Alternative asset manager, Duet Group has made a significant investment into Dashen Brewery Plc. The investment will take the form of an equity injection from the newly formed Duet Beverages Africa Ltd, which will be managed by the Duet Africa Private Equity team, together with Vasari as the industrial partner. Proceeds of the investment will be used to expand the Company’s capacity and enhance distribution channels. The Ethiopian brewery sector experienced significant M&A activity in 2011, with international operators paying more than USD400 million for three state-operated breweries. Duet believes this investment reflects the potential of the Ethiopian brewery sector,

Hogan Lovells has advised long-standing client UnitedHealth Group (UHG) on the acquisition of medical services outsourcing specialist FrontierMEDEX from private equity house MML Capital Partners and the senior management of FrontierMEDEX for an undisclosed sum in a transaction that closed on 22nd December 2011. UHG is a leading health care company, serving more than 75 million people across the globe. FrontierMEDEX provides medical, safety and security solutions worldwide. The Hogan Lovells team advising UHG was led corporate partners John Basnage in London and Tim Aragon in Denver, supported by corporate associates Francesca Hazlett, Anthony Long and Jonathan Keyser. Tax support was

Jazz FM, Neopolitan Music and The Ingenious Entertainment VCTs has completed a GBP2 million investment into the UK’s first three day, outdoor, camping jazz festival, Love Supreme Jazz Festival, to take place in Brighton in the summer of 2013. Launched this month, the Love Supreme Jazz Festival is set to play host to some of the world’s finest jazz musicians. The festival aims to champion the eclectic music scene found in its neighbouring Brighton, and is expected to attract thousands of music lovers in its first year.   Paul Bedford (pictured), Investment Director at Ingenious, says: “At a time when

Venture capitalists put EUR4.4 billion into 1,012 deals for European companies in 2011, a 14% decline in investment and 19% decline in deal flow from 2010, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. This marks the lowest annual deal count for Europe since VentureSource began tracking the region in 2000. The fourth quarter was the weakest of the year in terms of deal activity as 194 deals collected EUR1.1 billion, a 43% drop in deals and 38% decline in investment over the same period in 2010. Weakness in the fourth quarter is notable as it is traditionally one of the most active

MMC Ventures has led an GBP850,000 investment round in home-swapping website Love Home Swap. Love Home Swap (www.LoveHomeSwap.com) is an international holiday home exchange website founded by UK serial entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow. Love Home Swap launched in October 2011 to provide members with the opportunity to swap their homes for stylish and unique residences across 70 countries. Users are invited to sign up for membership, with the company generating revenue through member subscriptions. In addition to a home swap service, premium membership offers access to a dedicated travel team, personal concierge, travel guides and other benefits. Love Home Swap has just agreed its

HelloWallet, a provider of personalised financial guidance, has secured USD12 million in Series B funding. Chicago-based Morningstar invested USD6.75 million and DC-based TD Fund (TDF) invested USD4 million. Existing investors and new investors also participated in the round. Morningstar is a leading provider of investment research, reaching more than 20 million workers with its retirement advisory services. HelloWallet offers personalised financial guidance to employees of Fortune 1000 companies. Initially, Morningstar and HelloWallet plan to co-market their services to employers and 401(k) providers and in the future expect to further integrate their services. This investment and new agreement with Morningstar comes

Rutland Partners, the specialist turnaround and restructuring investor, is selling Attends Healthcare Group to Domtar Corporation for an enterprise value of EUR180 million. The transaction is conditional only on customary regulatory clearances and is expected to complete in late February.

 Rutland acquired Attends, a European leader in branded and own label incontinence products, from 3i in July 2007 for EUR93.5 million and has invested over EUR25 million in support of management’s plan to restructure operations and develop the product portfolio. Products are manufactured in Aneby, Sweden and supplied across Northern and Western Europe through a mix of reimbursement, retail and contract channels.

 The

Carey Olsen and Heritage International Fund Managers Limited (HIFM) have acted for Better Capital Limited, an existing Guernsey closed-ended fund listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), on its conversion into a protected cell company (PCC) with the interests of the existing listed fund forming the 2009 cell, and the launch of its second cell, the 2012 cell. The 2012 cell has raised GBP169.9m of new money to invest in Better Capital’s second fund, Better Capital Fund II (“Fund II”). The new money was raised under a placing and an open offer to existing shareholders. Like the 2009 cell, the