Managers
Mid-market private equity provider LDC has exited its investment in outsourced insurance services provider Direct Group by selling the company to Ryan Speciality Group (RSG).
Mid-market private equity provider LDC has exited its investment in outsourced insurance services provider Direct Group by selling the company to Ryan Speciality Group (RSG).
The transaction remains subject to completion pending regulatory approval. Terms of the sale were undisclosed.
LDC backed a management buyout of Direct Group in 2007. Since then, with LDC’s backing, the business has made four strategic acquisitions to diversify its outsourced services offering, including insurance broker Millennium in 2008
Gas sensing instruments manufacturer, Cascade Technologies, which was backed by Panoramic Growth Equity in May 2011, has been listed as one of Britain’s 100 fastest growing private technology companies.
Tech Track 100 is produced by Fast Track.
Stirling-based Cascade Technologies developed and patented the world’s first real-time technology for the detection, measurement and monitoring of gas emissions and explosives through its use of quantum cascade lasers. It is used in a range of commercial applications such as the monitoring of gas emissions in power stations and airports, substance detection at airports and process analytics in chemistry.
In November 2010,
glendonTodd Capital, a Dallas-based private equity firm, has invested in SDL Citadel, a renewable energy company that converts everyday waste into electricity and heat.
Through its investment into SDL, glendonTodd brings a two-plus year relationship focused on social ventures and philanthropic efforts to fruition.
SDL’s mission is to enhance environmental protection by producing and conserving energy from renewable sources.
SDL Citadel and its key stakeholders provide sustainable renewable energy solutions that foster job creation, economic development, reinvention of industry, and energy independence with little or no impact upon the environment. glendonTodd will not only help the management team commemorate these
GMT Communications Partners, a European media and communications focused private equity group, has teamed up with the management and founding chairman to invest in Seagull, a provider of computer based training systems and e-learning for seafarers worldwide.
Founded in 1996 by its chairman, Oscar Johansen, a long term maritime industry executive, and financial partner Bjørn L.G. Braathen, Seagull offers a comprehensive library of training and on-board courses for regulatory, compliance and improved seafarer knowledge, in line with the requirements of the key global seafarer regulatory bodies.
This transaction sees GMT, alongside Johansen and Roger Ringstad, Seagull’s managing director, acquiring
French firm Groupe Ludendo, backed by private equity firm NiXEN Partners, has acquired iconic British toy retailer Hamleys in a deal thought to be worth GBP60m.
Groupe Ludendo, which currently operates 300 toy stores in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Spain, will be moving into new markets adding 22 Hamleys stores to its portfolio including outlets in Denmark, Jordan, Dubai, India, Cyprus, Russia and Saudi Arabia, as well as the company’s flagship store on London’s Regent Street.
“We have the utmost respect for the Hamleys brand and heritage, as well as the unique interactive retail environment of fun, entertainment and theatre
Duolingo, the free language learning service which translates websites, has raised a USD15m series B round led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with participation from existing investor Union Square Ventures.
Helmed by computer scientist and crowd-sourcing pioneer Luis von Ahn, the company will use the funds to accelerate international growth and bolster its team of engineering talent.
"Today more than 50 per cent of online content is available only in English, and we see this as a powerful opportunity," says von Ahn. "By harnessing the output from millions of students, we can accurately translate online content and bring the rich
HIG Capital’s Brazilian affiliate has completed the acquisition of Cel Lep Idiomas, a premium English Language Teaching (ELT) network in Brazil.
Headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil, and operating primarily under the Cel Lep brand name, the company operates through 17 owned schools in São Paulo and through four other licensed schools in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais.
Professor Walter Toledo Silva, founder of Cel Lep, says: “We are excited about the HIG acquisition. Their ability and experience in helping companies grow all over the world will help build on my legacy and accelerate the expansion of Cel
Fourth, a SaaS provider of labour, payroll, inventory and procurement systems for the restaurant/bar, hotel, contract catering and leisure markets, has acquired Adaco, a supplier of SaaS based purchasing and inventory control solutions to the hotel sector in the US and throughout the world.
With over 400 customers in 54 countries and a 27 year history, Adaco will continue to operate from its Connecticut base in the US, supported by the Fourth team in London, England. The Adaco office will become the operating base for Fourth USA.
Fourth and Adaco have strong product offerings in their respective markets and
HIG Europe, the European arm of private equity firm HIG Capital, has completed the acquisitions of ARMetallizing, a Belgium based manufacturer of metallized paper, from Ackermans & van Haaren and Vacumet Paper, a Massachusetts based manufacturer of metallized paper, from Scholle.
The combined group aims to be the global market leader in metallized paper for use in the beverage and consumer packaged goods markets.
The group’s metallized paper is currently used as the base paper in premium beer labels, spirit labels, food packaging, consumer product packaging and gift wrap, and can be found on many household brands such as Becks
Alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has acquired 60 per cent of Tok&Stok, Brazil’s largest specialty furniture retailer by sales, from founders Ghislaine and Régis Dubrule.
Dubrule will remain chief executive of Tok&Stok following the transaction and the founders will retain a 40 per cent stake in the company.
Equity capital for the transaction will come from the USD1bn pool of capital managed by Carlyle’s South America Buyout Fund and Fundo Brasil de Internacionalização de Empresas FIP (FBIE), a local fund advised by Carlyle and Banco do Brasil.
The transaction is subject to approval by antitrust authorities and is expected
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12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
