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Private equity funds managed by Blackstone have agreed to sell GCA Services Group (GCA) to a consortium of the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs and Thomas H Lee Partners.
GCA is a provider of janitorial/custodial and facility management services to over 930 customers, including ~20 per cent of the Fortune 500, across 4,400+ sites and 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Founded in 2003 and based in Cleveland, Ohio, GCA has more than 37,000 employees and serves clients across diverse end-markets, including K-12 schools, higher education, manufacturing, corporate office buildings, high-tech, bio-pharmaceutical, nuclear power, defense and
Andrew Cosslett has joined private equity firm Advent International as an Operating Partner.
Cosslett will work closely with Advent’s Retail, Consumer and Leisure team to identify new investment opportunities across Advent’s global network, with a particular focus on the leisure sector. He will also be available to support Advent’s current and future portfolio company activity as appropriate.
Cosslett’s career spans 35 years, during which time he has held a number of senior positions across a wide range of companies in the retail, consumer and leisure sectors. He began his career at Unilever before holding significant management positions at Cadbury Schweppes plc, including
Law firm Paul Hastings has appointed structured finance and capital markets specialist Paul Severs as a partner in the firm’s Corporate practice ion London.
Severs will be joining the firm from Berwin Leighton Paisner, where he is Head of Structured Debt and Capital Markets.
Severs has extensive experience in the structured finance and securitisation markets across all asset classes. Most recently he has been advising on the establishment of new funds, establishing or acquiring new origination platforms, and advising portfolio companies.
He advises his clients on a wide range of transactions, including loan originations (and acquisitions or disposals
Vector Capital has combined portfolio companies Freedom Scientific and Optelec to create the world's largest assistive technology provider for the visually impaired.
The two companies have a long history of providing innovative technology solutions that enable blind and low vision individuals to reach their full potential – to gain an education, obtain employment, succeed in professional careers, and live independently throughout their lives.
“Combining our complementary businesses gives us the broadest portfolio in the industry and unmatched worldwide distribution and customer support,” said John Blake, President and CEO of Freedom Scientific. “The combined company will be able to offer
The specialist securitisation team of leading Scottish law firm, Shepherd and Wedderburn, has acted alongside Allen & Overy in advising the debt funders Cerberus Capital Management’s acquisition ofNorthern Rock’s GBP13 billion asset portfolio – the largest ever financial asset sale by a European government.
Shepherd and Wedderburn advised the arrangers of the financing on the transaction, leading on Scots law structuring and advice.
Following a competitive bidding process, the asset portfolio, which includes mortgages acquired by the UK government during the financial crisis, is being sold by UK Asset Resolution Limited to Cerberus and its affiliates. Cerberus is purchasing
LoveCrafts has secured USD20 million in a funding round led by Highland Europe, with participation from existing investor Balderton Capital.
Addressing the USD100 billion craft industry, LoveCrafts is at the centre of the crafting community, with its sites LoveKnitting.com and LoveCrochet.com attracting millions of visitors every month. The company has experienced phenomenal growth, tripling each year and now distributes to customers in over 100 countries worldwide. LoveCrafts has physical operations in North America and Europe, and sites in English and German languages. In customer reviews LoveCrafts has outstanding levels of customer satisfaction.
LoveCrafts builds homes for crafters online, with a disruptive business
Funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities have acquired Diamonds Direct, an independent jewellery company.
Headquartered in Charlotte, NC, Diamonds Direct has a ong and well-established history in diamond sales and manufacturing. In the last seven years, the company has grown from one location in Charlotte to a multi-channel retailer with seven locations across the United States complimented by an online ecommerce storefront. Diamonds Direct’s retail locations are located in Charlotte, Raleigh, NC, Birmingham, AL, Richmond, VA, Austin, TX, with new locations opening in Oklahoma City, OK, and Charleston, SC, in early December.
“This is a very exciting day for Diamonds
Audax Group has partnered with existing management to acquire Justrite Manufacturing Company, a manufacturer of industrial safety products for regulated and critical safety environments. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Justrite, headquartered in Des Plaines, Illinois, is a leading, globally recognised industrial safety platform providing unparalleled technical expertise, unmatched service, and differentiated products. The Company offers one of the broadest suites of safety products for regulated and critical safety environments, including safety cabinets, safety cans, environmental and spill containment offerings, and outdoor safety storage buildings and lockers. Justrite’s products help ensure customers’ compliance with regulatory standards, including the
Atlas Holdings has sold portfolio company Pangborn Group, a designer, manufacturer and supplier of innovative surface preparation equipment and related aftermarket parts and services, to United Generations. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Atlas acquired Pangborn in June of 2006. Headquartered in Fairburn, Georgia, the company employs over 250 people at nine strategically located facilities around the world.
“When we acquired Pangborn, our goal was to reinvigorate and strengthen an innovative manufacturing company, one with roots dating back well over a century,” says Andrew Bursky, Atlas Co-Managing Partner. “We succeeded by doing what Atlas does best; partnering with a
UK-based Sensible Lender Limited has raised GBP7 million in a first round of venture capital investments led by Venture Capital Partners to accelerate growth of its global peer-to-peer lending platform.
The remainder of the GBP17.8 million commitment is to be provided in three separate tranches over a six-month period.
Launched in 2012, Sensible Lender has more than 600 investors and over 140 borrowers from the United Kingdom with more than GBP32 million of bridging loans written with an average loan advance of GBP217,000 at an average LTV (Loan-To-Value) of 68.7 per cent. The company has already closed on GBP16.4
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