Managers
By Jeffrey Stevenson, managing partner at private investment firm VSS – There are several reasons to be optimistic about 2021. Vaccines are starting to be made available and are expected to save lives, raising hopes that the US economy is poised to re-open next year. The US presidential election has largely been decided which has taken some uncertainty out of the markets.
These positive developments have already helped stimulate the resurgence of private equity in the third quarter of 2020, when USD148 billion in transactions occurred that surpasses last year’s third quarter total by 10 percent, according to a new
TA Associates has completed an investment in leading pet food marketer and manufacturer, Mid America Pet Food, manufacturer of VICTOR Super Premium Pet Food.
Joining TA as an investor is Rx3 Growth Partners, a growth equity fund founded by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
TA and Rx3 acquired their stakes in the company from Trinity Hunt Partners, a growth-oriented middle-market private equity firm that invested in Mid America Pet Food in 2014. Financial terms of the transaction have not disclosed.
Introduced in 2007, VICTOR offers super premium pet food in a variety of recipes to appeal to both
IQ-EQ has supported Belfast-based Cordovan Capital Management with its first institutional fund.
Cordovan Capital Management is one of Northern Ireland’s most active private equity investors, having made nine portfolio investments since 2016. Focusing on Northern Ireland but investing selectively elsewhere in the UK and Ireland, Cordovan’s investment approach is to provide buyout and/or growth capital to profit-generating small businesses that are poised to scale.
As an emerging manager that has previously invested via a syndicate model, Cordovan has realised two distributions to its investors from its existing portfolio and anticipates further returns in 2021. It is now set to
FalconX, an all-in-one platform for institutions trading cryptocurrency, has secured an investment from American Express Ventures.
Agronomics, a leading listed investor in alternative proteins with a focus on cellular agriculture and cultivated meat, has completed an investment of USD2 million, in the form of a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE), in SuperMeat the Essence of Meat (SuperMeat). The Subscription will be paid using cash from the Company’s own resources.The SAFE will convert at a price per share reflecting the lower of the valuation cap or at a 25 per cent discount to the share price of SuperMeat’s next equity round. We expect that upon conversion of the SAFE at the completion of SuperMeat’s next equity
L’Angélys, a manufacturer of high-quality ice creams and sorbets, made with fresh, healthy ingredients and without preservatives or additives, has secured investment from Bpifrance and Unigrains.
Bpifrance and Unigrains have acquired a minority stake to support the company’s growth momentum. Bpifrance has also provided bank financing alongside Banque Tarneaud and LCL.
Created in 1996 by Denis Lavaud, and based in Fontcouverte, France, L’Angélys has sales of roughly €M 10, strong growth, and employs 40 collaborators. Benefiting from the “Maître Artisan Glacier” label, L’Angélys products are available at over 16 000 points of sale and referenced by most French national
Diversis Capital (Diversis), a Los Angeles-based buy-out firm focused on software and technology-enabled organisations, has sold ArrowStream, a cloud-based provider of end-to-end supply chain management software for the foodservice industry, to Tailwind Capital (Tailwind), a private equity firm focused on investments in growth-oriented, middle market companies.
“We appreciate all the guidance and investment that Diversis has provided us over these past few years,” says Jeff Dorr, President of ArrowStream. “Diversis shared our vision to transform supply chain visibility for the foodservice sector and we are very excited to continue that mission with another exceptional financial partner in Tailwind
Livingbridge, a mid-market private equity investor, has invested in two Australian GP groups, Better Medical and SmartClinics.
The transaction will facilitate the combination of two highly complementary businesses to create the fifth-largest general practice platform in Australia with 64 clinics and approximately 450 doctors practicing from their locations across Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.
Both businesses have the shared vision of creating an environment for doctors to deliver high quality primary health care to their patients. The importance of clinical quality and excellence is deeply embedded in the philosophies of each of them.
The Covid-19 pandemic
OpenGate Capital is to acquire Kongsberg Precision Cutting Systems (Kongsberg), a manufacturer of digital cutting systems, from Esko-Graphics, a global developer of integrated software and hardware solutions for the packaging, label, and wide format sectors.
Terms of the agreement have not been disclosed, and the acquisition is subject to the completion of any required information and/or consultation with employee representative bodies pursuant to local law and regulatory approvals.
Kongsberg is a state-of-the-art, digital cutting business including high-speed cutting tables and related consumables and services. Founded in 1965, Kongsberg has a well-established heritage and expertise in providing continuously optimised clean,
Buy now, pay later specialist Zilch has secured an additional USD30 million equity funding enabling it to close its oversubscribed pre Series B in less than three weeks. Zilch is now in prime position to continue scaling its unique over-the-top BNPL business, which has seen customer registration numbers quadruple over the last six months and transaction volume grow by more than 100 per cent month-on-month.
The UK FinTech – which recently became the UK’s first BNPL FinTech to secure a consumer credit authorisation with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – has introduced a number of strategic investors during this round including
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12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
