Managers
Lighthouse Funds has closed its most recent mid market private equity fund, India 2020 Fund II, in June 2015 with aggregate commitments of USD138 million, well over its targeted size of USD125 million.
The success of Lighthouse’s predecessor fund, Fund I attracted major Fund I investors to reinvest as well as a host of new, long-term investors including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), amongst others. Fund II will follow the successful strategy of Fund I, investing primarily in mid-market growth companies focused on domestic Indian consumption.
Brian Larcombe, Board Member of Fund
Venture capital investor Octopus Ventures, part of the Octopus Group, has launched the USD140m Octopus Zenith Opportunities II, which will provide growth capital to successful fast-growing later-stage companies across Europe.
The fund is dedicated to follow on investments into existing companies within the Octopus portfolio, as well as having the opportunity to back later stage high growth businesses new to Octopus.
London-based Octopus Ventures has a proven track record of helping build exceptional global businesses, including Zoopla Property Group, Secret Escapes, SwiftKey and graze.com. The Octopus Opportunities fund will see Octopus invest between GBP250,000 and GBP25 million into Europe’s most talented entrepreneurs, enabling the team to
Fidelity Biosciences is joining with Devonshire Investors’ technology venture capital fund to become F-Prime Capital.
F-Prime Capital will create a new, unified name for the venture capital funds of FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments, and continue its 40-year history as an active global investor in life sciences, healthcare and technology.
“Throughout the firm’s history, our scale and scope have grown with the addition of new venture funds, domain expertise and global reach,” says Stephen Knight, managing partner for the firm. “While our venture teams retain a strong cultural bond with Fidelity Investments, we are introducing a
Global Jet Capital, a provider of financing solutions for large-cabin, long-range private jets, has agreed to purchase the aircraft lease and loan portfolio of GE Capital Corporate Aircraft in the Americas representing approximately USD2.5 billion of net assets.
Shawn Vick, Executive Director of Global Jet Capital, says: “We are investing heavily in growing the business both organically and through strategic acquisitions such as this one with GE. This is a prime example of our industry expertise and investment capital coming together to evaluate and identify an opportunity to expand the business in a disciplined, carefully measured way.”
He adds:
Mid-market advisory firm Clearwater International has completed deals worth over EUR1 billion during what are typically considered to be the quieter summer months – activity which has seen the company’s average deal value soar to EUR84 million.
Following the first anniversary in June, of the merger to create Clearwater International, the business has seen exceptional levels of M&A in all of its territories and sectors, and no more so than in the UK where the team have completed 11 deals in the last 10 weeks.
Transactions included the MBO’s of Partner in Pet Food, worth EUR315 million, and Ideal
HIG Middle Market, the dedicated middle market investment affiliate of private equity firm HIG Capital, has acquired Universal Fiber Systems (UFS).
Headquartered in Bristol, VA, with additional facilities in the United States, Europe, Thailand and China, UFS is a global leader in the production of custom solution-dyed synthetic fibres. The Company serves customers in the commercial, residential and transportation carpet industries through its Universal Fibers division and serves customers in diverse technical fibre end-markets including performance apparel and technical fabrics through its Premiere Fibers division.
Tenno Tsai (pictured), Managing Director at HIG, says: “We are excited to partner with
Wellington Financial, a privately held specialty finance firm providing growth capital to Canadian and US-based companies, is pleased to announce the launch of a new USD900 million investment program.
Wellington Financial Fund IV, capitalised with USD200 million of re-circulating equity capital in 2012, was a successor fund to three previous entities. Fund IV committed more than USD225 million via 28 growth capital transactions over a three-year period.
With its first close earlier this week, Fund V is already well on its way to reaching its "hard cap" of USD300 million of re-circulating equity commitments. "We are honoured to have earned
Funds affiliated with Hellman & Friedman (H&F), a US-based Private Equity firm, have agreed to acquire the entirety of Bain Capital’s interest in Securitas Direct Verisure Group.
The acquisition places H&F in a majority shareholder position alongside Company management and creates an optimal platform for continued growth.
Securitas Direct Verisure Group is a leading European provider of professionally monitored home alarm systems with 24/7 response services offered through its Securitas Direct and Verisure brands. The Company’s mission is to bring peace of mind to families and small business owners by providing them with the best security solutions and service.
Investec Growth & Acquisition Finance has provided GBP21 million in funding in the form of senior term loans and working capital facilities, for Mayfair Equity Partners’ second deal, the acquisition of Europe’s biggest supplier of fishing equipment, Fox International.
Stephen White (pictured), who led the funding team at Investec, says the deal strengthens an existing successful relationship with Mayfair, a new fund raised by the former London LDC team led by Daniel Sasaki.
“We have worked with the Mayfair partners previously and are pleased to back them as they build their new portfolio. The team has an exceptional track
The British Business Bank is to provide a GBP100m facility to Hitachi Capital UK to fund a portfolio of newly originated small business asset finance receivables.
The transaction is the first of the British Business Bank’s innovative new ENABLE Funding programme, which aims to increase significantly the supply of leasing and asset finance to smaller businesses in the UK. The European Investment Fund will guarantee 50 per cent of the facility.
Gavin Wraith-Carter (pictured), General Manager, Hitachi Capital Business Finance, says: “Being the first funder to take part in an ENABLE funding programme transaction reinforces our commitment to understanding the
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
