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Abacus Group, a provider of hosted IT solutions for hedge funds and private equity funds, has appointed Brian Lozada as director of information security.
Based in New York, Lozada will report to Viktor Tadijanovic, chief technology officer of Abacus Group.
Lozada brings over 14 years’ experience in information security and will be responsible for the development of current and new Abacus security solutions that help financial institutions to protect their enterprise systems, applications and data from cyber intrusions.
Most recently, he was the director of information security at Condé Nast, where he was responsible for overseeing the security
Mid-market advisory firm Clearwater International has advised Signature Outdoor on its sale to LDC-backed Ocean Outdoor, a provider of external digital advertising sites.
The value of the deal has not been disclosed.
Established in 2003, Signature is the market leader in Premium Large Format outdoor media in Birmingham and the West Midlands, operating some of the region’s most iconic advertising destinations. The company has recently moved offices to accommodate for the anticipated future growth of their premium digital portfolio.
Headquartered in London and founded in 2005, Ocean is a boutique media company specialising in large-format digital billboards, iconic
Sell-side, mid-market M&A firm Cavendish Corporate Finance has advised on the sale of Freedom Finance Ltd, the UK’s largest personal loan broker, to Target Group, a portfolio company of SOF Annex Fund.
Freedom Finance, established in 2007, has undergone strong growth within the loan brokerage market driven by its unique search technology, which provides customers with accurate real time quotations across a panel of both unsecured and secured lenders. The company has partnered with some of the most well-renowned lenders in the UK including Barclays Bank, Sainsbury’s Bank, Creation and Hitachi Personal Finance.
Target is a provider of software
Beringea’s portfolio company Altacor has been acquired by Esperante, a Netherlands-based life science investment company, for an undisclosed sum.
Beringea first invested in Altacor in 2007.
Altacor is a specialty ophthalmology company with a portfolio of eight marketed pharmaceutical products. The company differentiates its development products primarily through formulation or re-profiling existing compounds with established clinical activity and systemic safety.
Esperante is the investment arm of the C&P Group, a global, privately owned group of life science businesses including Nordic Pharma, a fully-integrated, pan-European pharmaceutical and services company, PolyPeptide Laboratories, a global peptide bulk drug actives producer and
Walgreens has exercised its option to complete the second step of its strategic transaction with Alliance Boots and fully combine both companies.
The transaction, subject to shareholder and various regulatory approvals, will form the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise.
This action follows the launch of the companies’ long-term strategic partnership in June 2012, when Walgreens acquired a 45 percent equity ownership in Alliance Boots, with the option to proceed to a full combination by acquiring the remaining 55 percent of Alliance Boots in three years’ time (Step 2). Walgreens expects to close the transaction in the first quarter
Law firm Martin LLP has appointed John Capetta to lead its private equity practice group.
He joins the firm from Kelley Drye & Warren where he started his career and was chair of the firm-wide private equity practice group.
"We are pleased to have John joining us," says Christopher Martin, managing partner at Martin LLP. "John's more than 20 years focused exclusively in the private equity space will further strengthen our growing corporate practice. It is an exciting time for our firm as we continue to expand."
Capetta has 34 years of experience in the area of mergers
Ares Capital Corporation’s board of directors has named Michael J Arougheti as co-chairman of the board and promoted three of its longstanding senior executive officers.
Arougheti has served as a director since 2009 and has also served as chief executive officer of Ares Capital Corporation since May 2013 and prior to that as president since its IPO in 2004.
Arougheti currently serves as president of Ares Management, an alternative asset manager, and will continue to serve as a senior partner and co-head of the direct lending group, as a member of Ares Management’s board of directors and management committee
Palatine Private Equity and Bridgepoint Development Capital (BDC) have completed the sale of Hallmark Hotels to Topland.
Palatine and BDC first invested in 2007, each investing GBP9.4m for a combined 78 per cent stake in the business. The sale achieves a 2x return for the private equity firms.
Both private equity investors have executed a buy-and-build strategy. Hallmark was established in 2007 as a vehicle to facilitate the acquisition of under-performing three star hotels with a view to driving operational improvement and achieving a standardised and upgraded level of quality. Today, Hallmark Hotels has a portfolio of eight four star
DLA Piper has appointed Mark Roppel as a partner in the firm’s corporate and finance group in New York.
Roppel has more than 25 years of experience with complex, cross-border transactions in Asia, Europe and the Americas, particularly in China, where he practiced for six years.
He brings M&A experience (including hostile M&A) to the firm, representing clients in a variety of transactions, including stock mergers, tender offers, public offerings, private stock and asset purchases, private placements, leveraged acquisitions, restructurings, joint ventures and strategic alliances. In addition, he advises clients on corporate governance matters and represents financial institutions as
Rcapital, the London-based private investor, has funded its portfolio company City Motor Holdings in the acquisition of the Marshall Roebuck Peugeot car dealership in Newbury.
The site, now known as City Peugeot, joins the City Motor Holdings existing portfolio of 11 dealerships in Basingstoke, Newbury and Reading.
The acquisition marks the latest phase of expansion plans for City Motor Holdings with further growth planned over the next 18 months. The City Peugeot site is located adjacent to Gowrings Ford, one of three Ford dealerships in the group.
City Motor Holdings now employs 310 staff across 12 dealerships which
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