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Fresh Direct Produce, a portfolio company of middle market private equity firm HKW, has acquired Islands West Manufacturing (Islands West). Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia, Islands West is a family-owned wholesaler of produce, processed fruits, dried spices, and fresh-cut vegetables. Fresh Direct Produce, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, is a distributor of more than 1,000 domestic and imported organic fruit and vegetable items.
“This acquisition meets several key objectives for Fresh Direct Produce, offering our customers a range of complementary new products, a wider and more
The Investment Management Due Diligence Association (IMDDA), an investor-based organisation dedicated to the professionals who perform investment and operational due diligence, has launched a new program giving its members access to background checks provided by Intelligo, a specialist in technology-driven background checks.
This new IMDDA member-only program provides access to Intelligo’s platform, Clarity, which leverages a combination of AI and human intellect to enhance the quality and depth of background checks. Intelligo Clarity reduces report generation time and eliminates paperwork with online SaaS reporting.
“IMDDA is committed to helping members implement best practices throughout the due diligence process,” says Andrew
LiveOak Venture Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Austin, Texas, has appointed David Stewart as Venture Partner.
Stewart will focus on sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities, as well as providing strategic guidance to LiveOak’s portfolio companies. He is the sixth member of the firm’s investment team, working closely with the firm’s three Founding Partners, Principal, and Senior Associate.
Stewart has been an investor and advisor to over 30 software companies, both independently and in conjunction with other firms, most recently Trinity Ventures, and has over a decade of operating experience in Silicon Valley. Prior to working with
Lucid Group, a portfolio company of private equity investor LDC and a specialist in healthcare communications, has acquired healthcare consultancy Healthcare 21.
Lucid Group currently comprises five medical communications specialists, Bluedog, Leading Edge, Lighthouse, Lucid Partners and ViVid. HealthCare21 meanwhile, has been producing healthcare materials and programmes for its clients, reaching and engaging healthcare audiences for over 23 years. The team has experience in scientific strategy, content creation, editorial excellence and digital design – capabilities that Lucid Group will leverage to create impactful client campaigns.
Both Lucid Group and HealthCare21 clients will experience significant benefits from this new relationship with
KKR has acquired a majority stake in Burning Glass Technologies, a real-time labour market data source, from Providence Strategic Growth. Financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.
The investment is part of KKR’s Global Impact strategy, which is focused on identifying and investing behind companies whose core business models provide commercial solutions that contribute measurable progress toward one or more of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By providing the data to drive lifelong learning and market-aligned training, Burning Glass is delivering measurable progress in achieving two of the United Nations SDGs – Quality Education, and Decent
Great Rock Capital, an asset-focused commercial finance company specialising in middle market lending, has appointed Ronnie Bloom as Managing Director of Originations.
Bloom will be based in Toronto and will be responsible for building relationships, sourcing investment opportunities, and driving the continued expansion of the firm’s footprint in the Canadian market.
“We are happy to welcome Ronnie to the team,” says Stuart Armstrong, CEO of Great Rock Capital. “Ronnie’s extensive banking and financial expertise, coupled with his established industry relationships in the Canadian market, will help drive the growth of Great Rock in this important market.”
Bloom joins Great Rock Capital with
Drooms, a provider of secure cloud solutions in Europe, is strengthening its presence in the UK with the appointments of Ditte Nielsen as Senior Business Development Manager and Alessandra Azzena as Business Development Manager.
Nielsen and Azzena will be responsible for the development of business relationships, with a focus on the UK real estate sector and new customer acquisition, including account planning, CRM and event liaison as well as continuing to strengthen Drooms’ presence in the UK. They will report to Rosanna Woods, Managing Director of Drooms UK.
Prior to joining Drooms, Ditte was Senior Account Manager at Merrill
Arfaei will be responsible for helping to identify and evaluate investment opportunities for the firm’s venture capital business. Previously, he served as a Managing Director with BMO Capital Markets, where he was a senior equity research analyst covering major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
“Alex’s unique combination of equity research and industry operating experience will significantly benefit our team as we seek to source innovative investment opportunities for the current and future Pappas Ventures funds,” says Art Pappas, founder and Managing Partner of Pappas Capital. “We are pleased to welcome Alex to Pappas as we continue to execute on our mission
Arfaei will be responsible for helping to identify and evaluate investment opportunities for the firm’s venture capital business. Previously, he served as a Managing Director with BMO Capital Markets, where he was a senior equity research analyst covering major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
“Alex’s unique combination of equity research and industry operating experience will significantly benefit our team as we seek to source innovative investment opportunities for the current and future Pappas Ventures funds,” says Art Pappas, founder and Managing Partner of Pappas Capital. “We are pleased to welcome Alex to Pappas as we continue to execute on our mission
In this week’s newsletter, FPE Capital Managing partner David Barbour outlines the firm’s unique relationship with Stonehage Fleming and the resulting benefits for the business. In this insightful Q&A, Barbour also explains the firm’s investment philosophy and assesses growth capital opportunities in the UK.
Paul Bryant meanwhile, examines the seemingly unstoppable growth of ESG-oriented private equity funds and what GPs will need to do to stand out from the crowd.
And we also have news of the third annual Private Equity LP Survey from Intralinks and Private Equity Wire, which is available to download now and provides a fascinating insight
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