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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
Pamplona Capital Management and JP Morgan Asset Management have sold Beacon Rail Leasing to institutional investors advised by JP Morgan Asset Management.
Headquartered in Luxembourg with additional offices in London and Boston, Beacon Rail’s current portfolio includes 225 locomotives, over 1000 freight wagons, 55 passenger train units, 67 double decker coaches and 13 sets of five-car intercity carriages on lease in the UK, Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Austria, and the Netherlands.
Ted Gaffney, the CEO of Beacon Rail, will continue to lead the company, supported by the existing management team.
Matt LeBlanc, chief investment officer for
Microvast Power System (MPS) has secured USD400 million in a funding round led by CITIC Securities.
Additional investors included CDH Investment and National Venture Capital.
MPS is a vertically integrated developer and manufacturer of advanced Electric Vehicle Power System solutions, based on the company's fast charging, long-life, and non-flammable Li-ion battery systems. The company has been operating battery systems in more than 15,000 electric and hybrid-electric vehicles in over 140 cities.
"MPS was founded to provide power solutions for electric vehicles. We established 'fast charging, long-life, and non-flammable' as our battery R&D goal back in 2008," says Yang Wu, CEO
Timico, a managed cloud service provider (MCSP), has appointed managed IT specialist Neville Davis to a new position as non-executive chairman.
An entrepreneurial business leader with over 20 years’ experience as a chief executive, including 12 years at a quoted company, Davis has a particularly strong track record in scaling and developing private-equity backed companies, having chaired and grown other tech businesses to in excess of GBP300 million turnover and 1,500 employees.
His appointment follows a GBP50 million investment in Timico by growth investors Lyceum Capital in February 2017 as part of Timico’s plans for growth and to finance
Collas Crill has advised on the establishment of BioMedInvest III, BioMedPartners' third Guernsey-domiciled equity venture capital fund, closing at CHF75 million.
BioMedInvest III is a collective investment scheme authorised by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. It is the third Guernsey-domiciled BioMedPartners fund, administered by Louvre Fund Services.
The fund is a healthcare venture capital fund which invests in private early-to-mid-stage companies in Switzerland, Germany and neighbouring countries of the European Union.
The Collas Crill team comprised of group partner and investment fund specialist Paul Wilkes and associate Alex Wickens.
Wilkes says: "The ongoing confidence shown in Guernsey
Cera, a technology-enabled homecare start-up, has secured an additional GBP1.4 million in seed funding, closing a total of GBP2.7 million in six months.
Existing investor Credo Ventures, headquartered in Prague, led the round, alongside several new institutional investors including Paris-based Kima Ventures.
Co-founded a year ago by Dr Ben Maruthappu and Marek Sacha, Cera is a CQC-registered homecare provider that uses state-of-the-art technology to improve quality and efficiency, matching those needing social care with a highly experienced carer, at the right time, in the right place. Since its official launch in November 2016, Cera is now experiencing 40 per
Caltius Equity Partners has sold its equity interest in Impact Facility Services to Boston-based Audax Private Equity.
Impact is Caltius Equity’s third investment in the facilities services sector.
Impact is a provider of integrated fire and life safety services, including complementary self-perform and vendor-managed operations. During its ownership, Caltius Equity partnered with Impact’s management to expand operations through three strategic acquisitions, build a management team, and invest in technology to drive efficiencies and increase the company’s growth trajectory.
“Caltius Equity has been an excellent advisor and partner,” says Mike Lloyd, CEO of Impact. “They understood our vision of
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