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Mid-market private equity firm LDC has backed the management buyout of CIPHR, a vendor of human capital management (HCM) software, to further develop its SaaS offering and expand its product range.
CIPHR, which is headquartered in Marlow, provides HR management software targeted at small and medium sized organisations (SMEs) with between 100 and 5,000 employees. Its cloud-based technology is designed to make human resource functions more efficient, spanning the employee lifecycle from talent attraction, recruitment and on-boarding, absence and core to learning and development, employee rewards and benefits.
The investment will enable the business to further drive sales effectiveness
Ares Capital Corporation and American Capital have signed a merger agreement whereby Ares Capital will acquire American Capital, excluding American Capital Mortgage Management.
The combined company would have on a pro forma basis more than USD13 billion of investments at fair value as of March 31, 2016. The Boards of Directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction.
Under the terms of the Ares transaction, American Capital shareholders will receive approximately USD3.43 billion in total cash and stock consideration or USD14.95 per fully diluted share. In a separate transaction, American Capital also announced today that it is selling American
BGF (Business Growth Fund), a provider of growth capital to small and mid-sized businesses, is celebrating celebrates five years of growth during which it has invested nearly GBP850 million in a diverse portfolio of more than 125 companies including manufacturers, retailers, technology providers, restaurants and more.
The milestone follows BGF’s strongest ever quarter; BGF invested over GBP100 million in the first three months of 2016 and is on course to pass GBP1 billion in committed investments later this year – a clear signal of the growing demand for this type of support among Britain’s entrepreneurial businesses.
The last five
Rail rolling stock leasing company Beacon Rail Leasing, a portfolio company of Pamplona Capital, is to purchase 13 sets of five-car intercity carriages which will be leased to TransPennine Express Limited (TPE), a FirstGroup plc company.
The carriages will be manufactured by Spanish manufacturer, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (“CAF”) and are currently scheduled to be placed into service in 2018. Beacon’s Class 68 diesel locomotives, which are leased to Direct Rail Services (DRS), will initially haul the carriages between Liverpool and Newcastle and will be sub-leased from DRS to TPE.
Beacon owns a diverse portfolio of freight and passenger
FactSet Research Systems is to sell its market research business focused on advisor-sold investments and insurance, consisting of Market Metrics and Matrix Solutions, to Asset International, a portfolio company of Genstar Capital.
The total purchase price is approximately USD165 million, subject to certain working capital adjustments, with an additional earn-out of USD10 million based on the achievement of certain growth targets over the next two years.
“This transaction is consistent with our long-term strategic direction and our commitment to delivering value to our shareholders,” says Phil Snow, Chief Executive Officer of FactSet. “We appreciate the efforts of the dedicated employees
The asset management industry faces a ‘triple whammy’ of challenges in 2016 – comprising a growing threat from disruptors, a tsunami of regulation and market turmoil – according to a new industry survey from Multifonds.
Multifonds’ annual ‘Every Fund survey’, which surveyed fund managers and administrators who manage and service assets exceeding USD27 trillion and USD19 trillion respectively, highlights the key challenges and concerns facing the asset management industry today.
Over half (54 per cent) of respondents believe a new game changing disruptor, such as Amazon or Google will enter the market in the next two years.
The
Equistone Partners Europe-backed WEALTH at work – a provider of financial education in the workplace for the private sector – has acquired the Affinity group of companies (The Farleigh Group Ltd) based in Bristol.
Affinity is a provider of financial education in the public sector with over 200 employers including local authorities, fire and police services and the NHS, throughout the UK. The acquisition is hugely significant, not only broadening coverage to now include both the private and public sectors, but also increasing assets under management to over GBP1.5 billion. Most importantly, the move comes at a time when public
BlackRock has named Mark Wiseman as incoming Senior Managing Director and a member of the firm’s Global Executive Committee (GEC).
Wiseman will become Head of BlackRock’s Global Active Equity business and will become Chairman of the BlackRock Global Investment Committee, the investment sub-committee of the GEC. He will also help support BlackRock Alternative Investors. Wiseman will report to Robert S Kapito, President of BlackRock, and will join the firm in early September.
Wiseman currently serves as President & Chief Executive Officer of CPP Investment Board, which manages approximately CAD280 billion on behalf of the Canada Pension Plan and its 19
Groupe Eurotunnel is to purchase STAR Capital’s 51% per cent share of ElecLink. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions. Once concluded, Groupe Eurotunnel will hold 100 per cent of ElecLink.
eleclink is a cross-channel electricity interconnector that will be positioned within the service tunnel of the Channel Tunnels. When completed, the interconnector will be capable of carrying 1000MW of electricity via two 500MW strands.
With the UK’s power requirements increasingly relying on unpredictable renewable energy sources (ie Wind), the interconnector will play an important role in providing additional capacity to the UK’s Grid by tapping into Continental
The British Business Bank has launched the initial phase of Help to Grow, which is expected to support around GBP200 million of growth loans in its first two years. The Prime Minister announced the programme in February 2015.
The first GBP30 million tranche of lending supported by Help to Grow will be available to growing businesses through Lloyds Banking Group.
Loans of up to GBP2 million will support the development of new products and processes, stimulate research and innovation and help businesses target new export markets.
The lending will be available to businesses across all sectors, and is expected to
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