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Paul Stratford, Director in Wealth and Asset Management, EMEIA, EY comments on the passing of UCITS V…
The Asset Management industry will be experiencing a kind of relief that UCITS V has been passed before the parliamentary elections in May. There has been considerable political debate about the UCITS V, not least about remuneration, and an influx of new MEPs could have risked a time-consuming re-run of the debate. Now at least Managers know what they have to grapple with.
In terms of next steps, it is up to ESMA to come up with technical guidance on implementation. ESMA has
Alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has held the final close of Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund (CSSAF), reaching USD698 million, almost USD200 million above its initial target of USD500 million.
Marlon Chigwende, managing director and co-head of the Sub-Saharan Africa advisory team, says: “The success of the fundraising reflects investors’ appetite for the strong economic growth that the region has experienced over the last decade, as well as the prospects for future economic development across the continent. Carlyle is one of the first global alternative asset managers to launch a dedicated Sub-Saharan African fund and we are grateful for the
Coal Grill and Bar (t/a Charterhouse Leisure Ltd) has secured additional growth funding from Beringea and venture capital investors Octopus Investments, along with bank finance, to continue its expansion.
With six high volume casual dining restaurants already established in Basingstoke, Bristol, Bristol Waterside, Exeter, Meadowhall in Sheffield and Milton Keynes, Coal Grill and Bar will this year open new restaurants at locations including Cheshire Oaks, Gloucester Quays and Swindon.
The company is working with Savills’ London office to secure up to six restaurants per year for the next three years.
Stuart Veale, managing partner at Beringea, says: “Coal
Kinetic Partners, the global financial services advisory firm, has made two promotions in its team in Hong Kong.
AnnMarie Croswell has been promoted to member and Katrina Banh to associate director within Kinetic Partners regulatory compliance team in Hong Kong.
Since establishing in Hong Kong two years ago, Kinetic Partners has seen significant growth in the number of clients based in Hong Kong requesting support for Securities & Futures Commission (SFC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) registration, as well as on-going compliance advice.
Demand from larger firms and investment banks for support with transaction monitoring and reporting
The Abraaj Group has, through one of its funds, acquired a stake in Kool Food, a Moroccan chocolate confectionery manufacturer based in Casablanca.
Kool Food was founded in 2010 by entrepreneur Anas Lahlou and specialises in developing, producing and selling chocolate confections, powder drinks as well as other sweet and salted food products under its own brand.
Kool Food offers several categories of products which are sold locally as well as exported to countries in the Maghreb region, including Algeria and Tunisia. The company is one of the few chocolate-based product manufacturers in the region targeting the fast-growing mass
LoneStar, backed by private equity firm AEA Investors, has bought Hydrobolt, a manufacturer and distributor of high integrity fully traceable specialty fasteners, machined components, and flanges and fittings predominately servicing the global oil and gas and power generation markets.
The transaction, which has been managed by Rothschild, represents an exit for the Octopus Eclipse Venture Capital Trust (VCT) fund.
Octopus first invested in Wolverhampton-based Hydrobolt in April 2008, when the venture capital investor backed the management buy-out of Hydrobolt. Since then the company has grown substantially, both organically and via acquisition.
Jamie Simpson, managing director of Hydrobolt, says: “Since
Adam Chester has joined the Jersey office of Walkers as a partner in the firm’s finance and corporate group.
Prior to joining Walkers, Chester founded CGI Legal, an independent corporate legal services provider in Jersey, which provided non-contentious and transactional legal services.
Before that, he spent six years at Ogier in Jersey and five years practising as an English solicitor at two international law firms in London. He also spent time on secondment with large, multinational businesses in the UK and Russia.
Chester specialises in advising on mergers, acquisitions and disposals including MBOs and LBOs, banking and finance
Private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners has acquired Synchrogenix, a regulatory writing and related services firm.
Synchrogenix provides services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies worldwide.
Concurrent with the transaction, Synchrogenix will be merged into Certara, a global technology-enabled drug development and drug safety consultancy acquired by Arsenal this past December.
Stephen McLean, a partner at Arsenal and co-head of the firm's healthcare group, says: "Pharmaceutical companies are looking for greater value and increased synergies from their outsourcing partners. Adding the complementary services Synchrogenix offers to the Certara portfolio will allow Certara to provide its preclinical and
Arma Partners has acted as exclusive financial adviser to AMT-SYBEX Group on its sale to Capita plc for an initial consideration of GBP82 million.
There is a contingent consideration of up to GBP23 million based on the business reaching specific profit targets over the next 12 months.
Completion of the acquisition is subject to approval from the competition authority in Ireland.
AMT is a proprietary software business providing software and related services in mobile technology and smart data management to the utilities and transport sectors.
AMT’s technology manages data from 35 million consumers, enables 35,000 mobile workers
European growth private equity firm Keensight Capital has promoted Philippe Crochet to the position of partner.
Crochet (pictured) has 15 years of international experience in the telecom industry as well as in private equity.
He began his career in 1998 at Nortel, then moved on to Algety Telecom before working for the American-based Corvis Corporation (a manufacturer of optical networking equipment), where he held various roles within the marketing and sales teams.
In 2003, Crochet joined Partech International, a private equity firm located in Europe and the US, and specialised in the IT sector.
He was then
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