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Private equity firm Foresight Group has sold the UK’s largest independent online retailer of golf equipment, Clubhouse Golf, to European ecommerce business, all4golf.Clubhouse has found a strong strategic partner in all4golf, and together they will look to become the pan-European market leader for golf equipment.
This represents the first exit for the GBP58 million Foresight Regional Investment fund, which supports small businesses in the North West of England and North Wales and which, since launch in 2016, has invested in 15 companies to date.
Since the fund made its original investment in February 2017, Clubhouse has more than doubled its
Law firm Sidley Austin has hired Joshua Thompson as a partner in its global finance group in New York. Thompson was previously a partner at Shearman & Sterling, where he was head of the firm’s global leveraged finance group and head of private capital.
“Josh is a widely recognised finance lawyer who has built a deep practice in leveraged finance,” says Kevin Blauch, leader of Sidley’s global finance group.
“We have many private equity and private capital clients that look to us for advice in leveraged finance and high-yield debt investment. Josh’s arrival strengthens our finance offerings to provide clients with
The UK government’s announcement of an additional GBP1.25 billion to help support early stage businesses yesterday has been welcomed by SMEs, but some businesses are affected by a loophole in the scheme.
Private equity firm Sorfam Capital has acquired an American boatbuilding company, Century Boats, for an undisclosed amount. Sorfam purchased Century Boats’ parent company, All Craft Marine, and will continue operations at its headquarters in Zephyrhills, located just north of Tampa. Sorfam and All Craft Marine were both represented by Anchors Aweigh Capital, a boutique investment banking and consulting firm focused exclusively on the maritime industry.
Century Boats will now be led by president and CEO, Lloyd R ‘Skip’ Sorenson, who is also Sorfam’s managing partner and a fourth-generation shipbuilder who has been involved in a multitude of merger and acquisition transactions
Regionall focussed specialist asset manager Mercia Asset Management PLC (AIM: MERC), the proactive, regionally focused specialist asset manager, is pleased to announce that the British Business Bank (BBB) has allocated an additional GBP54.3 million to regionally focused specialist asset manager Mercia’s two existing investment mandates from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).This takes Mercia’s total mandates from BBB to GBP186.3million and the Group’s total assets under management (AUM) to cGBP800million.
Mercia was first awarded investment mandates from NPIF in February 2017 across two funds; the GBP57.5million NPIF YHTV Equity fund and the GBP51.0million NPIF Y&H Debt fund. Since then, Mercia
The Global Health Investment Fund’s (GHIF) portfolio company Atomo Diagnostics Limited (AT1) has commenced trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) following an oversubscribed initial public offering (IPO). The Australian rapid blood test company intends to use the net proceeds from the IPO to support the planned expansion of its production capacity as the company prepares to utilise its rapid test devices to help detect Covid-19 and expand its commercial efforts for HIV and pregnancy self testing. Atomo has already entered into a binding COVID-19 supply agreement with NG Biotech, including two initial orders totalling nearly 950,000 devices, and is in
Tech start-up Blueprint has secured a GBP1million seed investment led by Magnus Rausing’s MAHR Projects and including Founders Factory and Hambro Perks. At a time when worldwide ecommerce adoption and digital payments are accelerating, Blueprint is ramping up the development of the first true conversational commerce platform which allows consumers to purchase products and speak to brands through a single SMS or WhatsApp message.
Blueprint aims to disrupt the retail process that has been built on email or online communication and traditional, clunky checkout systems. Using a mix of sophisticated natural language processing and machine learning in combination with real-world customer
A UK company, which is developing the next generation of spinal implants, has raised GBP830,000 in a funding round led by asset manager Mercia, to launch trials of its product in the US. Axis Spine has spent three years developing its technology, which could improve the success of spinal surgery and help people in chronic pain. It expects to secure clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) next month.
The latest funding, which comes from Mercia’s enterprise investment scheme (EIS) funds and two private investors, and has been completed in the midst of the lockdown, will allow it to
Legal firm Orrick has appointed French M&A and private equity advisor Olivier Jouffroy as a partner, based in Paris. Jouffroy joins Orrick from Clifford Chance.“Olivier is an up-and-coming M&A talent. His practice and experience are an excellent match for our focus in Paris and globally on serving the tech and innovation, energy and infrastructure, and finance sectors,” says Patrick Tardivy, co-head of Orrick’s Paris office.
Jouffroy advises on domestic and cross-border M&A transactions in the energy, infrastructure, finance, and real estate sectors. He acts for listed companies and financial institutions on both public and private M&A matters, corporate reorganisations and
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