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Kickstart Seed Fund has closed Fund IV (K4) at USD74 million, which represents a substantial growth in capital over all its predecessor funds.
The large increase in the fund size compared to the previous fund (USD39m) was driven by the addition of several institutional investors, as well as notable Utah entrepreneurs, Aaron Skonnard of Pluralsight, Jeremy Andrus of Traeger Grills, Ryan Smith of Qualtrics, among others.
K4 continues Kickstart’s primary objective: to make meaningful seed- and early-stage investments in startups and elite entrepreneurs based in the Mountain West.
“Our fourth fund is an important milestone for Kickstart, and
Souter Investments, the family investment office of Sir Brian Souter, has sold its majority stake in Baywater Healthcare UK to Bastide Group, a specialist in the sale and rental of home medical equipment in France.
Baywater delivers oxygen-therapy, sleep apnoea therapy and non-invasive ventilation therapy services to patients in the home. It is the only independent company serving the UK market, alongside three major gas group subsidiaries.
Souter Investments backed the acquisition of Baywater, a Buy-In Management Buy-Out carve out of Air Products’ Homecare operations in the UK and Ireland, in November 2013. The deal was originated by Duke
Stage Capital (Stage), a private equity and real estate investor backed by funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Glendower Capital, has sold STI Group to a consortium of private equity firms Mérieux Développement and GIMV.
STI Group is a fast-growing developer and manufacturer of plastic medical devices for the healthcare industry. Stage has sold its 92.5 per cent stake in the business, having transformed a diversified moulding company acquired in 2013 into a pure-play medical devices business which stage says is very well positioned to become a key player in the connected devices market.
This transformation, together
Tikehau Capital is backing Ring Capital, a venture capital firm founded by Geoffroy Bragadir and Nicolas Celier in 2017. Tikehau Capital has also acquired a 25 per cent stake in the company.
Ring Capital, which has also secured investment from AG2R La Mondiale, BPI France, Bred and Danone, is launching with an initial investment capacity of over EUR140 million. The fund will be investing in growth stage companies with the potential to become European tech leaders, working closely with entrepreneurs.
Ring Capital plans to acquire minority interests by investing between EUR1 million and EUR15 million either on its own or with co-investors and
Faced with low interest rates and relatively high valuations for risk assets, large global institutional investors are looking to protect themselves against downturn risks through maintaining their cash levels and selectively increasing allocations to active strategies.
That’s according to a new survey by BlackRock which finds that while 65 per cent of clients plan to leave cash allocations unchanged for the year ahead, there is an interest in active management among institutional investors, which should play out across a diverse set of alternative asset classes, including illiquid assets and hedge funds, and also within public equities.
The survey of
Q&A with Brett Hickey (pictured), Founder and CEO, Star Mountain Capital – Star Mountain is a specialised asset manager focused on investing in the largest segment of established businesses in the US economy – private businesses that generally have between USD10 million and USD150 million in annual revenues or USD3 million to USD15 million of EBITDA (often referred to lower middle-market companies, though based on how certain managers characterise the space, one might say we invest in the “lower end” of the “lower middle-market”).
What is the investment philosophy at Star Mountain?
There are many ways we think about our philosophy.
With US private equity managers contending with record high valuations in US markets, seeking out attractive yield opportunities has become a considerable challenge.
Granted, last year saw a number of significant fund launches. The most notable were Apollo Global Management’s USD24.7 billion Apollo Investment Fund IX – the largest PE fund in history – and CVC Capital Partners’ seventh fund vintage (CVC Capital Partners VII), which closed with USD16 billion. But these are outliers. And whilst the majority of mid-sized PE managers were able to raise capital, putting it to work has been the bigger challenge.
This has pushed US
Dutch investment firm Egeria is to acquire a majority interest in the textile wholesale company Nooteboom Textiles. The Nooteboom family will remain a significant shareholder in the company.
Financial details of the transaction, which is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks, have not been disclosed.
Founded in 1852, Nooteboom Textiles is a specialised wholesaler of women’s and children’s clothing fabrics and is the market leader in Europe.
Sander Nooteboom, head of the family business since 1994, says: “We have grown rapidly in recent years, both within the Netherlands and internationally. Thanks to Egeria’s participation, we can
Independent Growth Finance (IGF) has delivered a GBP250k factoring facility to Gabriels Care & Nursing Agency, a provider of care for the elderly, people with learning and physical disabilities, patients with dementia and those in need of palliative care.
In September 2016, Gabriels Care & Nursing Agency was appointed as a first-tier NHS care provider, which allowed the business to win new contracts and expand into providing residential care. As a result, cashflow at Gabriels Care & Nursing Agency was affected due to higher associated wage bills and increased agency hours. The business therefore sought a flexible financier to support
Blue Point Capital Partners has sold its interest in LineStar Services, to LineStar Integrity Services, a portfolio company of energy focused private equity firm, First Reserve.
LineStar was a portfolio company in Blue Point II, which is the Firm’s 2006 vintage middle-market buyout fund with commitments of USD400 million. Sale terms have not been disclosed.
LineStar, headquartered in Houston, Texas, provides a full suite of integrity, maintenance and construction services to owners and operators of oil and gas midstream infrastructure through its operating subsidiaries Tucker Construction and Tucker Midstream. The Company operates out of eight locations in Oklahoma and Texas, providing
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