield, California, Directional rents tools primarily to directional drilling companies for bottom hole assemblies used in onshore and offshore horizontal and directional drilling. The company’s rental equipment portfolio consists of nearly 5,000 drill collars, stabilisers and sub-assemblies in a wide range of sizes

Finam, the largest Russian brokerage and investment holding, that previously invested in Badoo and a host of other web companies, has invested USD10 million in IM+, a mobile messenger services with 17.5 million users and 800 million mobile ad impressions/month. As a part of the deal Finam and Shape Services, the company behind IM+, launch FinamShape joint venture that will release a special version of plus . im web messenger for the fast growing Russian market. "This deal is squarely in line with our fund’s new strategy which is geared towards investing in global players in the TMT sector worldwide. 

Claude Paoli (pictured), majority shareholder and President of the French group BPI, has announced an intention to conclude a strategic capital partnership with Perceva Capital. The operation should be finalised in March 2012. The transaction would see Perceva Capital taking a majority stake. Created in 1984, BPI group is a global management and HR consulting firm. BPI assists companies and institutions to prepare, implement and drive transformation strategies. With a global footprint in 40 countries and a French network of 26 regional offices, BPI employs nearly 1 000 professionals, working in close proximity to clients.   The strengthening of the

Morgenthaler Private Equity, the Boston and Cleveland-based private equity team focused on lower middle-market buyouts, has completed the sale of Phillips & Temro Industries, a designer, manufacturer and distributor of highly engineered diesel engine components to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers of construction equipment, light and heavy duty trucks, agriculture equipment, stationary power generators and automobiles. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Butch Sumpter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Phillips & Temro, says: “We are excited about our future growth prospects across all three operating divisions. Over the past several years we have significantly enhanced our global

Business Growth Fund (BGF), established to help Britain’s fast-growing smaller and medium sized businesses, has invested in GCI Telecom Group (GCI Com), an independent telecoms and data services provider, led by Midlands-based IT and communications entrepreneur, Wayne Martin. BGF has invested GBP10 million of equity capital to support GCI Com’s organic growth and active acquisition strategy, in return for a minority stake in the company.   Headquartered in Lincoln, GCI Com has a turnover of approaching GBP65 million and employs 220 staff across nine UK locations.  The group was formed in 2000 and has since grown rapidly, through a mix of

EmVest Asset Management, a diversified agricultural investment company in sub-Saharan Africa, has received its first allocation from Truestone Impact Investment Management, which focuses on delivering market rate returns from social and environmental investments. EmVest manages the Emergent African Land Fund, a private equity fund focusing on the agricultural sector, with projects in Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The company supports the growth of sub-Saharan Africa through responsible capital allocation sourced from investors in both developed and developing countries. It is a for-profit company that targets a return of 20% per annum. Truestone specialises in ‘impact investment’, which it

General Atlantic is to acquire a minority equity stake in FNZ, a provider of technology, transaction and custody services to the wealth management industry, investing alongside HIG Europe and the management team. Completion of the transaction remains subject to EU competition commission approval.   HIG originally backed an MBO of FNZ in early 2009. FNZ has subsequently seen significant expansion in its customer base in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, developing long term partnerships with blue-chip customers including Standard Life, AXA, JP Morgan, HSBC, AMP, National Australia Bank, Friends Life, UBS, Zurich and Close Brothers Asset Management.   FNZ’s