Latest News
Serra Ventures, a Champaign, Illinois-based venture capital firm, has appointed John Giuliani as a venture partner.
Giuliani has over 30 years of experience helping and growing successful businesses. He took the helm of Dotomi and built the company until it was sold for USD295 million.
Subsequently, as CEO of Conversant, Giuliani led the company to significant growth and a USD2.3 billion exit to Alliance Data in December 2014.
“I am very pleased to welcome John as a venture partner to our team,” says Tim Hoerr, managing partner and CEO of Serra Ventures. “John has great expertise in a variety of business domains
Law firm Howard Kennedy has advised Lynx Equity on its acquisition of specialist label printer Label Express.
The acquisition completed on 12 April and is Lynx Equity’s second UK investment.
Lynx Equity is a Canadian-based private equity firm with a diverse portfolio of companies across North America. It invests in small and medium sized businesses, typically valued between USD1 million and USD10 million, where owners wish to retire. Its first investment in the UK was the acquisition earlier in 2017 of specialist bathroom and kitchen storage company SignalHome. Further UK acquisitions are expected.
Label Express has for the past 30
Corporate credit specialist Muzinich & Co has added to its European private debt team with the appointment of Jan Henrik Reichenbach as head of DACH private debt (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).
He will be based in the firm’s Frankfurt office.
Reichenbach has more than 17 years of financing and capital markets experience and joins the firm from Ernst & Young where he was a partner in the capital & debt advisory team for the DACH region. He was focused on relationships with financial investors as well as providing financing advice to companies in special situations.
Prior to joining Ernst
The Gores Group is to sell Fotona Holdings to AGIC Capital, a European-Asian cross border private equity firm focused on industrial technology and healthcare investments in Europe and the US.
The Gores Group acquired Fotona in 2014 through its Small Capitalisation Partners investment fund.
Founded in 1964, Fotona is a Central European manufacturer of high performance lasers for medical, dental and aesthetic applications. Fotona sells these systems through a network of 70-plus worldwide distributors and through a direct salesforce in the US.
In January 2014 Gores partnered with Jeff Jones, the founder of Fotona’s US product distributor, to
Sfoglia Torino has acquired 100 per cent of the capital of Idea Quick, an Italian frozen puff pastry producer, with growth capital provided by Unigrains.
The acquisition follows an expansion process launched in February 2017, in which Enzo Perrino, the CEO of Sfoglia Torino, acquired Righi Srl in view of consolidating the frozen puff pastry sector.
In 2016, Sfoglia Torino saw sales of roughly EUR11 million, up nearly 10 per cent compared to 2015. Following the acquisitions of Righi and Idea Quick, the newly created group surpasses EUR30 million in sales and can further invest in opportunities for sustainable
Private equity firm Omnes Capital invested a total of EUR167 million invested in 2016, supporting 13 new companies such as Bankin’, Mes Docteurs and Ducatillon.
It also completed 24 disposals representing EUR416 million – an increase of 58 per cent compared with 2015.
These included SIMP (4.9x), Nomios (4.8x) and Denyall (2x), as well as the sale of a portfolio of 100 MW of wind and solar energy assets developed in partnership with SMEs in the sector.
Omnes Capital achieved a gross IRR of 15 per cent on the CACI fund (launched in 2005), which was fully divested
Three new partners are joining Baker McKenzie's M&A and private equity practices in London.
This is a continuation of the firm’s 2020 strategy to increase bench strength in London in M&A, private equity, banking and finance and double headcount in New York.
David Duncan joins from Allen & Overy as an M&A partner focussed on the energy, mining and infrastructure (EMI) industry vertical. He has extensive expertise of working on complex M&A deals and joint venture transactions for many of the key global players in the EMI sector.
Melanie Howard joins from Clifford Chance, also as an M&A partner.
AnaCap Financial Partners, a European financial services private equity firm, has acquired French business intelligence firm Ellisphere from Natixis.
Ellisphere provides a range of business and marketing information services, which allow its clients to develop their portfolio of customers, manage risk and monitor client exposure.
AnaCap says there is potential for growth in Ellisphere’s stable and recurring revenue streams through expanding value-added products and services to existing clients and via the growth of its overall client base. In addition, AnaCap plans to support the business in its expansion with new products aimed at SMEs.
Ellisphere has continued to
Schroders is to acquire Adveq Holding, a private equity solutions business, accelerating the growth of its private assets business.
The acquisition complements Schroders’ existing capabilities and expertise in the real estate and infrastructure finance sectors.
With more than USD7 billion of client commitments and a predominately Swiss and German client base, Adveq’s clients include some of the largest institutional investors and pension funds in the region. In recent years, Adveq has established a premium client base in the US and other international markets.
Peter Harrison (pictured), group chief executive of Schroders, says: “This acquisition is characterised by a
The 2016/17 financial year is the second most successful on record for the UK venture capital trust (VCT) market with a total of 18 funds coming to market and raising over GBP500 million, a total bettered only in 2004 when VCTs raised GBP779 million.
Law firm Howard Kennedy acted for 14 funds which collectively raised over GBP375 million.
Keith Lassman, partner and head of capital markets, says: “This is truly an impressive performance by VCTs and reflects the demand and appetite to invest in UK plc.
“What makes it all the more remarkable is that it follows tough
Special Reports
Featured
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
