Managers
Wynnchurch Capital has acquired Heartland Automotive Services, one of the largest franchisees in the quick lube business and is the largest operator of Jiffy Lube service centres with approximately 523 locations.
The acquisition of Heartland, which will which will be renamed Team Car Care, was completed in partnership with Mid-Atlantic Lubes, an existing Jiffy Lube franchisee.
John Hatherly, Co-Managing Partner at Wynnchurch says: “Heartland is a tremendous addition to our portfolio of service businesses. We feel very fortunate to be partnering with Jiffy Lube International, Inc. We are also excited to partner with Mid-Atlantic Lubes, Inc. and its 10-year
Tesi made new investments totalling EUR149 million in 2017, including a EUR60 million commitment in the fund-of-fund KRR III. The firm’s direct portfolio companies also continued to grow strongly, sales increasing on average 22 per cent during the year.
Coupled with a favourable operating environment, strong growth in portfolio companies as well as numerous exit, this added up to a financial return of EUR66 million for the year.
CEO Jan Sasse says; “In 2017 the Finnish venture capital and private equity market developed well. New funds were raised in all development phases. The Finnish venture capital investor Inventure
Small business lender iwoca is pledging to lend GBP100 million to micro and small businesses in the North of England by 2020.
The alternative finance provider is making the pledge in response to the withdrawal of credit facilities for small businesses by the UK’s banks, which has been most acute in the North.
According to data collected by UK Finance, the value of lending (loans and overdrafts) for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the North of England has contracted by 14.3 per cent, compared with the national average of 9.5 per cent, over the past three years. The
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
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
