Managers
DWS has launched its new institutional ESG Infrastructure Debt Fund (EIDF), which will focus on European sustainability themed infrastructure sectors which contribute towards making society and economies more sustainable.
ESG will play a key factor in all strategic allocations for the fund, targeting sectors including: renewable energy, digital, energy efficiency/utilities, clean mobility/transportation and social infrastructure. It will make 10-15 private infrastructure debt investments (loans and notes) with circa 70 per cent across senior debt, and circa 30 per cent in junior debt with a positive ESG contribution essential for the investment decision making process. With the aim to deliver sustainable
Livingbridge, one of the UK’s leading mid-market private equity investors, has invested in World of Books Group (Wob), a UK online re-seller of second-hand books.
Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex, Wob is a re-commerce business operating within the books sector, committed to acting as a force for good. Its purpose driven actions focus on three areas – the promotion of used goods; championing literacy by helping to make books more widely accessible; and taking action to reduce carbon emissions – each aligned with the UN Sustainable Development goals of responsible consumption, quality education and climate action.
Wob’s
Europe’s leading retail & consumer investment and innovation firm True has held the close of its latest fund – Fund III – dedicated to backing the retail and consumer businesses, at the forefront of consumer behavioural change.
Following a virtual fundraising process True has exceeded its target of GBP250 million with support from both new and existing institutional investors. The fund was oversubscribed and in total True now has over GBP600 million (USD850 million) AUM – just five years after Fund I closed.
True takes majority and minority positions in future-fit, digital-first businesses that are capitalising on the shift
Global investment firm KKR is to acquire Global Infrastructure Partners’ (GIP) entire interest in Highway Concessions One (HC1) and seven highway assets with a total length of 487 kilometres.
HC1 is a platform in India that manages GIP’s road portfolio which spans across seven states including Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
Through the acquisition of GIP’s interest in HC1, KKR aims to help strengthen and expand India’s national highway network, which serves about 40 per cent of total traffic but accounts for only 2 per cent of the country’s road network. This latest infrastructure investment
Tesseract Holdings Limited (THL), a subsidiary of the Aquila European Renewables Income Fund (AERIF), has successfully completed the acquisition of a 50 per cent interest in the unlevered Portuguese solar project Ourique.
Ourique is located in Alentejo, Portugal, and has an installed capacity of c60 MWp. The solar farm started its operations in December 2019 and its power price hedges cover 100 per cent of the produced energy until March 2026. It is expected to save 17,035 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum, and an estimated 511,046 tonnes over the lifetime of the project (100 per cent interest basis).
With
Balderton Capital has appointed Adrian Rainey as its new Operating Partner. Rainey will work closely with Balderton’s Limited Partners and oversee the firm’s internal operations.
He will also provide support to Balderton’s portfolio founders through the initial investment process, subsequent fundraisings and key milestones on their journey to growth.
Rainey joins Balderton with more than 17 years of experience in venture. Prior to joining the firm, Adrian was a Partner in Goodwin’s Technology group advising emerging companies and investors on equity and venture debt financings and M&A. Before he joined Goodwin, Rainey was a Partner at Taylor Wessing where he
Fysios, the largest private physiotherapy company in Finland, will become part of Mehiläinen through a share transaction signed on 1 July 2021.
The strong development of Fysios’s operations will continue in the future. The aim of the acquisition is to develop operating models that renew the industry and emphasise the role of digital services. As a pioneer of physiotherapy services, Fysios offers a wide range of physiotherapy-related services at more than 100 clinics across more than 50 locations. The company employs about 800 skilled therapists. Fysios’s operating methods emphasise strong development, quality and training. The activities will now continue as
Private equity firm American Securities’ opportunistic credit business, Ascribe Capital, has merged with Birch Grove Capital (BGC), a credit asset management business.
The combined entity, which will be named AS Birch Grove, manages approximately USD5 billion in assets across an opportunistic hedge fund, private credit vehicles, and par credit and collateralised loan obligation vehicles. AS Birch Grove, along with its funds, will be well positioned to become a more diversified credit asset management business.
In the near term, AS Birch Grove has over USD1 billion in capital to invest in opportunistic credit situations across leveraged loans, high yield and convertible
Unigestion, an independent, specialist asset manager, has already deployed over 40 per cent of its second direct private equity fund after closing at over EUR600 million.
Unigestion Direct II (UDII), which provides investors with access to a portfolio of direct investments in high quality small and mid-market companies, has invested in 12 companies located across Europe and the US. These companies play long-term growth themes such as Nutrition, Tech-enabled services and Healthtech and are therefore less sensitive to GDP. They include a Spanish provider of flavourings for vegetarian and vegan food, a US leading developer of specialty precision components for
Rwanda Finance Limited (RFL) and the East Africa Venture Capital Association (EAVCA) have formed a new partnership to enable private investment in Africa through their respective mandates.
The partnership between RFL and EAVCA will provide a platform for Rwanda to increase its attractiveness and competitiveness as a business and financial hub for private equity and venture capital activities through the Kigali International Financial Centre (KIFC). EAVCA, whose core mandate is to advance East Africa as a private capital destination while ensuring a favourable environment for trade for the business and financial sector, will promote KIFC within its network and connect
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
