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Jean Raby is to join Natixis on 20 February as CEO of Natixis Global Asset Management, in charge of its asset management, private banking and private equity business lines.
He will also be a member of the senior management committee.
“I would like to applaud Pierre Servant and thank him for his vital contribution to the success of Natixis’ strategy and in particular to the outstanding growth of the asset management business during his time at the helm. His vision for the business and his involvement with teams have made Natixis Global Asset Management one of the main asset
Crowdfunding outperformed private equity with investment into non-listed high growth companies in the UK in 2016, according to a report from research agency Beauhurst.
Seedrs, the Neil Woodford backed investment platform, has again been named top investor into private companies in the UK, with Crowdcube, another notable crowdfunding site coming in second.
Beauhurst says: “If there is a reason to be optimistic about prospects for equity finance, it lies with crowdfunding.”
Seedrs funded 134 deals in 2016, with Crowdcube behind on 124. In fact Seedrs confirmed that 2016 was the platform’s strongest year to date with more than GBP85
Mourant Ozannes has acted as Cayman Islands counsel for the buyer group in connection with the take-private of China Nepstar Chain Drugstore, a Cayman Islands exempted company formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The take-private was effected by way of a Cayman Islands statutory merger, pursuant to which China Nepstar ceased to be a publicly traded company and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the buyer group.
China Nepstar Chain Drugstore is a retail drugstore chain in China. As of 30 September 2015, the company had 1,965 directly operated stores across 71 cities, one headquarter distribution centre and
Fund-level benchmarks, which institutional investors have relied on for decades to evaluate private equity managers and opportunities, no longer provide a complete picture, according to investment firm Cambridge Associates (CA).
The continued expansion and evolution of the private equity market is challenging the singular usefulness of fund-level "net to limited partner (LP)" benchmarks, it says.
Investors' pursuit of co-investment and direct investments in portfolio companies; increased fee and carry variability across managers and LP investors; and managers' expansion into new strategies and geographies are complicating institutional investors' investment evaluation efforts. Investors need to go beyond fund-level benchmarks to judge
Palatine Private Equity-backed holiday park group Verdant Leisure has acquired its seventh leisure park.
Crosslaw Caravan Park in the Scottish Borders is the third holiday park purchase in the last nine months for the bespoke leisure park operator.
The park will be renamed Coldingham Bay Leisure Park with immediate effect and it brings Verdant Leisure’s portfolio to seven parks across southern Scotland and North East England.
This latest acquisition continues the company’s growth strategy to create a strong regional group with significant scale. Verdant Leisure is keen to add further parks to its offering during 2017.
Located
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has formed a consortium of investors to participate in the secondary public offering (SPO) of PhosAgro shares.
Together with RDIF, the Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF), which was established by RDIF and the China Investment Corporation, and funds from the Middle East participated in the acquisition of a minority equity position in one of the world’s largest vertically-integrated producers of mineral fertilizers.
Kirill Dmitriev (pictured), co-CEO of RCIF and CEO of RDIF, says: “We believe in the attractiveness of the Russian equity market and are willing to participate in numerous notable offerings alongside our
Shard Capital Partners has held the first closing of the Suir Valley Venture Fund of Suir Valley Funds ICAV, the first Irish focused venture capital fund in Ireland that uses a regulated fund with a fully regulated Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM).
The fund invests in early stage software companies in the financial technology, augmented reality, virtual reality and internet of things sectors.
The fund’s first close has been funded via commitments of up to EUR20 million from Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Government Agency, and Shard Capital.
UK based Shard Capital will be managing the fund in Ireland
Foresight Group has completed a GBP1.7 million investment into Midlands-based Online Poundshop as part of larger growth capital investment of more than GBP2 million.
Poundshop.com is an online-only, single price retailer, which sells everyday consumer products at better value than available in high street chains and supermarkets.
Focused on serving the growing multi-billion pound online value retail market, Poundshop.com’s proposition offers consumers 24-hour shopping, low cost home delivery and a wide range of products. Poundshop.com sells numerous household brands, including Gillette, Cadbury, Haribo, Fairy, Adidas and Coca-Cola.
Founded in 2014 by chairman Steve Smith, founder of Poundland, the
Cloud solutions provider (CSP) Cloud Direct has acquired Connect Support Services, following hot on the heels of its January acquisition of AOG Group, a Microsoft gold partner for hosting and communications.
In previous months, Cloud Direct acquired Redblade in July 2016, ihotdesk in December 2015 and Datel Business Systems in June 2015.
The acquisition of Connect Support Services further strengthens Cloud Direct’s customer services and technical support capabilities. As a gold Microsoft CSP partner, the acquisition bolsters Cloud Direct’s offerings around Microsoft Azure, Office 365 and hosted desktop.
Brett Raynes, founder and CEO of Cloud Direct, says: “Connect Support Services brings great people with a
One of First Allied Securities’ affiliated independent financial advisory firms, Lifestyle Financial Advisors, has completed the merger of the Laura A Nagle independent advisory practice into its organisation.
Nagle, a 35-year industry veteran, has joined Lifestyle with more than USD167 million in client assets, as of 31 October 2016.
First Allied, an affiliate of Cetera Financial Group, a network of independent firms, assisted in facilitating the transaction in support of Michael A Wegner, CWS, founder, president and CEO of Lifestyle.
Kevin Keefe, president and chief executive officer of First Allied, says: “First Allied is very pleased to have
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