Managers
Gusto Restaurant and Bar has completed a management buyout from Living Ventures, with the support of an equity investment from Palatine Private Equity.
The Knutsford-based restaurant brand, which was founded in 2007 following a re-launch from Est Est Est, is looking to open more restaurants across the UK over the next three to four years.
The Living Ventures Group was founded in 1999 by CEO Tim Bacon and commercial director Jeremy Roberts. It owns other well-known brands including Blackhouse, Australasia, Artisan and The Alchemist, and recorded group sales of GBP65m in the year to March 2014 – a 36
Sheffield-based temporary staffing business Hallam Medical has secured a GBP3.3m investment from private equity house Key Capital Partners (KCP).
The business, which is focused on supplying the NHS and private healthcare providers in the primary care markets, is forecasting sales of GBP14 million in the year to April 2014.
Hallam currently employs 40 staff and deploys around 400 highly qualified nurses, largely advanced nurse practitioners and community care specialists. The firm is headquartered in Sheffield and opened its London office in 2013 to enhance its offering to clients in the south of England.
CEO Scott Davies and clinical
K2 Design & Strategy has entered into a USD45 million equity subscription facility with private equity investment firm Lambert Private Equity.
The company plans to list initially on the OTCBB or equivalent exchange.
K2 Design & Strategy is an advanced analytics and digital innovation company, bringing advanced technologies to market which enhance performance of high stakes teams in complex business environments.
The company is led by George Cs Pell, founder, principal and CEO. Pell brings over 20 years of success in digital innovation, technology strategy, executive consulting, and performance strategy for many of the largest corporations in the
Kurma Partners’s Biofund II, the first venture capital fund dedicated to financing innovation in the rare diseases space, has made its maiden EUR7.5 million investment in Oxthera, a Stockholm-based biopharmaceutical company.
OxThera is currently conducting a placebo-controlled clinical trial with Oxabact in patients with primary hyperoxaluria at seven clinical sites in three countries.
Primary hyperoxaluria (PH) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder leading to markedly elevated levels of endogenous oxalate in plasma and urine. High levels of urinary oxalate cause kidney damage, including calcification of the kidney. If left untreated, the disease can cause kidney failure and premature death.
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) has committed USD200 million to diversify its Private Equity Proactive Portfolio, which reaches small, niche emerging managers including those in under-served domestic markets.
This latest commitment expands the programme, established in 2003, to USD1.9 billion.
The programme adds a new partner, Chicago-based Muller & Monroe Asset Management, with a USD100 million commitment.
BAML Capital Access Funds Management (BAML, a subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation), an existing relationship, is expanding with another USD100 million commitment.
CalSTRS will invest in Muller & Monroe’s USD400 million commingled fund, known as the M2
Maven Capital Partners, a private equity and alternative asset manager, has secured GBP7 million of funding for a hotel development using the benefits of Business Premises Renovation Allowance (BPRA).
The deal will see the purchase of Telfer House, an empty office building in Glasgow’s Merchant City, for refurbishment into a 96-bedroom ibis Styles hotel, which will be managed by the UK’s largest specialist hotel management company, RedefineBDL.
The deal represents Maven’s second hotel refurbishment project in the past year using the tax incentives available from BPRA. In April 2013, Maven secured a GBP4.6 million funding package for the redevelopment
Coal Grill and Bar (t/a Charterhouse Leisure Ltd) has secured additional growth funding from Beringea and venture capital investors Octopus Investments, along with bank finance, to continue its expansion.
With six high volume casual dining restaurants already established in Basingstoke, Bristol, Bristol Waterside, Exeter, Meadowhall in Sheffield and Milton Keynes, Coal Grill and Bar will this year open new restaurants at locations including Cheshire Oaks, Gloucester Quays and Swindon.
The company is working with Savills’ London office to secure up to six restaurants per year for the next three years.
Stuart Veale, managing partner at Beringea, says: “Coal
The Abraaj Group has, through one of its funds, acquired a stake in Kool Food, a Moroccan chocolate confectionery manufacturer based in Casablanca.
Kool Food was founded in 2010 by entrepreneur Anas Lahlou and specialises in developing, producing and selling chocolate confections, powder drinks as well as other sweet and salted food products under its own brand.
Kool Food offers several categories of products which are sold locally as well as exported to countries in the Maghreb region, including Algeria and Tunisia. The company is one of the few chocolate-based product manufacturers in the region targeting the fast-growing mass
LoneStar, backed by private equity firm AEA Investors, has bought Hydrobolt, a manufacturer and distributor of high integrity fully traceable specialty fasteners, machined components, and flanges and fittings predominately servicing the global oil and gas and power generation markets.
The transaction, which has been managed by Rothschild, represents an exit for the Octopus Eclipse Venture Capital Trust (VCT) fund.
Octopus first invested in Wolverhampton-based Hydrobolt in April 2008, when the venture capital investor backed the management buy-out of Hydrobolt. Since then the company has grown substantially, both organically and via acquisition.
Jamie Simpson, managing director of Hydrobolt, says: “Since
Private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners has acquired Synchrogenix, a regulatory writing and related services firm.
Synchrogenix provides services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies worldwide.
Concurrent with the transaction, Synchrogenix will be merged into Certara, a global technology-enabled drug development and drug safety consultancy acquired by Arsenal this past December.
Stephen McLean, a partner at Arsenal and co-head of the firm's healthcare group, says: "Pharmaceutical companies are looking for greater value and increased synergies from their outsourcing partners. Adding the complementary services Synchrogenix offers to the Certara portfolio will allow Certara to provide its preclinical and
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