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Baird Capital has sold its portfolio company Watkins Hire to Carrier Rental Systems (UK).
The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Founded in 1998, Watkins is a provider of industrial and commercial heating and cooling equipment rental services. Watkins supplies heaters, steam and water boilers, fuel tanks, dehumidifiers, air handlers, air conditioning and chillers to a wide variety of blue chip clients. The company also has a dedicated events division, providing equipment rental at UK and international major events, including the 2012 London Olympics.
Headquartered in Lydney, Watkins has four depots dedicated to serving its customers
After quarterly fintech investment to venture capital-backed companies peaked as high as USD5 billion-plus in 2015, investors are continuing to take a much more cautious approach to fintech investments this year.
That’s according to Pulse of Fintech, a quarterly report on global fintech VC trends by KPMG International and CB Insights, which finds that funding for the sector fell 17 per cent to USD2.4 billion in Q3 2016.
Overall global investment in fintech companies across both venture-backed and non-venture-backed companies totalled USD2.9 billion in Q3 2016, while the quarter saw deal activity fall 12 per cent to 178 deals.
Seedrs alumnus FreeAgent has floated on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM, marking the first time an equity crowdfunded company has gone on to IPO.
This announcement comes directly after Beauhurst announced that Seedrs has completed 122 deals in private companies by the end of Q3. This is more than any other investor during the period, according to a report released by the independent research firm.
More than GBP160 million has now been invested into campaigns on Seedrs since July 2012 when the company launched and October became a record-breaking month with almost GBP20 million invested into campaigns.
Perkbox,
Kirkland & Ellis has advised EMR Capital, a mining private equity manager, on the closing of the oversubscribed EMR Capital Resources Fund II with commitments of USD860 million.
The fund, which will make investments in global metals and mining companies and projects, accepted commitments from a broad mix of global institutional investors, including endowments, foundations, family offices and fund of funds.
The Kirkland team was led by London-based investment funds partner Christopher Braunack, investment funds associates Jennifer Feng, Holly Clarke, Feni Ajumogobia and David Pritchett and New York-based tax partner David Grenker.
Funds managed by Inflexion Private Equity have completed a partnership capital, minority investment in Outdoor Plus, a provider of digital advertising sites in the UK.
Founded in 2006 by its managing director Jonathan Lewis, Outdoor Plus is a provider of large format digital advertising screens and banners at iconic London sites including the Hyde Park underpass, the Euston Underpass and the City of London Gateway.
Recently, the company won a contract with TfL to bring digital advertising screens to road underpasses across the capital.
Reaching audiences of over 40 million every fortnight, Outdoor Plus serves brands such as
Alternative investment consultancy Lionpoint Group has partnered with eFront and Foresight Group to implement a fully integrated front-to-back office solution across all of Foresight's investment activities.
Lionpoint will act as project manager and lead consultant working closely with Foresight business representatives and eFront technical resources to configure and deploy eFront's flagship product, FrontInvest, as well as the latest version of eFront's market leading investor relations portal, eFront Investment Café.
Foresight manages some GBP2 billion of infrastructure and private equity assets in the UK, US, Southern Europe and Australia.
As an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and venture capital trust (VCT) managers,
Private equity and venture capital firm Insight Venture Partners has appointed Ian Sandler as chief operating officer (COO).
He will have direct responsibility across legal, finance, compliance, investor relations, IT, HR and onsite and will focus on scaling the organisation.
Sandler will report directly to managing director Deven Parekh.
"Over nearly two decades, Ian has built an impressive track record of strategic and operational accomplishments. We are pleased to welcome Ian to the Insight Venture Partners team," says Parekh. "Ian's leadership experience, strategic thinking and proven ability to deliver results have made us confident he is the right person
Law firm Howard Kennedy is acting for Octopus Apollo VCT on the issue of its 2017 prospectus and on its proposed merger with Octopus Eclipse VCT.
Its 2017 issue will see Octopus Apollo VCT target a fundraise of GBP20 million.
The proposed merger with Octopus Eclipse VCT will bring efficiencies in the annual running and administration costs whilst enabling it to spread portfolio risks across a broader range of investments.
Howard Kennedy is the only English law firm able to act as both sponsor, through Howard Kennedy Corporate Services, and legal adviser to VCTs. The firm acts for 80
Activa Capital and Paluel-Marmont Capital are selling their stake in Gaz Europeén to DCC, a shareholder of Butagaz since 2015.
Following the acquisition of an equity interest and a capital increase in December 2013, Activa Capital and Paluel-Marmont Capital have been accompanying the development of Gaz Européen as shareholders alongside the founders (majority shareholders) and the management.
The DCC group has submitted a binding offer to acquire Gaz Européen, a natural gas retail and marketing business which supplies business and public sector customers in France, founded in 2005 when the French natural gas market was first deregulated and opened
Financial technology group ayondo has acquired the TradeHero brand, a Singapore investor education app that has been ranked the number one Apple iOS finance app in over 90 countries.
The acquisition for TradeHero’s brand outside of China and the US, further expands ayondo’s footprint in Singapore nearly a year after it announced a partnership with KGI Fraser Securities to launch KGI Contrax, a platform for investors to trade Contracts for Difference (CFD).
ayondo’s social trading platform allows retail investors to copy the trades of experts.
Robert Lempka, CEO of the ayondo Group, says: “For ayondo, mobile technology is
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