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Crawley-based Acro Aircraft Seating, a British aerospace design and engineering companies, has received a GBP7.75m growth capital investment from BGF (Business Growth Fund).
Founded in 2007 by three industry professionals – Chris Brady, Andy Lawler and David Starkey – the company was set up to design and manufacture economy airline seats that were comfortable, maintainable, robust and lightweight in order take advantage of huge growth in the low cost carrier (LCC) market. The company’s first seat was launched in 2007 and a year later Acro was granted European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) approval with Jet2.com becoming its first customer. The
Xometry has received USD8.8 million in funding led by Highland Capital Partners with participation from existing investors. The company will use funds to fuel ongoing R&D efforts and bring its best-in-class, proprietary software to new markets and clients.
In conjunction with the financing, Sean Dalton of Highland Capital Partners will join the company’s board of directors. Dalton, a general partner at Highland, has extensive experience in guiding and growing technology companies to market leading positions. Dalton joins Randy Altschuler, Xometry co-founder and CEO, Xometry co-founder and CFO Laurence Zuriff, former CIA Director John Deutch, and George Hornig on Xometry’s Board
Palamon Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in The Rug Company from its founders Christopher and Suzanne Sharp, who will continue to hold a significant stake in the Company, and minority shareholder Piper.
The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
The Rug Company is a global brand in luxury handmade rugs with an established international sales presence through 10 own showrooms and a number of franchisees and concessions worldwide, generating sales of GBP23 million. Founded in 1997 by husband and wife team Christopher and Suzanne Sharp, the Company sells a range of more than 300 high-quality,
Kebony has raised NOK177.5 million (EUR19.05 million) to fund a second European factory. Finance has been secured via the issue of NOK140 million of new shares and a subordinated loan of 37.5 million NOK. PMV and Investinor lead the new investment round, which was open to both new and existing investors.
Following many years of strong growth, the demand for Kebony – a sustainable alternative to tropical hardwood – is about to exceed current production capacity at its facility in Vold, Norway. The proceeds of the raised capital will primarily be used to build a second factory in Belgium, scheduled
KeBeK Private Equity is to acquire a controlling stake in Belgian car superstore chain Cardoen from Karel Cardoen. The transaction marks the first investment made by the second KeBeK fund, which was established last June.
Karel Cardoen remains an important shareholder of Cardoen and, together with KeBeK, will now lead further expansion of the company.
KeBeK participates in solid, medium-sized companies with identifiable potential for further growth and value creation. KeBeK actively supports the management of its participations in corporate strategy execution without playing an operational role. KeBeK I counts eight participations, six of which were taken over from
Consumer electronics developer Netatmo has successfully raised EUR30 million in a funding round led by Legrand, a specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures.
Existing investors Iris Capital, Ambition Numérique and Pascal Cagni also participated while Fred Potter and Netatmo’s other founders remain majority shareholders.
“Thanks to the quality of our products and our ability to conquer new markets, our turnover is constantly growing in our home market and internationally,” says Potter. “These outstanding results prove the relevance to our approach and the excellent capability of our teams. We welcome Legrand as our new investor and are very proud
Goodwin Procter has opened an office in Frankfurt, Germany, which will be led by Stephan Kock, Peter Junghänel, Marc Bohne and Lars Jessen who are joing the firm as partners.
“Goodwin’s consistent and measured growth continues to be driven by excelling at client service, attracting outstanding talent and expanding strategically in our focus practice areas and markets,” says David Hashmall, Chairman of Goodwin Procter. “Our entry into Germany is the latest step in this growth strategy. We are pleased to welcome this truly exceptional group of lawyers to Goodwin’s partnership.”
David Evans, Chair of Goodwin’s London office says: “As
Private equity firm Blackford Capital has appointed Jeffrey W Johnson as managing director.
Prior to joining Blackford, Johnson served as managing director for Gilbert Global Equity Partners, a billion-dollar private equity fund that was launched by Soros Quantum Funds alumni. A
s a key founding member of Gilbert, Johnson was involved in all aspects of the firm’s business and strategy and he originated, structured and closed several leveraged and growth-oriented platform investments up to USD150 million that were focused on building shareholder value both financially and operationally. He represented the firm’s interests as a board member and oversight member of
At a time of rising demands from US pension funds for proper disclosure and record US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fines against private equity firms, LPs have given a clarion call for fees to be more clearly explained.
The Reputational Risk in Private Equity Report (RRiPE) 2015 surveyed the opinions of over 170 GPs and LPs on the hot topics of private equity fees and cyber security. With the storm over private equity fees showing no sign of abating, 98 per cent of LPs and 73 per cent of GPs agree that a standard for the reporting of fees
Seventy-four per cent of private equity fund managers made firm-wide increases in base salary from 2014 to 2015, according to Preqin’s 2016 Private Equity Compensation and Employment Review.
According to the survey of almost 200 private equity firms, the average increase in salary was 7 per cent, with 14 per cent of firms increasing base salaries by more than 10 per cent. Almost half (46 per cent) of firms increased their performance-related cash bonus pay-outs in 2014, up from 26 per cent of firms that increased bonuses in the previous year. The median bonus pay-out increase in 2014 was 20
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