Managers
MMC Ventures closed 18 deals and attracted more than USD100m in total investment into its portfolio in 2013.
One of the top five most active VCs in the UK, MMC welcomed nine new companies into its portfolio this year.
Research compiled by Ascendant showed that, despite overall falls in UK technology venture capital deals in Q3 2013, MMC bucked the trend and was listed as one of the most active investors. A separate report from UKFunders listed MMC as the top retail investor for the first nine months of 2013, with over 10 per cent of deals in the
WyzAnt, an online marketplace for private tutoring, has secured a USD21.5m investment from Accel Partners, the global venture capital firm.
The funds will be used to drive product innovation and scale WyzAnt's technology platform as the company expands globally.
With over 500,000 tutors and one million students, WyzAnt is the largest tutoring marketplace in the US. Parents, students and others use WyzAnt to search for and hire qualified, pre-screened tutors in their city. Millions of hours of tutoring have been completed through the marketplace, and the website has over 850,000 tutor reviews and ratings. WyzAnt's tutor community covers more
Private equity firm Thoma Bravo has sold its portfolio company, digital identities and information specialist Entrust, to Datacard Group.
Financial terms have not been disclosed. The sale is expected to close by year-end.
“Thoma Bravo worked closely with Entrust management to grow the business into an industry leader through continued product innovation and execution of operational best practices,” says Thoma Bravo managing partner Scott Crabill. “We are proud of the work accomplished by everyone at Entrust to better serve the critical needs of customers while organically accelerating revenue growth and increasing profitability.”
With a capital injection and operational
KKR & Co and KKR Financial Holdings (KFN) have signed a definitive merger agreement where KKR will acquire KFN through a stock-for-stock merger that values KFN at USD2.6bn.
KFN is a specialty finance company with a portfolio of assets spanning a complementary range of strategies, principally leveraged credit through ownership of subordinated and mezzanine notes across a number of CLOs, special situations and private markets strategies including natural resources, commercial real estate and private equity. KFN is externally managed by KKR.
Under the agreement, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both KKR and KFN, in
Kester Capital has sold its interest in Chiltern in a deal which values the business at GBP135m.
The exit comes as Chiltern announces the consolidation of existing investors, led by Sir Douglas Myers.
The transaction has generated a return of over 2x capital and a 25 per cent IRR for Kester Capital funds.
Chiltern is a contract research organisation (CRO) with extensive experience in the management of Phase I-IV clinical trials across a broad range of therapeutic areas. Chiltern serves a diverse customer base and has conducted trials in over 40 countries. The business employs more than 1,600
Hot Rod Brands, an affiliate of private equity company Z Capital, has acquired MSD Performance Group (MSDP), a provider of vehicle aftermarket performance parts.
MSDP sells products under the MSD, Racepak, Powerteq, Edge and Superchips brands.
The transaction is scheduled to close this week.
The acquisition was part of a Section 363 Bankruptcy auction and was approved on 26 November 2013. MSDP filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection petition on 6 September 2013.
"MSDP is now well positioned for the future,” says Ron Turcotte, chief executive of MSDP. "In recent years, we have expanded our portfolio
Maven Capital Partners has invested GBP5m for a majority equity stake in R&M Engineering, which provides integrated engineering and fabrication services to the North Sea oil and gas industry.
This investment is the sixth new deal Maven’s Aberdeen team has completed this year.
R&M operates out of purpose built premises in Huntly (Aberdeenshire) and is one of the few independent companies in the UK with the expertise and infrastructure to carry out large and complex projects including hydraulic, pneumatic and electrical work. The business undertakes all processes in-house including design, machining, welding and final fabrication.
R&M has enjoyed
Private investment company Ardian has joined forces with Eric Van Hal, chief executive and co-founder of the NHV Group, to acquire a majority stake in the Ostend-based NHV Group from the founder shareholders.
NHV Group is an international helicopter transport services group.
Based in Ostend, Belgium, NHV was founded in 1997 by Van Hal, Jozef de Kinder and Concordimo. Fin.co Capital Partners, a Belgian family office, joined the founding shareholders in 2009 to further support the company’s growth.
NHV has 360 employees across 15 bases on three continents, with a solid track record of rapid international expansion and
HIG Europe has sold Europa Support Services (Europa) to Bilfinger SE.
HIG Europe is the European arm of global private equity company HIG Capital.
Europa Support Services is one of the leading providers of technical, infrastructural and integrated facility management services in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
HIG invested in the company in 2008 in what was then its first investment in the UK market from its maiden dedicated European equity fund. Since then, the company has completed four bolt-on acquisitions and delivered strong organic growth, with revenues increasing during the period more than fivefold to over
PA Group, the parent company of the Press Association (PA), has signed an agreement to sell its weather business MeteoGroup to global growth investment firm General Atlantic.
MeteoGroup, Europe's largest private sector weather business, provides weather services for corporate, industrial, media and consumer markets including key sectors such as transport, marine and energy.
Since PA's acquisition of MeteoGroup in 2005, the business has enjoyed consistent double digit growth in both revenue and profit and has more than doubled in size, employing almost 400 people in 14 countries.
Clive Marshall, PA Group's chief executive, says: "The sale of MeteoGroup
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