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Renewed focus on infrastructure projects in North America has benefited the unlisted infrastructure market in the region, according to data released by Preqin.
Over the past decade, North America-focused funds have raised an aggregate USD178 billion, far ahead of USD119 billion raised in the same period for Europe, the next largest market. Although North America-focused unlisted infrastructure fundraising experienced a gradual decline from 2013 to 2015, the region represents the largest infrastructure fundraising market in the world. 2016 was a record year for the region, with 23 funds securing USD33 billion in capital commitments, including the largest infrastructure fund ever
UBS Asset Management’s Archmore International Infrastructure Fund II is to acquire a 10.8 per cent interest in CPV Towantic Energy Centre (CPV Towantic), a 785-megawatt combined-cycle power generation facility currently under construction in Connecticut, marking the Fund’s second investment in the US market and fifth investment in the Fund.
The interest is being acquired from a General Electric unit, GE Energy Financial Services (GE). GE will retain a 24.5 per cent stake in the project with the other partners in CPV Towantic being affiliates of Ullico Inc. (13.7 per cent) and Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) (51.0 per cent).
The completed
Patron Capital has completed its acquisition of Punch Taverns (Punch) for 180 pence in cash per share, valuing the equity of Punch at approximately GBP402 million and implying an enterprise value of around GBP1.8 billion.
Punch is an owner of tenanted pubs in the UK. In the 12 months to March 2017, the Punch estate reported underlying EBITDA of around GBP172 million and comprised approximately 3,200 pubs located across the UK, 96 per cent of which are held on a freehold or long leasehold basis. Punch operates its pubs predominantly under the tied leased and tenanted model, with a growing
The FCA expects the number of managers that can be held personally responsible for misconduct will reach 72,000 after the extension of the Senior Managers’ and Certification Regime (SMCR), according to data provided to financial services law firm Cleveland & Co.
Cleveland & Co says that this represents a dramatic increase in the 3,159 managers that the SMCR was applicable to in 2016.
The FCA recently confirmed proposals to extend the SMCR to all sectors of the financial services industry, namely to all firms who are regulated by the FCA, and it expects to do this by 2018.
Bridg, a marketing software company that leverages point-of-sale data to drive precision-marketing campaigns for restaurant and retail brands, has secured USD11 million in Series B Funding.
The financing was led by Morpheus Ventures, with participation from new investors NextEquity Partners and Visa, as well as returning investor March Capital.
“Bridg solves the huge information disadvantage of brick and mortar retailers and restaurants relative to their online counterparts. Bridg uses artificial intelligence and big-data probabilistic models to help restaurants and retailers identify who their customers are, how often they visit and their specific buying habits, all of which enhances the
Chief Outsiders, an “Executives-as-a-Service” firm offering fractional Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) to mid-sized companies across the nation, has been named on the Inc 5000 2017 list as one of the country’s fastest growing companies.
This is the fourth consecutive year Chief Outsiders has earned a place on the list, with the company achieving revenue growth between 2014 and 2016 of nearly 190 per cent. CEO and founder Art Saxby attributes that growth to the company’s rapid expansion in Private Equity (PE) – it recently doubled the number of PE-owned businesses it serves, making this the fastest growing segment of Chief
Enterprise Ventures, part of Mercia Technologies PLC, has expanded its early-stage equity team with the appointment of Jonny Sharp as Investment Manager.
Sharp joins Enterprise Ventures’ new Leeds office as a member of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) Equity Team covering the Leeds City Region and is focused on early-stage growth capital investments into innovative, high growth businesses in the region.
Prior to joining Enterprise Ventures, Sharp spent four years working at Zeus Capital, floating companies on the stock market and working with Northern mid-market companies and their management teams. Jonny qualified as a Chartered Accountant at Deloitte
ICEYE, a specialist in synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) technology for micro-satellites, has secured USD13 million in new funding, including an USD8.5 million financing round led by Draper Nexus.
ICEYE will use the latest funding to scale up operations, including manufacturing of the company’s SAR technology built from off-the-shelf components, and launch additional satellites. ICEYE plans to launch the first three micro-satellites equipped with SAR sensors over the next 12 months, delivering earth observation data to select customers shortly thereafter.
This USD8.5 million round also included participation from True Ventures, Lifeline Ventures, Space Angels, and Draper Associates. Additional funding was received
Private equity and venture capital investments into companies in the Central and Eastern Europe region reached a total of EUR1.6 billion in 2016 – the highest amount since 2009 – new data from Invest Europe reveals.
Investment capital last year was most focused on Poland, followed by the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Romania and Hungary respectively, according to the industry association’s new Central and Eastern Europe Private Equity Statistics 2016 report. Consumer goods and services was the most targeted sector, attracting 23 per cent of the investment value, while information and communication technology (ICT) was a close second with 22 per
Jaisal Pastakia, Investment Manager at Heartwood Investment Management comments on sterling’s fall to an eight-year low…
The single currency’s strength this year is a far cry from the days when investors feared its demise. Year-to-date the euro is up 8 per cent against sterling and 12 per cent against the US dollar.
The euro’s resurgence this year has come on the back of an improving growth backdrop – note yesterday’s flash PMI reading for August – together with receding political risks, following the market favourable election results in the Netherlands and France. At this point, the upcoming German election
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