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BlackFin Capital Partners is launching a venture fund focused on FinTech opportunities across Europe.
The venture fund, which will be supported by a new dedicated FinTech team led by Julien Creuzé and Maxime Mandin, will focus on the FinTech sector including all aspects of banking, payments, wealth and asset-management, brokerage, insurance, insurance distribution, financial software and technology, technology related to regulatory requirements, and financial media.
After a first wave of FinTech start-ups mainly focusing on distribution and customer relationship, new ventures are now providing full stack financial services rethinking the whole value chain, BlackFin says.
The fund
Demica, a provider of working capital solutions to major corporates and banks, has appointed Daniel Kustrin as chief technology officer.
Kustrin will be responsible for the firm’s technology needs, including overseeing the growth and development of Demica’s proprietary platform that enables the financing of over USD50 billion of trade receivables each year.
He will play a key role in the growth of the firm as it invests in new product development.
Kustrin joins Demica from Cardano Risk Management where he was global head of technology for development and infrastructure across locations in the UK and the Netherlands.
Law firm Howard Kennedy has kicked off the 2016/17 VCT season with the early launch of the Octopus Titan VCT from Octopus Investments. The new share offer from the UK’s largest venture capital trust is seeking to raise up to GBP120 million for its GBP309 million fund.
It follows last year’s unprecedented success, where Octopus raised GBP100 million in just seven months.
Octopus Titan VCT invests in a portfolio of early stage companies, a number of which have grown to be established house-hold names such as Zoopla Property Group, Graze.com and SwiftKey.
As well as being the first of the 2016/17 season, Octopus Titan
ASIFMA and ICMA have released a “Guide to Infrastructure Financing in Asia”, the first guide of its kind to outline how infrastructure projects can be financed in Asia including through the capital markets.
It is intended to help public authorities, project sponsors, project promoters and issuers interested in raising debt for infrastructure projects in Asia.
The guide is designed to provide practical guidance on raising debt finance through banks and the capital markets, taking into account planning and procurement issues in the transaction process. In particular, the guide focuses on the debt component of financing, rather than equity, and
Roundtree Automotive Group has formed a long-term partnership with Lantern Capital Partners, a middle-market private investment firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Roundtree Capital Partners will focus on the acquisition of high-quality automotive dealerships throughout the US.
Roundtree is the holding company for retail franchises of automotive-related companies extending from California to Louisiana. The formation of Roundtree Capital Partners represents a continuation of a focused approach to acquisitions and building relationships across the automotive industry.
Roundtree’s acquisition strategy is to partner with local entrepreneurial dealership managers who maintain minority equity ownership and have a desire to significantly improve performance.
Six months after creating a consolidation platform in the aeronautical subcontracting sector, Mecadaq Group and Activa Capital have acquired RBDH Marignier, a manufacturer of precision-made gearings with a turnover of EUR8 million.
Located in the Arve Valley, Marignier is an independent subsidiary of the industrial group RBDH.
Its revenues have grown in recent years, notably thanks to partnerships with leading clients such as Zodiac Aerospace, Somfy, Dura Automotive Sytems, Alkan and Hutchinson.
Mecadaq Group has a turnover of EUR20 million in aeronautical subcontracting, mainly from high-precision aerostructural manufacturing, such as aircraft doors for civil aircraft manufacturers Airbus and
Peer Funding, a newly FCA authorised peer to peer business lending platform, has appointed Gill Fielding as non-executive chairperson.
Fielding, a Chartered Accountant, is a public speaker on macro-economic affairs, wealth creation, financial education, property and investing skills.
Aside from taking part in Channel 4’s Secret Millionaire, Fielding makes frequent appearances as a financial commentator for the BBC, ITV and CNBC channels and is currently a financial expert for a regular phone-in show on BBC radio.
Malcolm Piper, managing director, says: “Gill comes from a background of significant achievement and success; she has a unique skill set and
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher has appointed James Howe as a partner in the firm’s London office.
Formerly a partner with Proskauer Rose in London, Howe will continue his private equity and mergers and acquisitions practice at Gibson Dunn.
Ken Doran, chairman and managing partner of Gibson Dunn, says: “James will be a strong addition to our private equity and public and private M&A capabilities in the UK. Continuing to build our transactional capability in London is critical to establishing the bench strength and visibility needed to achieve long-term success in the UK and global markets.”
“James will be a
Joshua J Yang has joined the Chicago office of K&L Gates as a partner in the firm’s investment management, hedge funds and alternative investments practice.
He joins K&L Gates from Winston & Strawn.
Yang represents investment managers in the formation and structuring of private funds, including hedge funds, commingled funds, and group and collective investment trusts.
A chartered financial analyst, he also advises banks, registered funds, and hedge funds in derivatives documentation as well as on a broad range of Dodd-Frank and US Commodity Futures Trading Commission registration and compliance issues.
Additionally, Yang counsels Chinese futures companies
Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the technology subsidiary of Prime Focus, has secured the first round of funding from Ambit Pragma, a growth capital private equity fund.
Ambit Pragma generally invests as the first institutional investor in companies and supports management teams in accelerating growth, leveraging its teams' operating experience.
PFT proposes to use the investment for intensifying development efforts of the SaaS products including CLEAR Media ERP and gaining deeper penetration and growth in strategic markets such as North America and EMEA with increased sales and marketing efforts.
PFT's flagship product CLEAR Media ERP is targeted at M&E
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