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Venture fund manager MMC Ventures has enjoyed a bumper 2014, attracting GBP74m in total investment into its portfolio in the past 12 months.
2014 saw the team make 23 investments in total, demonstrating why CB Insights named MMC as one of the UK’s most active early stage investors for the third year running.
Over half of these deals were follow-on funding rounds supporting existing MMC portfolio companies including: Invenias, Masabi, Tyres on the Drive, Wool and the Gang and Love Home Swap. Portfolio businesses which have attracted third party funding this year include; Somo, MUBI, PactCoffee.com, PayasUgym, Brightpearl, Gousto and
International investment bank Altium has advised European private equity firm Castik Capital on its acquisition of leading UK water cooler company Angel Springs.
The deal follows the recent recommended cash acquisition of Waterlogic plc, a global distributor of point of use drinking water purification and dispensing systems, and is the second deal on which Altium has worked with Castik this year.
Based in Wolverhampton and operating from ten delivery depots, Angel Springs rents out bottled and point of use water coolers to an installed base of more than 46,000 bottled water coolers and 14,000 point of use water coolers
Private equity and infrastructure investment firm First Reserve has awarded Deutsche Bank a fund services mandate.
First Reserve selected Deutsche Bank’s Alternative Fund Services to provide an integrated bank loan fund administration solution. As part of the solution, Deutsche Bank is providing its customisable investor reporting, fund accounting, and bank loan administration services.
“We look forward to growing our platform utilising Deutsche Bank’s full range of services,” says Josh Weiner, Managing Director at First Reserve. “We selected Deutsche Bank for their ability to provide an integrated model and flexible reporting to our investors.”
“We are delighted to build
Prairie Cloudware has completed a USD3.2 million capital raise. The company was founded to help financial institutions protect and extend their payments franchise while improving security, convenience and control for their customers.
“Three times as many consumers trust financial institutions over other providers to make payments safe,” said Kevin Kammer, CEO of Prairie Cloudware. “With the support of our investors, we are providing a solution that will allow financial institutions to reinforce their role as the primary provider of payment services, offering their customers safe, convenient ways to make digital payments on-line and in stores.”
Prairie Cloudware’s Digital Payments
Mid-market private equity firm LDC has completed the sale of its stake in water cooler service provider Angel Springs, in a multi-million pound deal with Germany-based private equity provider Castik Capital.
The transaction provides an excellent return for LDC, delivering a money multiple of 3x its original investment in just over three years.
Headquartered in Wolverhampton, Angel Springs provides both bottled and mains fed water coolers to businesses and organisations throughout the UK and currently services more than 60,000 water coolers. The business has a UK-wide network of 10 strategically located regional service and distribution centres, enabling it to deliver
Lexerd Capital Management has acquired Foxfire Apartments (Foxfire), a 354-unit garden style community located in Durham, North Carolina. Foxfire will by managed by First Communities Management.
Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. This is the first acquisition by Lexerd in its new Lexerd Capital Partners High Yield Fund II.
Located in the desirable city of Durham, just four miles from Duke University, the purchase consists of 44 two-story apartment buildings, two one-storey clubhouses containing one leasing office and one fitness centre, two one-storey laundry facilities, two one-storey maintenance shops, two one-storey storage sheds.
Foxfire is located
Private equity investor Cabot Square Capital has acquired BPN Crédito, the consumer finance provider, from the Portuguese Government for an initial investment of EUR36 million.
Formerly the consumer credit arm of Banco Português de Negócios (BPN), which was nationalised by the Portuguese Government in 2008, BPN Crédito specialises in motor finance, primarily for used cars, in the Portuguese market.
As well as its primary activity of originating and servicing auto loans, BPN Crédito also provides leasing for both equipment and real estate, and has factoring capabilities. The face value of BPN Crédito’s outstanding loan assets is in excess of
Affiliated Managers Group is increasing its minority investment in AQR Capital Management, LLC, a leading global investment manager and an AMG Affiliate since 2004.
Following the transaction, AQR’s Principals will continue to hold a majority of the firm’s partnership interests and operate the firm independently. Founding Principals Clifford S Asness, David G Kabiller, and John M Liew, as well as the firm’s other 18 Principals, have entered into long-term commitments with the firm. In addition, all of the net after-tax proceeds from the transaction will be invested in AQR strategies.
Founded in 1998, AQR is one of the most
Matt Martin Real Estate Management (MMREM), a diversified real estate services firm, is to acquire online real estate auction company, RealtyBid.com.
RealtyBid.com will retain its brand name and operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of MMREM with its current management team intact. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Based in Rainbow City, Alabama, RealtyBid.com was founded in 2001 by a group led by Tony Isbell, a 20-year veteran of the real estate auction business for residential and commercial properties of all types. RealtyBid.com was an early mover in the online property auction space and specialises in the expedited
Deal activity in the Australian PE market in FY2014 was lower than in the previous year in terms of total deal size, but deal numbers were up, largely due to more bolt-ons and follow-on investments.
That’s according to the sixth annual AVCAL Deal Metrics Survey of private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC)
activity, which covers USD94.1bn worth of transactions conducted by 238 funds between FY2005 and FY2014.
Whilst the lower and mid-market segments remained fairly active compared to the previous few years, the smaller number of deals at the larger end impacted on the overall dollar value of transactions.
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