Allocations
By A Paris – The shock of the Covid-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in GP-led deals across the private equity secondary market as managers sought to provide investors with liquidity as funds expired.
In Q2 2020, the market was hit by Covid-19 and there was a shock effect with many deals being put on hold, volumes falling around 50 percent and secondary prices dropping 15-20 percent. This was followed by a strong rebound in late 2020, driven mainly by GP-led deals (catch-up effect, liquidity need for tail-end assets / funds and in general alternative funding / portfolio support solutions),” says
Three of space tech investor Seraphim Space’s portfolio companies – D-Orbit, Spire and Iceye – have successfully launched assets into orbit onboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The satellites that all three have deployed in space can fundamentally help address pressing climate change issues such as disaster relief, natural habitat destruction, energy usage and predicting extreme weather events.
Spire Global added six further LEMUR satellites to their constellation of over 100 shoe box sized, multi-purpose satellites that track every plane and ship whilst also collecting proprietary high fidelity weather data. Spire is helping the world mitigate ever-increasing climate change
Gresham House, a specialist alternative asset manager, has invested GBP63 million into full-stack UK internet service provider Telcom Group through its British Strategic Investment Fund (BSIF).
The commitment will enable Manchester-based Telcom Group to accelerate its delivery of ultrafast and reliable fibre connectivity to commercial and residential properties across the UK, underpinned by its own network infrastructure. Outside Manchester, the group’s focus will be on building fibre networks in key Northern and Midlands powerhouse cities.
BSIF was established to invest specifically in the sustainable infrastructure and housing sectors, both identified by the UK government as structurally important areas requiring
Fremman Capital (Fremman) has acquired a majority stake in The Natural Fruit Company (TNFC)and GPF Capital alongside existing shareholders.
The company is a European specialist in the processing, distribution and commercialisation of citrus fruits including lemons, oranges, tangerines, pomegranates, and persimmons. This acquisition has a strong alignment with Fremman’s approach to ESG, where TNFC is a leader in organic varieties, limited processing and practices a zero-waste approach.
The Group, headquartered in Spain, is the resulting combination of three family businesses, which has helped to consolidate the company’s position as a leading international citrus player, being No1 lemon and NO2 orange
Specialist M&A advisory firm Ciesco has confirmed that Chip[s] Board, which develops bioplastics from food waste, has completed fundraising to support the next stage of its development.
Chip[s] Board will use the funds to relocate staff and laboratories to Yorkshire, a central region for the supply of raw materials, and build a pilot plant to demonstrate production at scale.
The company uses proprietary technology processes to develop bioplastics and bioplastic composites, initially from industrial food waste, such as potato waste. These match the performance of conventional plastics whilst being both biodegradable and recyclable post-use.
Rowan Minkley, CEO of Chip[s] Board,
Fremman Capital (Fremman) is to acquire a majority stake in VPS, a Marin fuel testing, inspection, and certification (TIC) services provider. This intended acquisition fits within Fremman’s stated strategy of investing in ESG promoting businesses.
Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Rotterdam, VPS provides its services globally through five strategically located laboratories, with samples shipped and tested from anywhere in the world. The global marine fuel supply chain is complex, and international regulators are becoming more restrictive on emissions and fuels. Shipping companies are therefore increasingly focused on ensuring that the fuel they are using is within specifications and fit
Global investment firm Carlyle (and Inova, a software provider for the biopharma industry, have announced a long-term funding partnership to accelerate growth, fund product innovation and M&A initiatives.
Carlyle is investing EUR60 million and will become Inova’s largest shareholder under the deal, while Management and historic investor NextStage AM have reaffirmed their strong commitment.
Headquartered in Lyon, France, with international offices in New York, Denver, and Tokyo, Inova is a market-leading software platform specifically dedicated to the life sciences industry, enabling pharmaceutical and biotech companies to collaborate on workstreams across their organizations. The company supports more than 150 global clients,
BGF has announced the creation of a specialist advisory board to accelerate its investment activity in companies engaged in carbon reduction and the energy transition.
The advisory board will be chaired by Baroness Brown of Cambridge, one of the UK’s leading specialists in the field of climate change and carbon reduction.
BGF has already committed GBP225 million to cleantech and clean growth investments and has a team of 12 specialists across its regional network focused on the sector. Investments include a diverse range of businesses, such as those that develop hydrogen fuel cells, maintain wind turbines, recycle organic waste, and
African Development Partners II (ADP II), a fund advised by Development Partners International (DPI), and AfricInvest, a longstanding pan-African alternative investment platform with local teams in more than 10 offices across Africa, Europe and the Middle East, have complete the merger of Compagnie Marocaine de Goutte à Goutte et de Pompage (CMGP) with Comptoir Agricole du Souss (CAS), creating a new leader in Moroccan and African agriculture, which will be known as CMGP-CAS.
The merger brings AfricInvest into the partnership alongside ADP II through an investment targeting the expansion of efficient irrigation and agricultural water management technologies to enable greater
Barings has served as lender on a senior secured facility to support Inflexion in its acquisition of ANS Group, a leading provider of digital transformation and cloud managed services. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
ANS and existing Inflexion investment UKFast will be brought together under one parent group to address the rapid market growth opportunity for digital and cloud services. The group will combine ANS’s public cloud, DevOps, applications and data expertise with UKFast’s leadership in private cloud, hosting and security, to create the UK’s independent leader in secure cloud-led digital transformation across the public and private sectors. Each
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
