Allocations
An Edinburgh company whose software platform helps universities to engage and recruit students has secured a GBP1.8 million investment from Mercia Fund Managers, the Scottish Investment Bank’s Co-Investment Fund and existing angel investors.
This latest funding round will allow GeckoLabs to more than double the size of its team and expand its operations in North America. It brings the total raised by the company to GBP3 million. Gecko’s student engagement platform GeckoEngage allows universities to capture, manage and follow up with prospective students, and is used by over 50 per cent of the UK higher education market including leading names
Private equity house Maven Capital Partners (Maven) has sold GEV Group Holdings Limited (GEV) to Bridges Fund Management generating 2.7x returns for Maven investors. The existing management team, led by CEO David Fletcher, is re-investing as part of the deal and will continue to lead the business.
Headquartered in Hull, GEV Group is a diverse energy services business with a key focus in the wind power renewable market. Established in 2008, the Company initially specialised in providing experienced engineering personnel for the UK oil and gas sector. Following the appointment of David Fletcher as Managing Director in 2010, GEV diversified
Research carried out by Guernsey Finance has revealed rising interest in green investment from private equity managers, but it also flags that they underestimate the funding requirements and commercial opportunity for limiting global warming.
Three-quarters of those surveyed had increased exposure in green and sustainable finance and everyone planned to do so in the near future. They said that external drivers, such as investor demands and competitive forces, including the ‘Attenborough Effect’, where the veteran broadcaster David Attenborough is credited with making people more conscious about the impact of their consumption, were the main reason for doing so.
They
Horizon Capital, a specialist technology and tech-enhanced business investor, has made an investment in education software and services firm Juniper Education.
Horizon has made a GBP20 million equity commitment from the Horizon 2018 fund of which over half is reserved for future acquisitions. This is the second buy-and-build platform investment by Horizon this year and follows on from the group’s investment in software and data analytics business STRAT7 in March. Horizon has completed nine add-on acquisitions for its portfolio companies so far this year.
Horizon is supporting Juniper Education’s Executive Chairman Gavin Freed, together with the wider management team to
An affiliate of HIG Europe, the European arm of private equity firm HIG Capital (HIG), has completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Metalprint, a manufacturerer of forged brass and aluminium industrial components.
Metalprint, founded in 1974 and based in Calcinato (Brescia, Italy), has expanded meaningfully, driven by the growing market demand for forged components and by management’s constant effort towards the internationalisation and the modernisation of the business. In particular, the growth in the aluminium space was accelerated in 2017 through the acquisition of Jebco Manufacturing, a leading provider of high precision machined aluminium components in North America.
ARQIS has advised AVS Verkehrssicherung (AVS), a portfolio company of Triton Fonds IV, on the acquisition of Lorenz a provider of road marking and construction site safety with headquarters in Wittstock/Dosse, Germany.
The merger is still subject to the approval of the antitrust authorities. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
Since 1992, Lorenz has had many years of experience in the application of high-quality and sustainable marking materials, both in permanent and temporary applications. In addition, Lorenz sees itself as a reliable supplier and outfitter of construction site security systems. The company is primarily active
Palatine Private Equity owned SMP Group, a professional and financial services group headquartered in the Isle of Man, is to acquire Helm Trust Company Limited, a trust and corporate services provider based in Jersey.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
Helm has been delivering independent trust and company administration services for over 25 years.
The transaction comes under a month after Palatine completed a management buyout of SMP Group, which saw David Hudson, the former group business development director move into the role of group CEO.
Hudson says: “When we announced our MBO, we spoke of
Ninth Wave, a specialist in secure data connectivity between financial institutions and third-party applications including aggregators, fintechs, accounting solutions, tax prep software and other consumer and business solutions, has closed on a significant minority investment from SARORAS Private Capital, a private equity firm.
Ninth Wave will use proceeds from the primary capital investment to accelerate the company’s growth through further development of its flagship SaaS solution, the Ninth Wave Platform, new sales and marketing initiatives and the expansion of its leadership team. SARORAS focuses primarily on investments in growing middle market technology and business services companies and looks to partner
RSK, a UK-based environmental, engineering and technical services consultancy, has acquired the business, operating assets and employees engaged in the business of RAW Technology Ltd. The acquisition is RSK’s fourth of this financial year.
RAW, a leading specialist in inland oil spill response and remediation, operates worldwide from 16 offices in the UK and Ireland. Its clients include insurance companies NFU Mutual, Legal & General, RSA, Aviva, AXA, Direct Line and LV=, Speedy Hire and National Trust. In 2016, RAW won a RoSPA Gold Award. In addition, UKSpill named RAW its domestic responder of the year in 2016 and 2017.
Private equity funds managed by Angelo, Gordon & Co have completed the sale of Crunch Fitness (Crunch) to TPG Growth, a middle market and growth equity platform of alternative asset firm TPG. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Crunch is a health and fitness company that owns, operates, and franchises fitness centres serving over 1.3 million members across the United States, Australia, Canada, and Spain. Founded in 1989 in New York City, the Company has been committed to providing members with high quality training and service in convenient locations and at an affordable price for more than 30
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
