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The total capital raised by clients of impact investment intermediary ClearlySo has now surpassed GBP100 million with GBP60 million coming directly from ClearlySo’s network of institutional and high-net-worth individual investors.
ClearlySo has helped more than 75 businesses and funds, including Ethical Property Company to let office space to “social change” tenants, Green Rooms to provide affordable accommodation for artists and urban regeneration in North London, Impact Ventures UK to raise money for their Impact Investment Fund, Aduna to create demand for under-utilised natural products from small-scale producers in rural Africa, and Harry Specters to produce award-winning chocolate and provide
Observable Networks, an specialist in threat detection services, has closed USD1.625 million in convertible debt funding from investors arranged by DH Capital and SaaS sectors.
Observable Networks received additional backing from Vectis Healthcare and Life Sciences Fund II, a private investor, of which Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. is a general partner. The new round of investment follows previously announced USD2.45 million in Series A1 funding from May of 2014.
The capital will be used to fund the growth of Observable Networks' sales and marketing team and increase IT security market awareness of the company's dynamic endpoint modeling technology
Investec Private Banking has been confirmed as strategic partner for one of the largest fundraising events in the private equity industry – The Norwood Private Equity Dinner – which will be held on 6 June.
The dinner is expected to raise over GBP150,000 for Norwood, a leading charity supporting vulnerable children and their families, children with special educational needs and people with learning disabilities.
Deborah Sayagh, Private Equity Banker at Investec Private Banking, says: "The partnership highlights our commitment to supporting Norwood in raising funds for vulnerable children and their families, children with special educational needs and people with
idverde has acquired the holding company of Quadron Services, the UK grounds maintenance provider.
Following quickly on from the acquisition of The Landscape Group (TLG) in 2015, idverde’s UK activities will grow to GBP90m annual turnover and 1,600 staff with enhanced geographical coverage across the UK and a significantly strengthened position in Greater London and Birmingham as a result of the transaction.
Nick Temple-Heald, Chief Executive of idverde UK, says: “Bringing together Quadron and TLG under the idverde UK banner is the perfect outcome of our growth strategy. The two businesses are both green specialists and passionate about the
Hercules Technology Growth Capital is changing its name to Hercules Capital effective February 25, 2016. The company will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the HTGC ticker symbol.
Hercules’ founding mission was to create an opportunity for individual and institutional investors to gain exposure to high-growth, technology-based companies, while also providing entrepreneurs with an alternative source of growth capital that complemented their existing venture capital financing. Since its founding in December 2003, a cumulative USD460 billion has been invested in US-based venture-capital backed companies, according to Dow Jones VentureSource Q4 2015 report, highlighting the vibrancy of
Arma Partners has expanded its Internet and Digital Media advisory capabilities with the appointment of Simon Carmichael as a Partner.
Carmichael will work alongside Eric Lawson-Smith and the team, who have successfully built Arma’s presence in this sector over the past seven years. He will be based in Arma’s London office and begins his role immediately.
Carmichael has nearly 20 years of investment banking experience, with a strong focus on advising high-growth consumer Internet businesses on both M&A and capital raisings. Prior to joining Arma Partners, Simon was a Managing Director at Torch Partners, where for over seven years he advised
AgFunder, the leading agriculture-focused online investment platform, has reported a record USD4.6 billion of investment into the agriculture technologies sector for 2015, almost double the USD2.36 billion invested in 2014, and outpacing growth in the broader venture capital market.
Over the past five years, global investment in the agtech sector has markedly accelerated from barely USD500 million in 2012 to approaching USD5 billion as entrepreneurs and investors look to tackle production and sustainability issues facing the farming sector.
“Mid-year we projected the agtech sector would end with USD4.1 billion; the extra half billion surpassed expectations,” says Rob Leclerc (pictured),
Michele J Alexander has joined the New York office of Bracewell as a partner in the firm’s tax practice. Alexander counsels clients in mergers and acquisitions, securities and capital markets, funds and joint ventures, bankruptcy, real estate, and compensation matters.
“Michele’s experience will strengthen our already-fruitful tax practice,” says Bracewell Managing Partner Mark C Evans. “Her expertise in diverse transactional matters will bring new insights to the firm, as well as invaluable advice to our clients.”
“We are excited to have Michele join us in the New York office,” says Elizabeth L McGinley, leader of Bracewell’s tax practice. “Her
Operational improvement has become the main source of value creation in private equity, increasing its share from 18 per cent in the 1980s to 48 per cent in 2012, according to a new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
When PE professionals were asked their most frequently used approach to operational improvements in portfolio companies, more than 90 per cent answered that they conduct buy-and-build deals.
The Power of Buy and Build: How Private Equity Firms Fuel Next-Level Value Creation, which was produced by BCG in conjunction with HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, reveals that buy-and-build activity
Private equity managers are finding that increased demands for transparency from their LPs are requiring them to change their mindset, especially when it comes to sharing information on how assets are valued.
LPs are doing more due diligence, asking PE managers to explain why they value a target company at, say, 8X EBITDA, and a comparable non-target company at 10X EBITDA. In effect, LPs want to get more involved in the valuation process. This is the new normal that all alternative fund managers are waking up to, and in part, it is being driven by the onset of regulation.
As PE managers become more open with LPs, this is helping
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