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Digital media platform Drivetribe has completed a USD5.5 million Series A funding round led by Breyer Capital with additional participation by Atomico and other individual investors.
Drivetribe, which expects to officially launch in November 2016, aims to become the top digital publishing home for motoring.
The company was co-founded by a five-member team, including former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, former Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman and serial technology and media entrepreneur Ernesto Schmitt.
The platform will support video, articles, social and interactive content – structured into different content streams called “tribes”
Fast-growth small and medium-sized enterprises stand to be the big winners from the Australian Federal Government’s proposed new National Innovation Fund, says the Australian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association Limited (AVCAL).
“We know that the nation’s economic prosperity rests on our capacity to nurture more competitive and innovative Australian businesses,” says Yasser El-Ansary, AVCAL’s chief executive.
“The government’s commitment to explore the creation of a new innovation investment fund to help support the growth of mid-market businesses through partnerships with experienced private capital managers is a major step forward. It is great to see the government acknowledging industry
Clearwater International has advised the owners of Dutch European Camping Group (ECG) on its sale to French Homair Group (HOMAIR), a provider of camping holidays.
In 2016, ECG will assist more than 100,000 guests when booking their camping holidays and short family vacations. The majority of holidays sold are camping under ECG’s high-end brands, Roan and Go4Camp.
ECG currently owns 1,500 mobile homes and 1,000 luxury tents on various campsites in Italy, France, Croatia and Slovenia. Third party camping holidays are sold on the online platforms www.allcamps.nl and www.go4holiday.nl, which are owned and managed by ECG.
HOMAIR’s acquisition
Having recently announced GBP70 million in long-term funding, rent-to-buy specialist Rentplus has secured a further GBP20 million from Crestline Investors to expand its nationwide pipeline of delivering affordable homes.
The company, which was formed in 2012 and is planning to deliver 5,000 new homes by 2020, can draw the initial GBP20 million over the next two years and also has the option for a further GBP20 million.
Earlier this year, Rentplus, which is in contract to deliver homes in Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Essex, Suffolk, Northants, Devon, Somerset, West Devon, South Hams, Sedgemoor, Plymouth and Bicester by March next year,
Mid-market private equity investor Equistone Partners Europe has acquired a majority stake in United Initiators (UI), investing alongside the firm’s current management.
Equistone has acquired the business from Vision Capital and Speyside Equity for an undisclosed sum.
Headquartered in Pullach, Germany, UI is the largest focused global producer of speciality chemical initiators.
With over a century of history, UI globally offers a broad range of organic peroxides, persulfates and selected speciality chemicals. Its broad and diverse portfolio comprises products across four specific business segments: speciality polymers, thermosets, high polymers and chemical specialities. The company employs 600 full-time employees
CEL Global Investment Fund, a private equity fund sponsored and managed by China Everbright Limited (CEL), has completed its first closing with total capital commitments of approximately USD264 million.
CEL Global Investment GP Limited and CEL Global Management Company Limited, each an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of CEL, serve as the general partner and the investment manager of the fund, respectively.
The fund will primarily invest in equities and equity-linked securities of companies established in North America and Europe. The investment targets will generally have proven operational track record and a sound business model with strong growth in the
Marketing automation software developer Marketo has been acquired by Vista Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on investments in software, data, and technology-enabled businesses.
The transaction, originally announced on 31 May 2016, was completed on 16 August.
The acquisition – which combines Marketo's product and industry leadership with Vista's investment and operating model for high-growth SaaS companies – begins the next phase of growth for Marketo, in which the company will continue to focus on setting the agenda for innovation and thought leadership for the digital marketing industry.
"Ten years ago, we embarked on a journey to
Susa Ventures has held the closing of Susa Ventures II, a USD50 million seed stage venture fund.
The firm plans to make a dozen investments each year in companies that have found strong product/market fit and are building long-term defensibility through proprietary data, network effects and economies of scale.
Susa's first fund, which had a similar focus, is a portfolio of 41 companies that includes Flexport, which achieves economies of scale by handling high shipment volumes; Casetext, which is building the leading resource for legal analysis using a growing network of legal experts; and LendUp, which leverages proprietary data
Funds managed by BlackRock’s alternative solutions group, in partnership with BlackRock Real Assets, are to invest approximately 10 per cent in the 1,100 MW combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) Cricket Valley electric generating facility.
Construction of the plant, which will use General Electric 7FA.05 combustion turbine generators, is expected to begin in Q4 2016 and is projected to be completed in Q4 2019.
Once constructed, the project will benefit from an attractive location providing electricity to a supply-constrained lower Hudson Valley and New York City markets.
“We’re pleased to partner with Advanced Power on Cricket Valley and we
Sobera Capital has taken over the management of S-Refit in Regensburg, effective 1 July 2016.
Simultaneously, Sobera Capital also assumed management of associated vehicles S-Refit EFRE Fonds Bayern (EFRE), medTECH Capital Fonds and S-Partner Kapital. All vehicles together have 23 active portfolio companies.
The transaction involved a complex restructuring of the operations and balance sheet. Two experienced investment directors and the head of finance and controlling have joined Sobera Capital. In the course of the transaction, Sobera Capital also secured a debt financing for S-Refit.
Sobera Capital is a Berlin based independent secondary direct investor with a focus
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