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innogy Innovation Hub, which is funded by innogy SE, a Germany energy company, to invest in and mentor technology start-ups, invested in 61 companies in 2018 through new and follow-on financing rounds, growing the value of its portfolio by more than 50 per cent.
Including co-investments and investments into other VC funds, the Innovation Hub has funded almost 90 start-ups.
At the same time, innogy Innovation Hub has continued to focus on supporting its portfolio, with a strategic focus on providing acceleration opportunities. In 2018, the Hub participated in 10 accelerator programmes globally, presenting opportunities for more than one-third
French group Evolucare, which is backed by Essling Expansion has acquired Axapa, a software publisher founded in 2012 by Olivier Rialland focused on the medico-social sector and in particular institutions dedicated to people with disabilities.
Axapa, whose revenue reached EUR4.5 million in 2018, serves 120 customers accounting for more than 2,500 institutions.
For Elie le Guicher, President of Evolucare, says: “The acquisition of Axapa allows the Group to change its scope in order to pursue its vigorous growth in France and abroad.”
“The Evolucare Group will provide significant support for our development, the related synergies are numerous,” says Rialland, President
Atrato Capital, the investment adviser to Supermarket Income REIT, has appointed Justin King, the former chief executive of J Sainsbury plc, as a senior adviser.
King is recognised as one of the UK’s most successful grocery sector leaders, having led J Sainsbury plc for 10 years until 2014. Prior to that, he was part of the leadership team at Marks & Spencer plc and previously held senior roles at Asda. He, therefore, brings a wealth of experience of the grocery sector and a deep understanding of grocery property strategy.
Supermarket Income REIT, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, owns six
Align Capital Partners’ (ACP) portfolio company Pleatco, a manufacturer of aftermarket cartridge filters for the pool and spa industry, has expanded into the industrial air filtration market with the acquisitions of APEL International (APEL) and Milton Manufacturing (Milton).
APEL designs and manufactures pleated filter cartridges, pleated bags, and other filtration products for mission-critical industrial air applications.
“APEL’s library of more than 5,000 custom and stock filters provide its distribution and OEM customers with the broadest range of aftermarket filtration products in the industry,” says Paul LaCroix, founder of APEL. “I’m excited to continue our legacy as a high-quality manufacturer
Activa Capital has appointed Alexandre Chollet as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Chollet, 37, will be responsible for coordinating the cross-functional activities of Activa Capital. Propr to joining Activa he was Director of Investor Relations at Naxicap Partners (2016-2019) and before that served as Head of Funds and Portfolio at Qualium Investissement from 2011 to 2016, a position he held after leaving the Financial Department of iXEN Partners (formerly Natexis Industrie).
Chollet has 14 years of experience within the finance functions of Private Equity and is a graduate of ESCP Europe-Novancia.
Christophe Parier and Alexandre Masson, Partners at Activa Capital, say:
The latest report on the corporate services industry conducted by global trust, fund administration and corporate services provider Vistra, reveals that the trend towards onshore and mid-shore jurisdiction for doing business is continuing with Hong Kong the number one choice.
The British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the UK are the joint next most popular jurisdictions followed by the US and Singapore.
Globally there has been an increase in demand for transparency due to the negative publicity towards offshore centres; evidenced by the changing regulatory landscape to meet these demands. As such, it is timely to review whether offshore jurisdictions
Fintech platform iCapital Network is to become exclusive feeder fund service provider for Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Alternative Investments Group, with responsibility for the oversight functions of the group’s alternative investment feeder fund assets.
The transaction was completed on 14 March 2019. The alternative investments feeder fund business transferring to iCapital is comprised of approximately 115 investment vehicles across a range of investment strategies. iCapitals proprietary end-to-end technology solution will be leveraged to streamline ongoing operations and administration services for the funds and provide support to advisors and their high-net-worth client base. Following this transaction, iCapital will service approximately USD40 billion
Ken Williamson has joined Clearwater International as Senior Adviser to the Board.
Williamson brings 17 years of corporate finance experience as a partner with EY in Manchester and London. He headed EY’s UK and Ireland corporate finance business, leading complex transactions and cross-border activity, regularly involving PE sponsors. He is currently Chairman of EDAM, a group of companies providing post-accident services, and Non-Executive Director with responsibility for M&A at EVO Business Supplies Ltd; the UK and Ireland’s largest multi-channel distributor of business supplies and services.
Other notable past roles include, Non-Executive Chairman of DW3 Products Group- a leading replacement
Philip Niemeyer has been appointed as Head of Markets of Bedford Row Capital and will also be the general manager of the firm’s Amsterdam office.
Until last month Niemeyer (pictured), who has longstanding experience in connecting institutional capital with the real economy credit demand in various European countries, was VP Business Development at CrossLend.
With offices in London, Amsterdam and Tallinn, Bedford Row Capital is a fixed-income boutique with a global service offering. Bedford Row Capital offers banks and insurance companies access to conventional debt, commercial paper and sharia-compliant sukuk through the debt capital markets. This gives institutional investors
LBO France has acquired a majority stake in the capital of the Passman group. The company’s two co-founding managers have also invested as part of the deal, while Andera Partners is reinvesting via its ActoMezz team.
This acquisition is in keeping with LBO France’s Small Cap strategy dedicated to growing French and Italian SMEs and follows a remarkable period of growth (revenues have increased from EUR13 million to EUR28 million in five years) since the sponsorless LBO of April 2014 led by ActoMezz and the Siparex Group.
The Passman group, set up in 1995 by Frédéric Levy, as well
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