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Baird Capital, the direct private investment arm of Baird, had an active year in 2015 for new and follow-on investments and exits and is predicting that the investment and exit environment in 2016 will continue to be attractive globally.
During 2015, Baird Capital deployed over USD130 million in 43 new or follow-on investments and realised over USD270 million principally through 14 exits. The firm also bolstered its expertise by working more closely with experienced Operating Partners Richard Neff and Owen Sullivan. Baird Capital also added Senior Advisor Vikram Sharma, who brings more than 20 years of experience in the Technology
Amaya Capital Ltd and Azura Power Holdings Ltd have reached financial close for Amaya Capital’s Flagship West Africa power investment, the 450MW Azura-Edo Independent Power Project in Edo State, Nigeria.
The USD876 million transaction is the first of a new wave of project-financed greenfield IPPs currently being developed in Nigeria. The financing of the Azura-Edo IPP involves USD190 million of equity and USD686 million of debt from a consortium of local and international financiers.
Azura is majority owned by Amaya Capital, the founder and lead sponsor of the project and American Capital Energy & Infrastructure. Other equity investors in the Azura-Edo project include funds managed
Iran-based financial services group Turquoise Partners is launching an Iran-focused private equity fund in partnership with REYL Finance (MEA) Ltd, REYL & Cie’s Dubai based entity.
The new fund will be broadly focused on the rise of the Iranian consumer and will include, but will not be limited to, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and hospitality. It aims to raise USD200 million in the first six months of the year.
Rouzbeh Pirouz, chairman of Turquoise Partners, says: “Iranian companies are in great need of investment which can drive opportunity and financial restructuring that will allow them to realise tremendous potential.”
Recognos Financial, provider of AI based data management solutions for the financial services industry, has launched Recognos ETI, a new data extraction platform designed to unlock greater context and insight from otherwise untapped business data.
Utilising the latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP), semantic and other technologies, Recognos ETI allows companies to extract, transform and integrate both structured and unstructured documents and data into useable business intelligence.
"Recent studies have shown that 80 per cent of all data in large organisations is unstructured, including many mission-critical documents such as contracts, prospectuses, and compliance documentation,” says
Alternative asset management firm Black Diamond Capital Management has appointed Todd Arden as Senior Managing Director and Co-Chief Credit Officer.
Arden will have responsibility for co-managing Black Diamond's underwriting processes and credit exposures and will also source stressed and distressed investment opportunities for Black Diamond's funds. Hw will be based in Black Diamond's Greenwich, Connecticut office.
Stephen H Deckoff, Black Diamond's Managing Principal, says "I am excited to have Todd join the firm and am confident that his deep experience in credit and distressed investing will be a great asset to Black Diamond. With significant opportunities and challenges presenting themselves
Rakuten Ventures has launched the Rakuten Ventures Japan Fund, a 10 billion yen (USD84 million) venture capital fund targeting investments in startups in Japan.
Building on successes in Israel, Asia Pacific and the USA with Rakuten Ventures 2013 Southeast Asia Fund and 2014 Global Fund, the new Rakuten Ventures Japan Fund aims to empower the expanding community of Japanese startups with advanced technology and business models.
The fund operations will be run out of Singapore by Managing Partner SaeMin Ahn and Investment Manager Hogil Doh.
“We are honored to have a chance to participate in the Japanese startup
Cloud technology specialist NewVoiceMedia has secured USD30 million in a new round of funding. New investor BGF Ventures joined existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP), Eden Ventures, Highland Capital Partners Europe, Salesforce Ventures and Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV).
The new investment will accelerate NewVoiceMedia’s international growth plans, with particular emphasis on the North American market, driven by further expansion of its US-based sales, marketing and professional services delivery teams and alongside its ongoing commitment to enriching its product and platform capabilities.
NewVoiceMedia’s market-leading cloud customer contact platform integrates seamlessly with Salesforce to connect organisations with their customers worldwide, enabling
Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance has backed venture capital investors Mission Capital with a GBP3 million facility to support the firm’s future acquisitions in the manufacturing sector.
Established in 2014, Mission Capital looks to invest in innovative manufacturing and distribution firms in the UK, helping them to achieve their growth potential. Mission is made up of a group of partners who each have a successful track record of buying and building businesses in this sector in the UK. With this in mind, the firm has an objective to build a diversified group of UK manufacturing and distribution businesses over the
LeapFrog Investments has acquired a majority stake in UT Life Insurance Company (UT Life), one of the key players in the life insurance sector in Ghana. This is LeapFrog’s third direct investment in Ghana, and second in the life insurance sector.
UT Life is a rapidly growing life insurer, with a significant market share in funeral and educational savings policies. It is focused on the mass market and seeks to reach over 1 million people by 2020. The Ghanaian market offers major opportunities for growth, as insurance penetration is below 2% of GDP.
UT Life was formerly controlled by
Corstone has held the closing of the Corstone Growth Strategy M&A Private Equity Fund, a KRW150 billion (USD124.5 million) fund managed primarily by Corstone Asia’s investment team located in Seoul, Korea.
The Fund’s mandate is to target M&A and growth equity investments in small to mid-sized companies domiciled in South Korea. Target companies may also be located outside of Korea, with the capability to support acquiring companies in the US. The Fund will seek companies in Corstone’s historically targeted industries. The Fund also has sidecar or parallel fund features to provide for increased investment.
The Fund’s cornerstone investors include
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