Managers
Since 2012, European direct-lending loan volumes have surged 120 per cent year-on-year, with an estimated 86 funds raising more than GBP50 billion.1 As Preqin noted in its Q2 2017 private debt report2, Europe had a total of USD39.1 billion of targeted capital.
This is encouraging news but there are reasons to be cautious, with some direct lending managers concerned by the rise of covenant lite deals and a perceived willingness to engage in risky lending activities to corporate Europe.
One of those managers is BlueBay Asset Management, one of the pioneers of direct lending who raised in excess of EUR3 billion
Progressio SGR has successfully added Ifap to the Garda Plast platform it acquired eight months ago.
Garda Plast is a leading player in Italy for the production of preforms in PET for mineral water, soft drinks and detergents.
Ifap was founded in 1959 by the Bruseschi family and is based in Palmanova (UD). The company is active in the production of preforms in PET (detergent & dairy industries), bottle blowing and the production of caps for the pharmaceutical industry.
Garda Plast will continue to strengthen its market position by expanding into adjacent segments of the industry through organic
Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners, is investing GBP250,000 in tech company GradTouch, a platform that connects graduates and employers, and aims to offer a cost-effective, unique solution for attracting, vetting and hiring graduates.
The investment, made on behalf of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF), will increase the number of jobs by 50 per cent in GradTouch’s Manchester office and will further support the company’s growth plans.
Based in central Manchester, GradTouch provides the complete end-to-end solution for SMEs wanting to attract, assess and ultimately hire graduates. Its platform offers businesses time and efficiency savings, as
Middle market investment bank Harris Williams & Co has provided strategic advice to gaming backend development platform GameSparks on its sale to Amazon.com.
Advisory services were provided by Thierry Monjauze and Mathew Tsui of Harris Williams & Co.’s Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) Group.
“Griff and the team have built a leading platform attracting many of the top names across the gaming sector,” says Thierry Monjauze, a managing director at Harris Williams & Co. “It was a great pleasure working with such a cutting edge and innovative company and there is no doubt Amazon will benefit greatly from the
Capitolis, a technology provider for the capital markets, has secured two rounds of financing, a Series A investment of USD20 million led by Index Ventures, and a prior USD9 million seed round led by Sequoia Capital.
Capitolis was founded in 2017 by Gil Mandelzis (pictured), the former CEO of EBS BrokerTec, part of ICAP plc (now NEX Group plc) and founder of Sequoia-backed Traiana (acquired by ICAP), Tom Glocer, former CEO of Thomson Reuters and Igor Teleshevsky, formerly Executive VP and Head of Technology at Traiana. The company currently has 25 employees in New York City, London and Tel Aviv
Private Equity firm OpenGate Capital has completed the acquisition of Jøtul Group, a manufacturer of residential stoves and fireplaces, from Swedish-listed investment company Ratos AB.
“Historically, Jøtul suffered from the impact of high market volatility and underinvestment that made it more susceptible to fluctuating customer demand,” says Andrew Nikou, founder and CEO of OpenGate Capital. “Jøtul has a tremendous heritage, an excellent brand name, and a lot of untapped value. Today, we are focusing on that untapped potential and investing in Jøtul’s future with our integrated value creation strategy. We’re very excited with the acquisition of Jøtul and welcome the business
The Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) has reported a sustained strong uptake in the Jersey Private Fund (JPF), with 100 structures being formed since its launch less than one year ago.
The 100th JPF was registered by the JFSC last week (2 March), underlining the interest in the product since it was launched in mid-March last year.
The latest addition to Jersey’s suite of fund structuring options, the JPF was introduced to provide institutional and professional investors with a more streamlined and fast-track regime with tailored ongoing regulatory requirements, under which funds for up to 50 investors could be
Hercules Capital has entered the commercial finance space through a strategic acquisition of Gibraltar Business Capital (Gibraltar), a provider of working capital to small and mid-market businesses via asset-based loan and factoring solutions.
Gibraltar will be held as a portfolio company of Hercules. Gibraltar will continue to operate as an independent senior secured asset-based lender to select small and mid-market businesses and operate under the Gibraltar Business Capital brand. Gibraltar and all its existing employees will remain at its headquarters in Northbrook (Chicago), Illinois. Gibraltar was formed in 2010 when Scott Winicour led the management buyout of Gibraltar Financial Corporation,
Tricida has entered into a USD100 million venture debt facility with Hercules Capital, a specialist in customising debt financing for companies in the life sciences and technology-related markets.
“This financing provides Tricida with significant financial flexibility as we continue the development of TRC101 for the treatment of metabolic acidosis in chronic kidney disease patients,” says Geoff Parker, chief financial officer of Tricida. “We are pleased to be working with the Hercules team which has a long history of supporting innovative life science companies.”
“Hercules is pleased to enter into this financing partnership with Tricida at this important stage as
NorthEdge Capital (NorthEdge) has completed the sale of Jigsaw24, a leading provider of IT solutions to the corporate, creative and education sectors, to private equity firm Alcuin Capital Partners.
Based in Nottingham, Jigsaw24 is a B2B reseller, integrator and managed service provider of Apple technology, Adobe and Avid software.
The company, which counts the likes of Barclays, Disney, Channel 4, BBC Sport and News UK among some its clients, has achieved strong sales growth of over 120 per cent (GBP125 million in the year to May 2017) under the stewardship of NorthEdge – while also benefitting from a 25-year
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
