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MENA region commerce platform Souq.com has secured USD75m (AED275.5m) in an additional round of funding from existing investor Naspers Limited.
This round of funding brings the total amount raised by Souq.com to USD150m (AED551m) – the largest amount raised by any internet-based business in the region.
Souq.com has grown more than 10 fold in the past two years. Souq.com registers 23 million visits per month on its website, and 6.2 million registered users. It offers the widest selection of products in over 15 categories, from electronic gadgets to baby nappies, in a combined retail and marketplace model.
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An affiliate of Proprium Capital Partners is to make a significant minority investment of growth capital in Edinburgh-based property developer and investor Chris Stewart Group (CSG).
Terms of the investment have not been disclosed.
Founded in 1996, CSG executes city-centre redevelopment projects including its award-winning Advocate's Close development off Edinburgh's Royal Mile. CSG's long term objective is to invest in high quality prime locations, drawing on its relationships and experience.
The first deal concluded by the new partnership involves the purchase of Baxter's Place, a historic Georgian terrace building in Edinburgh's city centre, which is designated for 240-bed upmarket hotel development.
"The
The European leveraged finance market is set to undergo a shift this year, as private equity sponsors veer back towards loans to finance leveraged buyouts, says S&P Capital IQ Leveraged Commentary and Data (LCD).
European high-yield bond issuance has surged in recent years as sponsors have tapped into the liquid, cheap, and covenant-lite financing offered by bonds, to refinance loans and to support mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
However, there are early signs that the popularity of financing M&A via high-yield bonds is waning, while loans are regaining ground.
In 2013, 59 per cent of M&A financings (mainly leveraged
Aviva has sold its Turkish general insurance business, Aviva Sigorta AŞ, to a private equity consortium led by EMF Capital Partners.
This agreement is part of Aviva’s strategy to narrow the group's focus on businesses where it has a leadership position and can generate attractive returns.
Aviva’s life and pensions business in Turkey, AvivaSA, is unaffected by this transaction.
The sale is subject to relevant regulatory approval and is expected to complete in the first half of 2014.
JTC Group has been chosen to administer a new listed specialist investment company, Nimrod Sea Assets Limited, a Guernsey domiciled company which will invest in vehicles which acquire, charter and sell marine assets associated with the offshore oil and gas industry.
JTC Group is currently providing administration services to over 30 per cent of the companies listed on the Specialist Fund Market of the London Stock Exchange.
Robin Douglas, acting finance & operations manager of Nimrod Capital LLP, says: “JTC Group has an excellent reputation, vast experience and expertise in administering innovative investment companies. That, along with the strength
Funds advised by CVC Capital Partners have acquired Synsam Nordic A/S, an optical retailer in the Nordic region, from Alipes and former store owners.
Synsam’s history stretches back to 1968 when independent opticians in Sweden joined forces under a common brand name.
Alipes identified significant development opportunities within the fragmented Nordic optical market and during the years 2007 to 2009 performed, together with former store owners, over 200 individual acquisitions of Synsam and Profil Optik stores in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
Synsam is the largest optical retail chain in the Nordic region with more than 420 own stores
Context Asset Management, a new alternative mutual fund, is aiming to give investors access to cutting-edge alternative investment strategies with the ease and simplicity of traditional mutual funds.
Alternative mutual funds have enjoyed rapid growth in recent years driven by institutional and retail investors looking for hedge fund-like returns with lower fees and advisors responding to client demands for an alternative to traditional portfolio construction.
Context's solutions combine the low correlation and low volatility of hedge fund strategies with the transparency and low minimums of traditional investing.
"At Context, we have made a commitment to helping our clients
Business Growth Fund (BGF) has invested GBP10m for a minority stake in The Consulting Consortium (TCC), a UK independent regulatory and compliance consultancy.
Headquartered in London with an office in Leeds, TCC provides specialist regulatory compliance services to FCA regulated firms in the financial industry.
TCC has advised over 250 financial services clients since 2001 and more than 140 in the last two years including a number of FTSE 100 and multi-national companies.
Entrepreneur Joanne Smith founded TCC in 2000. With over 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry, she began her career at the Financial Services Authority
Advent International, ATP and Bain Capital are to acquire 100 per cent of the share capital of Nets from the existing shareholders, a group of 186 primarily Danish and Norwegian banks, for a cash consideration of DKK17.0bn, corresponding to a price per share of DKK92.37.
In addition, the shareholders will receive the dividend for 2013 totalling DKK498m, or DKK2.70 per share.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals/confirmations and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2014.
Nets, headquartered in Copenhagen, is a Northern European provider of payments, information and digital identity solutions. Founded in 1968,
Funds professionals are anticipating particular growth in the real estate and private equity asset classes, according to a poll held at the Jersey Finance Annual London Funds Conference this week.
At the conference, held in London on 19 March, an audience of senior funds professionals was asked where they saw most growth coming from in the months ahead.
Some 33 per cent of attendees indicated that real estate was the biggest growth area for them, with 27 per cent indicating that they saw most potential in private equity.
Attendees also said they thought most opportunities would come from
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