Latest News
HBJ Gateley has advised the private equity firm Azure Investments on its acquisition of Dundee-based construction business Muirfield Contracts, as the builder seeks to target Scotland’s thriving energy sector.
Despite the continuing difficulty in the building industry, Muirfield has posted consistent year on year growth, with GBP2m profit from GBP42m turnover in FY2012/13.
The deal comes as Muirfield Contracts owner Maurice McKay prepares for retirement, with Azure Investments seeking to continue the company’s growth by targeting Aberdeen’s oil and gas industry.
Lindsay Cowan, former regional managing director of Mansell Homes for Tayside and Fife, has been appointed
Oakfield Capital Partners (OCP), a private equity firm specialising in investing in small and mid-sized British businesses (SMEs), has held the first close of its UK Special Situations Fund with firm commitments of GBP6m.
Achieving a successful first close will enable OCP’s UK Special Situations Fund to invest in SME businesses which need both finance and management support to realise their full potential.
Oakfield targets SMEs whose potential has not been realised and which qualify for tax relief under the Government-backed Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS). New investments will join OCP’s existing stable of five companies in which it has invested since the firm was
The UK economy is set to accelerate and grow over the next two years, according to Michael Low, business development manager of Moneycorp.
Speaking at the Asia Alternative Investment Network in London, he said: “As a result of a booming services sector, the success of the Olympics and innovation coming from the hi-tech industry I am confident of a strong recovery in the UK’s economy. I expect growth to accelerate over the next two years.”
Low backed his assertion with examples from industries such as car manufacturing and aircraft production where production output was increasing plus the encouraging
Major sovereign governments and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the Middle East are increasingly considering new private equity models for investment, according to the fourth annual Invesco Middle East Asset Management Study.
Invesco’s study has again analysed sovereign revenues and defined the investment behaviours of major SWFs in the Gulf Cooperation Council region (GCC) which account for 35 per cent of global SWF flows, representing USD1.8trn. This year it investigated the differences in risk appetite, investment preferences and asset allocations between investment SWFs – those which aim to simply preserve and grow a country’s assets – and development SWFs
VentureHealth, an online healthcare investment portal for accredited investors, has launched a new model for equity crowdfunding.
Focused on innovations that dramatically improve clinical outcomes, VentureHealth is the first equity crowdfunding portal founded by professional investors. The investment platform offers qualified investors access to life sciences deals that traditionally were reserved for venture capitalists.
Mir Imran, co-founder and managing director, is a prolific medical innovator who has founded more than 20 life sciences companies and holds more than 200 patents. Imran is also the founder of InCube Labs, a multi-disciplinary research lab that develops breakthrough medical technologies, and InCube
Atlanta-based private equity firm Hibernian Pacific Holdings (HPH) has bought a portfolio of 45 single family attached and detached residential properties in DeKalb County, Georgia.
The properties were bought from a private seller, with terms not to be disclosed.
Since its inception in 2009, HPH has focused its efforts on acquiring cash-flowing and value-add commercial real estate properties, not residential properties.
“Our core and focus at HPH has been commercial real estate assets and non-performing commercial real estate loans owned by community banks,” says Hibernian Pacific Holdings president and chief executive Jason Joseph (pictured). “This transaction was
Positive Cashflow Finance has secured a GBP22m funding line from RBS Invoice Finance and NatWest in a deal that gives the directors a majority shareholding in the business they founded five and a half years ago.
The company, which was backed by private equity firm Infinity Asset Management in December 2007, recently announced profits of GBP652,000 for 2012, on a turnover of GBP3.6m.
The firm provides funding facilities from GBP10,000 to GBP1m to improve working capital, fund acquisitions and accelerate growth.
Positive’s managing director David Smith (pictured) says: “We have enjoyed a fantastic relationship with our investors.
Funds managed by Värde Partners have completed the acquisition of FirstCity Financial Corporation.
Mark B Horrell, who previously served as senior vice president and head of US acquisitions of FirstCity, has been appointed chief executive officer of FirstCity, succeeding James T. Sartain. Sartain will retire and join Värde as a consultant.
Terry R DeWitt, senior vice president and head of global acquisitions of FirstCity, and James C Holmes, senior vice president and managing director of FirstCity, will become chief credit officer and chief operating officer, respectively, and will assist Horrell in leading the operations of FirstCity. FirstCity will
Scarosso, the online shoe brand, has raised series A funding from a syndicate of investors led by DN Capital. DN Capital was joined in the round by IBB Venture Capital Company managed Kreativwirtschaft Berlin, Perikles Ventures and other local angel investors.
The financing will support the launch of new collections, in particular a new women’s collection designed by Marco Censi and Guillaume Hinfray. It will also allow Scarosso to accelerate the development of its retail operations. After the launch of Scarosso’s first store in Hamburg, the company is planning a further opening in Berlin in coming months.
Scarosso was founded in
Netage Solutions has appointed Steve Tobio to the position of director of product development.
A skilled product manager with 11 years of experience in the financial services industry, Tobio will drive development efforts at Netage, ensuring that the Dynamo platform continues to deliver market-leading capabilities for alternative investment firms.
Most recently, Tobio served as director of services and operations at SS&C Technologies, a provider of specialised software for the global financial services industry. There, he oversaw the client services and professional services team, and held responsibility creating deployment methodology and product road mapping of TheNextRound, an investor accounting
Special Reports
Featured
Events
12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am
12 November, 2026 – 5:00 pm
