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Rutland Partners has completes a GBP85 million investment in Maplin Electronics, the UK electronics retail chain.
Having started in 1972 as a small mail order business, Maplin has grown considerably over the years and has established itself as a national electronics chain with over 210 stores across the UK and Ireland.
After a challenging few years, a new management team was introduced in 2012, led by John Cleland, chief executive, to reposition the business. In particular, they have refreshed the store experience, invested in a new web platform and refocused the business on innovation and 'first in, last out'
A private equity consortium led by Ethos Private Equity has acquired approximately 80 per cent of the RTT Group for an undisclosed sum.
Other key shareholders in the consortium are African Development Partners II, a private equity fund advised by Development Partners International (DPI), and the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), represented by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
RTT’s current senior management team and a black empowerment staff trust will hold the remainder of RTT’s share capital.
Freddy Moore, RTT Group chief executive, says: “My management team and I are delighted to be partnering with our new shareholders.
Rakuten Ventures has launched a USD100 million global investment fund which will target investments in start-ups and companies in Israel, Asia Pacific, and the US.
The fund builds on the Southeast Asia fund, which was originally launched in 2013 and counts Carousell, Visenze, Coda Payments and Send Anywhere among its investment portfolio.
The larger global fund gives Rakuten Ventures the opportunity to empower the start-up ecosystem beyond Japan and Southeast Asia. It also supports Rakuten Ventures’ broader goal of long-term investments with start-ups that have the technology and potential to enable better user experience and facilitation. Over time, this
Private equity and real estate secondary manager Landmark Partners has hired Geoffrey Mullen as a principal with the firm.
Mullen joins Landmark to enhance and expand the firm’s business development and investor relations team.
Most recently, he was a managing director at Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, where he led institutional business development, marketing, and distribution.
“Understanding our investor’s objectives and delivering strong performance have been key to Landmark’s growth and success for almost three decades,” says Landmark managing partner Tim Haviland. “Geoff has extensive industry knowledge and experience working with institutional investors. He has built and led
Last year, 26 out of 32 specialised funds, designed to invest in small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) and provide a much-needed alternative source of funding, launched to invest in Europe. This would suggest that Europe represents a significant opportunity for asset managers and shows that the loan and private debt market is really starting to build traction.
These (typically) closed-ended vehicles now account for 40 per cent of the funds dedicated to financing European companies.
At least that is according to a report released this spring by Bologna-headquartered Prometeia; a 400-person consulting company specialising in business consulting, risk management,
Arma Partners acted as exclusive financial advisor to Rule Financial on its sale to GFT Technologies, a Frankfurt Stock Exchange-listed provider of IT services to the financial services industry.
Rule is a specialist in the provision of business consultancy, IT consultancy and IT services to the global investment banking industry.
Rule’s clients include nine of the top 10 global investment banks.
Rule has over 800 employees around the world focused on servicing the needs of the financial services sector.
The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) and the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) designed to deepen their collaboration.
The agreement focuses on developing activities to create mutually beneficial opportunities for the fund industries in both countries.
Luxembourg is the second largest investment fund industry in the world after the US and a valuable partner for the Chinese asset management industry in its strive to diversify internationally.
The agreement was signed in Beijing by Marc Saluzzi, chairman of ALFI, and Sun Jie, chairman of AMAC, on the sidelines of
Kingdom Holding Company (KHC) and PineBridge Investments Middle East are to establish a joint venture platform to invest in direct private equity opportunities in Africa.
The MOU was signed by both Dr Adel Alsayed, KHC’s executive director for private equity and international investments, and Talal Al Zain, chief executive officer of PineBridge Investments Middle East.
The joint venture between KHC and PineBridge Middle East will invest in African companies, in response to rising investor demand for exposure to the continent’s fast growing economies. Key focus sectors include manufacturing, consumer driven sectors, infrastructure, financial services and other sectors.
Prince Alwaleed Bin
Perella Weinberg Partners has appointed Jorma Ollila, former chairman and chief executive officer of nokia and current chairman of the board of directors of Royal Dutch Shell and Outokumpu Oyj, as advisory partner.
Ollila will provide senior counsel to the firm and its clients, particularly in Europe.
Joseph Perella, chairman and chief executive officer of Perella Weinberg Partners, says: "Jorma is a well-respected executive and he represents everything we prize in a senior advisor. He offers invaluable international business perspective and insight that will be beneficial to both the Firm and our clients. We are very fortunate to have
Oakley Capital Corporate Finance (OCCF) has advised ISIS Equity Partners on its GBP45 million secondary buyout of Metronet (UK) from Lloyds Development Capital.
The OCCF team, led by James Chapman-Andrews and supported by Anthony Yaneza, provided full M&A advisory services to ISIS throughout the deal and ran a competitive leveraged debt process simultaneously.
Based in Manchester, Metronet (UK) is a business only internet services provider that combines wireless technology with traditional fibre to deliver connectivity solutions from leased lines to complex, multi-site networks across the UK. The company has over 1,200 customers including Laing O’Rourke, Autotrader, Capgemini and Umbro.
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