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Investcorp has added Dr Ann-Kristin Achleitner, a business economist and Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance Studies at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), to the firm’s International Advisory Board.
Achleitner is a recognised leader and a high-profile researcher in the area of entrepreneurial finance, with a particular focus on the financing of innovation, venture capital, private equity, family businesses, social entrepreneurship and financing for social enterprises. Achleitner is currently the Scientific Co-Director at the Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies and Chair of Entrepreneurial Finance at the Technical University of Munich. Prior to this, she was a Professor of banking and
With a team headed by Frankfurt office partners Till Kosche and Thorsten Reinhard, Noerr has advised the international software manufacturer Micro Focus on the sale of its subsidiary SUSE.
The buyer is the investor EQT Partners, which will be taking over the open source pioneer SUSE for USD2.5 billion via an investment vehicle.
The transaction is still subject to antitrust clearance and further closing conditions. Closing is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2019.
SUSE, which is headquartered in Nuremberg, has been developing Linux and open source solutions for more than 25 years. The software
Two entrepreneurs who are creating a new marketplace for online gamers have secured a GBP200,000 investment from the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia Fund Managers and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund.
The funding will allow Alex Booth and Nick Gillett to bring their idea to market. Player Lands, which will be based in Nottingham, will allow gamers with no previous experience of e-commerce to open online stores and sell the content they create or find while playing. The system will tap into the growing global market for in-game downloads and
easyCoffee’s plan to roll out 800 vending machines nationally in the next year has been given a boost following a GBP10 million investment by Stellar Asset Management.
The UK’s only value coffee chain – part of the ‘easy’ family of brands that includes easyJet – has enjoyed rapid growth since it launched in 2016 and recently installed its 50th vending machine in the market, matched by serving its millionth cup of coffee in its eight coffee stores.
This substantial capital injection from estate and succession planning specialist Stellar Asset Management more than triples the amount secured in earlier capital
Capzanine, a European private investment management company, and RAISE, a development capital company targeting mid-cap companies with high growth potential, are supporting Questel group’s management team, led by Charles Besson, as IK Investment Partners acquires a stake in the group.
Capzanine and RAISE, which have been Questel’s shareholders since 2015, are reaffirming their support for the management team and its ambitious expansion plan, which combines organic growth with build-up acquisitions. Under this transaction, Capzanine is arranging a unitranche loan facility and selling its equity interest in Questel. RAISE is reinvesting in the group as a stakeholder alongside the management team,
March this year saw Robert Mirsky, then Global Head of Hedge Funds at KPMG, become Global Head of Asset Management and UK Managing Partner at EisnerAmper.
Mirsky was also charged with opening EisnerAmper’s first UK office and now presides over a small but fast-growing team. The firm is better known in the US, where it is the fifth largest financial services practice, and offers a full suite of accountancy, audit, tax advisory and business advisory services to clients operating in a wide spectrum of business sectors and industries.
Staff globally total 1,500, including 180 partners and principals. The Financial Services
The market for initial public offerings in Canada crested the halfway point of 2018 with just more than CAD1 billion of new equity raised – a market characterised as ‘slow and steady’, according to the latest quarterly PwC Canada survey of the Canadian IPO market, published today.
Eleven new issues on all exchanges resulted in CAD956 million raised in the second quarter, including four issues on the TSX totalling CAD948 million representing the lion’s share of the proceeds. The largest IPO of the quarter, CAD462 million, was the dual listing of Ceridian HCM Holdings Inc. on the New York Stock
Plantronics has completed its previously announced acquisition of Polycom.
“We are pleased that Plantronics and Polycom are moving ahead as one company focused on putting people at the centre of every collaboration experience,” says Joe Burton, Plantronics’ President and Chief Executive Officer. “Plantronics now offers an unparalleled portfolio of integrated, intelligent solutions that spans headsets, software, desk phones, audio and video conferencing, and cloud services. This combined offering empowers people with the tools and flexibility they need to create the best experience when connecting to what is most important to them.”
With the addition of Polycom’s portfolio, Plantronics says
Private investment firm Rcapital has backed Scottish shopfitter Havelock, based in Kirkcaldy, Fife. The deal secures over 300 jobs and the firm’s manufacturing sites, providing financial stability for the business.
Havelock’s management team will work in partnership with Rcapital to restructure and invest in the business. A key focus will be to ensure that all customer projects are completed in full, the delivery of innovative design, manufacturing and supply arrangements.
Shaun Ormrod, Chief Executive of Havelock, says: “We have been exploring a range of long-term funding options for the business over the past few months to ensure that we are
TorQuest Partners and its co-investors have completed the sale of their majority interest in Spinrite to Comvest Partners. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Daniel Sonshine, Partner at TorQuest, says: “Spinrite’s success over the past two and a half years is the result of the Company’s continuous drive to build on its leading market position through new product introductions and a highly focused direct-to-consumer digital marketing strategy. Spinrite has been an outstanding investment for TorQuest and our partners, and we are grateful to the Company’s management team for its dedication and excellent work over our hold period.”
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