Latest News
By Angus Coulter (pictured), partner in Hogan Lovells Antitrust Competition and Economic Regulation practice – Yesterday’s intervention by the Competition and Markets Authority in the ongoing, hard-fought review of CK Hutchison's bid for O2 UK supports the views already expressed by the EU competition commissioner and reflects a closeness of interaction between European regulators. But this closeness could disappear if the UK votes to leave the EU in June.
The review of the deal is being conducted by the European Commission under the EU Merger Regulation. The Merger Regulation applies to transactions meeting high thresholds based mainly on the worldwide
A group of investors including GCP Capital Partners, Western Heritage Capital, and Performance Equity Management have acquired a significant stake in Complete Merchant Solutions (CMS), a leading provider of merchant acquisition services, credit card/debit card transaction processing services, and payment solutions.
Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Headquartered in Orem, Utah, CMS was founded in 2008 by President David Decker, Chief Operating Officer Trever Hansen and Chief Information Officer Kyle Hall, and the three founders will retain a substantial stake in the business. CMS is able to leverage its in-house risk management capabilities to work closely with merchants
Centerbridge Partners has selected SEI to provide a customised operating platform for its private equity and credit businesses.
Through its Investment Manager Services division, SEI supplies customised operating infrastructure and services to investment organisations around the world.
SEI drew on its global operating platform to provide Centerbridge with a solution tailored to its fund administration, fund accounting, middle-office and investor servicing requirements for both its private equity and credit businesses. Centerbridge also intends to use additional SEI capabilities for collateral management, treasury services and regulatory reporting.
"We chose SEI with an eye to the future because their operating solution has
BTIG, LLC, a global financial services firm specialising in institutional trading, investment banking, research and related brokerage services, has appointed Mark Secrest as a Managing Director within its Healthcare Investment Banking Group.
Secrest will focus on the medical devices, life sciences tools and diagnostics industries, increasingly active areas of growth for the firm. Over the last year, BTIG has significantly built out its Investment Banking Group with a team of seasoned industry professionals.
KC Stone, Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at BTIG, says: “Mark’s extensive M&A experience and transactional expertise make him an exceptional addition to our
Sabine Mathis, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of BlackFin Capital Partners, has been promoted to a partner in the firm.
Mathis joined BlackFin Capital Partners in 2011 as CFO. Prior to joining BlackFin, she spent several years as an auditor at Ernst & Young (from 2002 to 2008), then as chief financial officer of Natixis Private Equity International (from 2008 to 2011). Mrs. Mathis graduated from HEC and holds a DECF. Mathis was born in 1978.
Laurent Bouyoux, Managing Partner of BlackFin Capital Partners, says: “This firm has successfully positioned itself as a leader in financial services in Europe, and the
Private equity firm Webfolio Management has acquired ad-tech company PicReel.com for an undisclosed sum. PicReel is now part of a larger organisation that is operating several brands in the mar-tech and ad-tech vertical.
The majority of PicReel employees will continue to work from their European and Asian offices, joining Webfolio's core team working from its world headquarters in Reno, NV.
PicReel is a conversion rate optimisation software solution that helps a brand increase leads and revenue by capturing visitors before they leave a site. Discounts and offers, solicitations for feedback, and urging visitors to take some action such as subscribing
Spring Ventures, a private equity investor specialising in management buyouts of UK companies with strong growth potential, has backed a group of commercial lending professionals to buy invoice financing provider, IGF Invoice Finance Limited (IGF), from Greater London Enterprise( GLE).
Spring Ventures will initially invest GBP9 million to fund the acquisition (buy-in management buyout) and provide growth capital. It will commit a further GBP11 million of follow on capital over the next three years and will take a majority stake.
The management buyout team includes John Onslow, John Nelson and Jon Hughes who collectively have 60 years experience
Silversmith Capital Partners (Silversmith), a growth equity firm focused on supporting the best entrepreneurs in technology and healthcare, has named Mike Lester, Bill Ready, and Ashok Subramanian as Senior Advisors of the firm.
In this capacity, each will contribute to the firm by offering industry insight, sourcing new investment opportunities, and providing strategic guidance to Silversmith portfolio companies.
“We have a long shared history with Mike, Bill and Ashok and admire them not only as entrepreneurs, but more importantly, as people,” says Todd MacLean, Managing Partner of Silversmith. “We are grateful that these individuals have committed their time and
Shanda Group is to purchase Trian’s 9.9 per cent holding in Legg Mason. Shanda Group is a Singapore-based global investing holding company with a long-term investment horizon across public market equity, fixed income and commodities, private equity and real estate.
It is focused on value investment opportunities in the financial services, technology and healthcare services sectors.
Joseph As Sullivan, Chairman and CEO of Legg Mason, says: "We are pleased to welcome Shanda as a long-term strategic shareholder. We look forward to benefiting from their expertise in important areas of growth for us. We want to express our appreciation for Trian
Semios, a provider of real-time agricultural information and precision pest management tools, has closed an USD8 million financing with private equity individuals from the Agtech community, with assistance from Haywood Securities.
Founded in 2010, Semios has grown to be the largest worldwide network of sensors and control devices in specialty crops. The Semios internet-of-things (IoT) solution provides real-time insights into risks associated with weather, pests, disease, frost and irrigation on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) basis.
Combining remote access to real-time field conditions and acre-by-acre metered delivery of inputs is the cornerstone of precision agriculture. Semios enables improved deployment of pheromones, frost
Special Reports
Featured
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
