Managers
Dunedin, a UK mid-market private equity house, has backed the management buyout of Acquis Insurance Management (Acquis), an independent insurance broker and administrator that provides specialist solutions to the finance and leasing industry.
The deal (which is subject to regulatory approval) enables the current management team, led by CEO Nick Leader, to drive the business’ international growth with support and funding from Dunedin.
This is Dunedin’s third platform investment in twelve months, following investments in digital technology specialist, Incremental Group; and innovative payments software business, GPS. The investment in Acquis follows on from Dunedin’s 2016 investment in specialist broker
Private equity firm West Lane Capital Partners (West Lane) has acquired a majority stake in Fantasy Files Group (Fantasy Files), a California-based developer, manufacturer and distributor of specialty cosmetic products under the Blossom, Blue Cross and Savina brands.
Ron Tinero and Mark Friedman, the founders of Fantasy Files, will remain as executives and shareholders of the business. No material changes in the operations of the business are planned. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Nick Sternberg, Managing Partner of West Lane, says: “We are very excited to partner with Ron, Mark and their team to continue growing the Company’s
Hampleton Partners, an international mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance advisory firm for technology companies, has advised Simi Reality Motion Systems, a developer of fully markerless video-based motion capture and analysis software, on its acquisition by ZF Friedrichshafen, a global automotive supplier and specialist in autonomous vehicle technology.
This is the second transaction that Hampleton has closed with ZF Friedrichshafen in two months.
“We are excited about the opportunity ahead of us as we embark on this journey with ZF,” says Pascal Ruß, CEO of Simi. “Hampleton led a structured process and after considerable interest from other parties, was able
Fund raising activity for PE funds focused on Asia Pacific proved to be buoyant in 2018, with an estimated USD37.8 billion of net inflows recorded through the first nine months of the year according to Private Equity International’s Q3 2018 Fundraising Report. This compared to USD37.7 billion raised for the entire calendar year 2017.
“Hillhouse Capital Group raised USD10.6 billion for its Fund IV, while Carlyle Group raised USD6.55 billion for its Asia Partners V fund,” comments Rajindar Singh (pictured), Sub Regional Director APAC, Private Equity & Real Estate & Capital Markets at TMF Group, based out of the
Mobeus has sold Plastic Surgeon, a surface repair and restoration specialist, to Polygon Group. Plastic Surgeon is the UK’s largest cosmetic surface repair specialist, with particular expertise in fine finishing services.
The company provides high quality, long-lasting repairs to any hard surface, including ceramic, UPVC, brick, stone and glass, in diverse industries from house build, through construction and insurance, to facilities management.
Mobeus originally invested GBP2 million to support the MBO of Plastic Surgeon in 2008 and supported the business through the subsequent recession, which affected its key house-build market. During the investment term, the management team took the company
UK private equity house Maven Capital Partners (Maven) has led an investment, alongside existing shareholders Par Equity and the Scottish Investment Bank, in Edinburgh-based Symphonic Software Limited (Symphonic), a player in the Identity and Access Management (IAM) market.
The funding will be used to further scale the business, investing in sales and marketing resource, as well as product innovation, to ensure Symphonic continues to offer customers a best-of-breed solution in this important and growing market.
Symphonic has developed a fine-grained, context-aware authorisation software solution that enables organisations to securely share critical, time-dependent and sensitive information by managing access to
Accelerate Financial Technologies has launched three zero management fee, performance fee only alternative exchange traded funds (Accelerate Alt ETFs).
Each Accelerate Alt ETF has closed the initial offering of units, and is now trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).
“Accelerate was founded with the mission to democratise alternative investments by offering hedge fund and private equity-like strategies in low-cost ETFs accessible by any investor,” says Julian Klymochko, CEO at Accelerate.
The Accelerate Private Equity Alpha Fund (ALFA) seeks to achieve long-term capital appreciation and to replicate the returns of private equity funds over the long term by investing
BlackRock has completed the acquisition of eFront, an end-to-end alternative investment management software and solutions provider.
BlackRock says the combination of eFront with Aladdin will set a new standard in investment and risk management technology, vastly expanding Aladdin’s alternatives capabilities and providing a whole-portfolio technology solution to clients.
“As more investors incorporate alternatives into their portfolios, the ability to seamlessly manage portfolios across public and private asset classes on a single platform is critical,” says Rob Goldstein, Chief Operating Officer of BlackRock. “eFront will extend Aladdin’s end-to-end processing capabilities in alternative asset classes, enabling clients to get an enterprise view
Monomoy Capital Partners, a private investment firm with USD1.5 billion in committed capital in a family of investment funds, has acquired Kauffman Engineering (Kauffman). Terms of the tdeal have not been disclosed.
Kauffman was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Lebanon, Indiana. Kauffman is a market leading manufacturer of highly-engineered wire harnesses and cable assemblies for electrical systems across the HVAC, commercial equipment, specialty vehicle, lawn care, marine, medical and other industrial markets. Kauffman’s design and engineering capabilities allow the company to provide complex electrical connector products for mid-to-low volume and high mix customer programs. The business operates a
LeapFrog Investments has launched what it says is the largest-ever private equity fund by a dedicated impact fund manager, surging past its USD600 million target to reach USD700 million.
The new fund invests in healthcare and financial services companies – tapping into the demand from billions of emerging consumers in Asia and Africa. This fund alone targets reaching 70 million emerging consumers. Investors include many of the world’s leading insurers, pensions and asset managers, development finance institutions, foundations and family offices. The success of the fund reflects LeapFrog’s outstanding track record of delivering both strong financial results and large-scale social
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
