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83North, an international venture capital firm with operations in Europe and Israel, has appointed Joe Tucci as a special Adviser.
Until September 2016, Tucci was the CEO and Chairman of EMC. He joined EMC in 2000 and led it to become one of the world’s leading and most respected technology companies. In 2016, EMCmerged with Dell, a global IT company. The deal was one of the biggest technology mergers in recent history and valued EMC at USD67 billion. Tucci stepped down from the organisation following the closure of the deal. Today, he is the Co-CEO and Co-Chairman of GTY Technology
BGF (Business Growth Fund) has invested an initial GBP2 million in Milk Visual Effects, an Oscar winning independent visual effects (VFX) company which creates innovative and complex visual effects for high-end television and feature films.
Milk will use the funding to expand its studios; invest in new technical equipment and R&D and hire the best industry talent, significantly increasing its capacity to work with the world’s leading feature film, high-end television and digital content producers such as Warner Bros., the BBC and Netflix.
Milk was founded by five VFX supervisors and producers in 2013, including current CEO and visual
Celanese Corporation (NYSE:CE), a global technology and specialty materials company, and funds managed by Blackstone (NYSE:BX), one of the world’s leading investment firms, are to form a joint venture (JV) that will create a global acetate tow supplier.
Celanese and Blackstone will own 70 per cent and 30 per cent of the JV, respectively.
Under the terms of the agreement, Celanese will contribute its Cellulose Derivatives business unit, including its equity interest in existing JVs with China National Tobacco Corporation, and Blackstone will contribute its Rhodia Acetow business unit, which it recently acquired from Solvay. The new company is
Russia and CIS-focused private equity business Elbrus Capital closed two important transactions at the end of May 2017, with both expected to be value accretive, improve investment returns and exit prospects for the firm’s investors.
The firm advised on the successfully completed merger of SPSR Express and DPD Russia, the two leading courier companies in Russia. The combined company will become the largest express logistics operator in Russia with a nationwide infrastructure, unparalleled competencies in all areas of logistics, a unique team of experts and enhanced customer offering. GeoPost, a subsidiary of La Poste, a postal service company in France,
Eurazeo, in partnership with West Street Capital Partners VII, a fund managed by the Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division (GS MBD), has completed the acquisition of Dominion Web Solutions (DWS), an integrated platform of branded marketplaces and digital marketing solutions for the powersport, RV, commercial truck and equipment industries.
Eurazeo and GS MBD reached an agreement in May 2017 to purchase the company. Eurazeo’s total investment is USD226 million for a 50 per cent equity stake.
This completes Eurazeo’s first investment in the US since opening its North America headquarters in September 2016.
UK mid market private equity specialist Graphite Capital has announced a number of promotions and appointments including the promotion of Mike Innes to Graphite’s Management Board.
Innes joined Graphite in 2005 and has led and structured a variety of investments, including Beck & Pollitzer, Trenchard Aviation and Dominion Gas. He has a particular focus on the industrial and energy sectors.
In addition, Liam McGivern has been promoted to investment director and Denise Bartolo to director of investor relations. McGivern joined Graphite in 2014 and has since been working on a number of transactions in the services sector, including Graphite’s
The UK ranks No1 in educational technology venture capital and angel funding in Europe, contributing 34 per cent (GBP178 million) of the total, according to Benjamin Vedrenne-Cloquet, co-founder of London EdTech Week and EdtechXGlobal, and partner in IBIS Capital, a leading edtech investment firm.
The educational technology sector is one of the fastest growing in the UK and has now reached the same number of digital companies as financial technology, or fintech. The UK has more than more than 1200 edtech companies, approximately a quarter of the total number in Europe.
The GBP178 million comprises investments from UK based
Scopely, a free-to-play interactive entertainment network, has raised USD60 million in a Series C financing led by Revolution Growth, which is helmed by former AOL executives, Steve Case, Donn Davis, and Ted Leonsis.
Revolution Growth Managing Partner Donn Davis will join Scopely’s Board; additional investors in the round include Greenspring Associates, Sands Capital Ventures, Cross Creek Advisors, and Pritzker Group Venture Capital. Scopely, which has grown its revenues by nine-fold over the past nine quarters, will use the funds for strategic investments, commercial partnerships and acquisitions.
“Closing less than 12 months after our Series B financing, Scopely’s new USD60M
Wecast Network has formed a Joint Venture (JV) called Seven Stars He Ying Smart Cloud (SSHY), with Beijing HE YING Fund Management Limited (He Ying).
The JV, which will be 51 per cent owned by Wecast and be added to the Product Sales Cloud, will focus on several strategic areas using Wecast’s burgeoning BASE + VPaaS infrastructure: supply chain finance, supply chain management and financial settlement for both the automotive and commodities industries as well as a global commodity index exchange module based on the NextGen Exchange Group’s existing platform, trading system and technology (as previously announced, Wecast recently acquired
Centricus, a global investment platform, has acquired a 30 per cent stake in Global Investment Holdings (GIH), an infrastructure investment company listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange, focusing on investments in ports, power and real estate.
The port business, Global Ports Holding (GPH), was listed on the London Stock Exchange in May 2017, completing one of the largest flotations of the year. GPH is the largest independent cruise port operator in the world with operations across Europe and Asia, including key ports in Barcelona, Venice, Lisbon and Malaga, and expansion plans in the Caribbean and East Asia. The power business
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