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High Road Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of New York-based General Tools & Instruments, marking High Road Capital Partners Fund II’s third platform acquisition.
Founded in 1922, General Tools & Instruments is a designer and developer of precision specialty hand tools and handheld test instruments for consumers and professionals.
General Tools & Instruments’ products are available in big-box and specialty retailers including Home Depot, Lowe’s, Sears, Ace Hardware and True Value Hardware stores, and through industrial distributors such as Grainger, MSC Industrial Supply and McMaster-Carr.
“General Tools & Instruments has a solid position as a leading provider
Tikehau Investment Management has arranged a bond financing allowing MK2 Group to diversify its funding sources and continue its development.
This transaction is fully subscribed by Novo 2, one of the two funds created by a consortium of insurance companies, to provide up to EUR1bn in total funding to mid-market corporates in France.
Created in 1974 by Marin Karmitz, MK2 Group has become one of the leading movie theatre chains in Paris, operating 65 screens within 12 multiplex cinemas. Its development plan is organised around three activities: operating movie theatre, marketing films and communication agency activities.
Nathanaël Karmitz,
London-based alternative investment manager GMI (Global Maritime Investments) is planning a series of private equity partnerships focused on ship purchase and fleet management.
The move reflects a significant 10 to 15 per cent uptick in the prices of new vessels which have been flat for three years and GMI believes prices have a lot further to rise.
GMI, which has also offices in Athens, Cayman, Cyprus, Monaco and Singapore, was founded in late 2005 becoming the only manager to trade the volatility in global shipping rates by arbitraging the inherent mispricing in Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs) via the derivatives
Hudson Ferry Capital has promoted Robert Athas to vice president, responsible for leading business development efforts and managing the firm’s intermediary relationships.
"Rob has been a wonderful addition to the Hudson Ferry team. Since joining us last year, he has been instrumental in expanding our network of business brokers and intermediaries," says Paul Huston, Hudson Ferry Capital's chairman.
Athas joined Hudson Ferry Capital as an associate last January and brings a wealth of experience to his role.
Prior to joining Hudson Ferry Capital, Athas was a vice president in the New York office of KPMG Corporate Finance, a
Private equity leaders anticipate another year of moderate deal flow volume, according to the fifth annual PErspective Private Equity Study by BDO USA.
Coming off of a year when rising valuations limited fund managers’ ability to source and close deals, only 15 per cent of private equity fund managers – regardless of fund size – predict they will close more than five deals in 2014. That represents a drop from 2013, when 22 per cent of fund managers anticipated closing more than five deals.
Despite this bearish view, fund managers are hopeful that they will deploy more capital in
RMB Capital has appointed Kerry Jordan as director of business development for Iron Road Capital Partners, the firm’s alternative investment platform.
“We continue to expand our team in an effort to support the spectrum of alternative investments we provide,” says Blair Haarlow, managing principal of Chicago-based Iron Road. “Kerry brings significant expertise in building relationships with institutional investors, so we are excited about the contributions she’ll be able to make to our growing business. In addition, Kerry has long-standing involvement in the Chicago financial community with leadership roles at CFA Society Chicago and Econ Illinois.”
In her role, Jordan
Peer-to-peer lending company Lending Works has closed a GBP3.5m seed funding round led by David Kyte, founder of The Kyte Group.
Kyte was a founder trader and former board member of the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE), now known as NYSE Liffe and in 1985, he founded The Kyte Group, one of the world’s first algorithmic trading and clearing houses.
Kyte says: “The retail banking sector as we know it is fractured; so, as a financial services innovator-turned-investor, a P2P lender developing leading proprietary technology is a natural destination for my investments.
“Innovative technology is
European private equity transaction volumes bounced back in Q4 following a weak Q3, according to the European Private Equity Barometer, published by unquote” and SL Capital Partners.
A total of 326 deals were completed, the highest total since the final quarter of 2012, with the total value of EUR23.6bn up 40 per cent on the EUR16.9bn transacted in Q3.
This value uplift was largely driven by the buyout space, where mid-market deals led the way with volumes at a three-year high. These mid-market deals were the core growth driver during the year in Europe, representing 60 per cent
HIG Capital has recruited two experienced private equity investors, Johannes Huttunen and Johan Pernvi, to the firm’s London team.
Huttunen was formerly at Silverfleet Capital where he worked on the origination and execution of transactions as part of the team in London. Before that he was at European Capital, working on UK buyouts, and in the healthcare M&A team at Deutsche Bank in London.
Pernvi was previously a senior investment manager at publicly listed Swedish private equity company, Ratos, where he worked on buyout transactions. Before that he was at Bain & Co
Paul Canning, HIG London managing
Japanese trading firm Mitsui has agreed to join The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) as investor in Cotton Way.
Cotton Way is a Russian commercial laundry and textile management company.
Mitsui will contribute to improve the operation and management of Cotton Way by introducing international best practices and offering experience and knowledge.
This transaction will be the first investment deriving from the Russian-Japanese Investment Platform (RJIP) which was created by RDIF, Vnesheconombank (VEB) and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in 2013.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, says: “Mitsui’s investment in Cotton Way
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