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Shawbrook Bank broke even in May 2012 after 16 months of trading and went on to secure profit for each subsequent month of the year, resulting in an underlying profit of GBP2.6m for the year end 2012.
March 2012 saw Shawbrook acquire Singers Asset Finance (now Shawbrook Asset Finance) to enhance its offering to SMEs. The costs associated with this acquisition, alongside significant investment in infrastructure to support future growth, led to a reduction in the underlying profitability of GBP2.6m to an accounting loss before tax of GBP7.8m.
Each of Shawbrook’s specialist lending businesses, which support over 18,000 small
Bunker Hill Capital, a Boston based private equity firm, has acquired Dyno Holdco, the exclusive licensee of the Singer brand for sewing accessories and one of the largest producers and marketers of holiday decorative home products in North America, from TG Capital Corp.
The exclusive license enables Dyno to sell a large and diverse portfolio of sewing products, including cutting instruments, fasteners, needles, thread and a wide variety of other sewing related notions and accessories from an iconic sewing and craft brand. Dyno’s sewing business is complemented by its holiday decorative home products that include holiday-oriented home décor, holiday
The board of the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) has appointed Stephen Lansdown as non-executive director.
Lansdown (pictured) was co-founder and former chairman of Hargreaves Lansdown, from which he stepped down in November 2012. He is also a majority shareholder of Bristol City Football Club and Bristol Rugby Club.
A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and a fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, Lansdown was presented with Honorary Degrees from Bristol University (Doctor of Laws) and the University of the West of England (Doctor of Business Administration) in 2012.
Alacrita, the transatlantic life sciences consulting firm, has aggregated the life science practices of two consulting firms and appointed Simon Turner as partner.
Alacrita is taking on the business of Canopus, a specialist life science consulting firm founded by Turner, which recently acquired the life sciences consulting business of Transentia, which focussed on the commercialisation of early-stage technology.
The move consolidates Alacrita’s position as a leading life science consulting firm and expands the firm’s partnership to more effectively serve its growing roster of transatlantic clients.
Turner has over two decades of experience managing and advising on strategic and
Private equity investor Calculus Capital has made a significant investment in Benito’s Hat.
The deal represents the first investment in the restaurant sector for Calculus.
Benito’s Hat, a Mexican-themed fast casual restaurant business with four sites in central London, was named after extravagant Mexican president Benito Juárez. Founder Ben Fordham opened Benito’s first site on Goodge Street in London in 2008 with a little help from friends and family. Since then three more sites have been opened in Covent Garden, Oxford Circus and, most recently, King’s Cross. The investment by Calculus will help facilitate the roll-out of more
BNP Paribas Securities Services has appointed Darren Banks to lead on the development of the UK trustee and depositary business.
James McAleenan, head of the UK at BNP Paribas Securities Services, says: “Darren Banks brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our business and we are pleased to have him on board. He will be responsible for growing the UK trustee and depositary business enabling us to become the partner of choice and a differentiator by truly leveraging a pan-European approach to depositary services rather than the traditional UK centric view.”
Banks joins from State Street Trustees
OMERS Private Equity (OPE), the private equity investment arm of the OMERS pension plan, has completed the purchase of Civica from 3i and funds managed by 3i for an enterprise value of GBP390m.
Civica is a provider of software systems, cloud-based IT services and technical outsourcing, primarily to public sector organisations in the UK and around the world. Civica has extensive capabilities and presence across local government, education, social housing, healthcare, and emergency services. The company employs over 2,000 staff, around 60 per cent of which are based in the UK.
OPE will support the management team as
DB Private Equity, the private equity platform of the asset and wealth management division of Deutsche Bank Group, has invested in mobile commerce specialist Celltick.
In February, Celltick announced record revenue in 2012 with focus on mobile initiated commerce utilising its mobile home screen marketing technologies. The company creates publishing inventory of various mobile devices’ home screens while closing the loop between mobile marketing and the final commerce transaction resulting from a marketing promotion.
By the close of 2012, Celltick powered billions of mobile initiated commerce transactions for virtual and physical goods serving over 140 million active consumers
Adams Street Partners, a manager of private equity for institutional investors, has closed its Adams Street Global Secondary Fund 5.
The offering was oversubscribed, surpassing the USD750m target and hitting the firm’s hard cap of USD1bn.
In combination with other managed accounts, Adams Street’s secondary programme has approximately USD2bn in new capital to invest.
Adams Street Partners has a diversified mix of limited partners, including sovereign wealth funds, public and private pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations and high net-worth individuals.
Strategically, Adams Street seeks to leverage its global integrated platform to selectively target high quality
UK decommissioning, demolition and remediation specialist KDC has secured a multi-million pound refinancing deal from Yorkshire Bank.
The GBP3.8m finance package, from Yorkshire Bank’s Manchester-based corporate banking team, provides KDC with fresh working capital as it continues to win new contracts across the UK.
The deal also refinances investment provided by YFM Equity Partners who, along with Yorkshire Bank and Barclays Ventures, was a key investor in the 2008 management buyout of the business. The company has grown turnover from GBP14m to GBP24mn since the MBO and it now has 140 employees across the UK.
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