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Clearlake Capital Group has completed the acquisition of ConvergeOne, a provider of communications solutions and managed services.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
ConvergeOne offers one source for multivendor solutions – from initial design and implementation through ongoing consulting, technical support, and managed services across the spectrum of IT, contact centre solutions, and unified communications.
ConvergeOne maintains strategic relationships with global solution leaders, including Avaya, Cisco Systems, IBM, Interactive Intelligence and Microsoft. It has more than 4,100 customers, including 46 per cent of the Fortune 100 companies.
“As global opportunities continue on a strong trajectory,
For the past 20 years or more the growth of the UCITS brand has been an unrivalled success: total assets are now an eye popping EUR7.1tn. Alongside this growth Europe has seen the emergence of management companies to handle the critical functions that a regulated UCITS fund entails – risk management, reporting, governance and distribution.
With the introduction of AIFMD in Europe (the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive), a new management company has emerged: the Super Management Company (‘Super ManCo’).
“The Super Management Company allows investment managers to consolidate their operations into one entity for both UCITS funds and AIFMD-compliant
DMS Offshore Investment Services identified the need to create an AIFMD solution for its clients three years ago when it opened its Dublin office. It was one of the first firms to establish an authorised Alternative Investment Fund Management Company in both Ireland and Luxembourg.
DMS boasts a 21-person team focusing on AIFMD and as Derek Delaney (pictured), Managing Director of DMS Offshore Investment Services (Europe) Limited comments: “DMS were cognisant of the fact that its Cayman client funds were going to encounter significant fund governance challenges when dealing with AIFMD. As directors of these funds, we’ve been proactively engaging
“Our AIFMD solution will be an infrastructure platform with distribution support but it absolutely won’t be an active distribution model; that’s a key differentiator for us,” Gavin Byrnes (pictured), Head of Business Development UK, UBS Fund Services, states emphatically.
UBS Fund Services is looking to roll out its AIFMD fund platform towards the end of Q4 2014. It will be domiciled in Dublin and will act as the AIFM for non-EU managers (particularly U.S. managers) in a similar way to how UCITS platforms operate today. “UBS will act as the administrator and custodian to the AIF but it will be
Regardless of whether a hedge fund manager has an AIF, a UCITS fund, or one of each, the end objective is the same: to improve their capital raising opportunities in Europe.
This is all well and good, but for non-EU managers in particular, there are significant costs and operational challenges to launching additional fund products; indeed, it is one of the key reasons why some of the large banking platforms like Deutsche Bank’s db Platinum platform and Morgan Stanley’s FundLogic Alternatives platform for alternative UCITS funds have grown so fast in the last few years. These platforms take the burden
“The issue is one of insourcing versus outsourcing,” says Alan Picone (pictured), Managing Director at Kinetic Partners (Luxembourg), when discussing which operational model to pursue under AIFMD.
Making the plunge to become an independent AIFM is a big ask for most managers, both in terms of time and capital resources. It also depends on where the manager is located and how committed they are to capital raising in Europe.
According to Picone, there are a couple of key qualitative and quantitative considerations that hedge fund managers should bear in mind. On the qualitative side, Picone notes, “By appointing an
Thames Valley accountants and business advisory firm James Cowper has advised global microinsurance specialist MicroEnsure on its fundraising.
MicroEnsure raised USD10.4m from its existing investors, as well as from Sanlam Emerging Markets and AXA, to help finance its expansion into new markets.
Following an 88 per cent increase in the number of clients served in the past five months, the UK-based company now covers more than 7.6 million people across Africa and Asia with a range of accessible insurance products including life, health, personal accident and property.
Through its partnerships with mobile network operators and microfinance banks,
Prevalent has received a USD4 million growth equity investment from Fulcrum Equity Partners, a private equity firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
The investment funds will be used to grow and expand Prevalent’s sales, marketing and technical teams, as well as advance its third-party risk and vendor threat management technologies.
Prevalent also plans to use the capital to accelerate its proprietary professional services, which are targeted at helping businesses adhere to compliance requirements and industry standards.
Under the new agreement, the company’s chief technology officer and co-founder Norman Menz and chief executive and co-founder Jonathan Dambrot will continue to
Blue Sage Capital has promoted Jonathan Pearce and Eric Weiner to vice president with responsibility for sourcing, evaluating, negotiating structuring, managing due diligence, and closing investment opportunities and subsequent portfolio company monitoring.
Pearce joined the team in May 2013 after spending four years with Avista Capital Partners, a generalist middle-market private equity firm with USD5 billion under management. While at Avista, he focused on the evaluation and execution of investments primarily in the energy sector.
Weiner joined the team in August 2013 after completing his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller
Nordic Capital Fund VIII has invested in AniCura, a Nordic operator of companion animal hospitals and veterinary clinics.
With the support of Nordic Capital, AniCura will be strengthened for the next phase of its development, through continued expansion of the business.
AniCura is currently owned by a large number of staff, the Foundation Djursjukhus i Stor-Stockholm and the Swedish investment firm Fidelio Capital. All parties will remain significant co-owners together with Nordic Capital. Through Nordic Capital’s co-ownership, resources will be made available for, among other things, establishing a new veterinary specialist neurological centre at AniCura Albano Animal Hospital in
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