Allocations
Mid-market private equity firm LDC has invested GBP20million to back the management buyout (MBO) of Shield Group International (SGI) from global testing, inspection and certification group Kiwa.
SGI, formerly known as Kiwa Compliance International, is an international environmental testing, inspection and consultancy business. LDC has invested to support the existing management team as it accelerates its growth strategy.
Led by CEO Frank-Maarten Gribnau, UK Managing Director Gavin Hartley and European Managing Director Alain Jeger, SGI is a market leader in environmental compliance and specialises in health and safety services in relation to legionella, water safety, asbestos and other hazardous materials.
E-sports brand Fnatic has secured USD19 million USD in a Series A funding round led by tech entrepreneur Lev Leviev of LVL1 Group, who also joins the board, plus new and continued support from investors including transatlantic venture capital firm Beringea, BlackPine, Unbound and Joi Ito.
With this investment, Fnatic will enter the next phase of its global expansion, aim to strengthen involvement in tier-one leagues, including the League of Legends European Championships, launch new product categories in its e-sports equipment subsidiary including a new audio line, as well as scaling up resources to deliver and deploy marketing efforts and
Social and Sustainable Capital (SASC), a UK fund manager and social enterprise has invested GBP250,000 in Futures, a social enterprise which provides jobs and skills advice, training and apprenticeships in Nottinghamshire.
SASC has provided a loan of GBP250,000 to fund the expansion of the organisation’s support services for young people at risk of being not in education, employment or training (NEET) in Nottinghamshire.
Through an innovative project called Future Impact, developed in collaboration with local commissioners, Futures will address the hardest to reach part of their NEET cohort – young people with special education needs and disability.
The new service
An overwhelming majority (91 per cent) of investors in alternatives believe that the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will help the financial industry address pressing environmental and social issues.
A quarter of them already integrate the SDGs into their investment activities in some way, while another 40 per cent plan to do so within the next two years.
In a new study, LGT Capital Partners surveyed over 200 investors in alternatives (including pension funds, endowments and insurers from 28 countries). The survey assesses how investors integrate ESG into their investment activities, their views on the SDGs, and their requirements
Private investment firm Inverness Graham Investments’ dental products manufacturing platform, Vista Dental (Vista), has acquired Apex Dental Materials (Apex).
Based in Lake Zurich, Ilinois, Apex is a branded manufacturer of restorative dental materials including adhesives, primers, composites, and cements.
“The acquisition of Apex expands Vista’s endodontic product portfolio with a complementary restorative offering,” says Aliya Khaydarova, Principal at Inverness Graham. “Apex provides world-class products that meet the needs of general practitioners and endodontists. The Company continues to innovate and we are excited about the new products in development that we expect to bring to market later this year.”
Vista Dental
Ipsum Group Limited (Ipsum), backed by Aliter Capital (Aliter) ha completed its fourth investment with the acquisition of Stormport Professional Services Limited (Stormport). This is Ipsum’s second successful transaction of 2019, following the acquisition of EEG in February.
Cambridgeshire-based Stormport, founded in 2009 by Steve Wright and Pete Hulyer, is a provider of electricity network asset installation, maintenance and repair services, and network connections to the DNO (Distribution Network Operator) and ICP (Independent Connections Provider) markets.
Ipsum says the acquisition of Stormport will enhance its existing services and geographic footprint in the UK electricity sector and add new customer relationships
GoldenTree Asset Management (GoldenTree) has closed on USD1.7 billion in commitments for GoldenTree Distressed Fund III. The fund employs a private equity draw down structure and will focus on primarily global distressed opportunities in mid-cap and large-cap corporates.
GoldenTree has extensive experience in distressed investments with over USD26 billion of distressed investments made since the inception of the firm in 2000. GoldenTree Distressed Fund III follows the closing of GoldenTree Distressed Fund I in 2010 and Distressed Fund II in 2014, which collectively raised USD1.7 billion. Both funds since inception have consistently performed in the top quartile of their peer group.
Palatine Private Equity is targeting the GBP100 million investment mark in Midlands businesses, having pumped GBP55 million into the region over the last three years.
The firm opened its Midlands office in December 2015, and has since moved to a new office in Somerset House on Temple Street.
Palatine’s Midlands team has made four investments and an exit since the office launch, generating over GBP8.5 million in fees for the local corporate finance community. Westleigh Partnerships was backed with a GBP21 million investment and was exited less than 21 months later when the company was acquired by a Plc
HIG WhiteHorse, a credit affiliate of HIG Capital, a global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over EUR26 billion of equity capital under management, has provided a growth capital solution to Risparmio Casa, a leading Italian drugstore chain based in Pomezia, Italy.
Established over 30 years ago by the Battistelli family, the company has exhibited strong growth and industry-leading performance with 2018 revenues in excess of EUR350 million. Risparmio Casa operates over 100 locations with an average area of more than 2,500 sq m, resulting in a dominant presence in Northern and Central Italy and Sardinia. Its leadership
SEEK Group is to invest GBP50 million to become a joint, 50 per cent owner of The Open University’s FutureLearn social learning platform, in a deal thought to be the largest ever private-sector EdTech investment in Europe.
The Open University launched FutureLearn, which is based in London, in December 2012 with a dozen UK university partners to test opportunities offered by digital learning and massive open online courses (known as MOOCs). Rapid growth means that FutureLearn now has over nine million learners.
The platform offers short online courses right through to postgraduate diplomas and certificates and fully online degrees,
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
