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HSS Hire Services Group has been acquired by Exponent Private Equity.
The transaction value has not been disclosed.
HSS is a UK-based tool and equipment hire chain that has been serving big businesses, trade and DIY customers since 1957. Operating under the banner of HSS Hire, the group has an established nationwide network with a 2,000-strong workforce and a fleet of over 500 liveried vehicles. HSS operates from a national network of 230 distribution centres and branches in UK and Ireland.
HSS has traded successfully and posted consistent growth during the last four years. It delivered sales
Over half of private equity executives (59 per cent) are expecting to increase their investment activity next year, according to a poll by KPMG.
Thirty three per cent believed it would remain about the same, while only eight per cent said they expect to decrease investing activity.
The poll was taken at the Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst Conference, held last month in New York and sponsored by KPMG.
"There is a great deal of uncertainty in the market place and some participants may be waiting on the sidelines, even though we saw a number of large PE transactions announced
Fund administration company Apex Fund Services has opened an office in San Francisco.
The ongoing expansion of the Apex Global Network around concentrations of fund managers meant San Francisco was the logical choice to base its West coast business development team.
The increasing regulatory burden has forced investment managers to spend more time on compliance and less on managing their portfolios and raising new investor money. Apex brings specific solutions to these US circumstances particularly to mid-sized funds adversely affected by Dodd Frank.
West coast managers will be the next global jurisdiction to benefit from Apex’s front office software
Real estate private equity fund managers around the world continue to face major challenges stemming largely from ongoing illiquidity within the capital markets.
This has left few able to secure bank financing and stifled deal flow, according to Global Market Outlook: Trends in real estate private equity, a new report by Ernst & Young.
The report, based on a survey of 300 global real estate funds, found that even in heavily favoured emerging markets, like Brazil and India, deployment of capital by private equity funds has slowed down. This is largely because of the Eurozone crisis and the uncertainty it
An affiliate of private equity firm Aterian Investment Partners has completed the carve-out acquisition of ten heat treating facilities in the US and Canada from Bluewater Thermal Solutions.
The acquired plants will continue to operate under the Bluewater name.
Bluewater is a provider of heat treating services and solutions to a number of North American manufacturing industries. The company provides a range of metallurgical heat-treating processes in which metal parts are exposed to precise temperatures, atmospheres, quenchants, and other conditions to improve their mechanical properties, durability, and wear resistance.
Bluewater has locations in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Canada. From
Private equity firm HIG Capital has completed the sale of Texas Honing (THI), an engineering-enabled producer of high precision components used in oilfield drilling, completion, and production systems worldwide.
After the transaction, the company will be included in the Forged Products segment of Precision Castparts Corporation.
Based near Houston, Texas, THI was founded in 1976 as a specialised honing business catering to local oilfield tool companies. Over the past 35 years, THI has grown its offering to include eight complementary services including drilling, honing, boring, turning, skiving, off-centre drilling, and CNC processing.
“HIG has been a valuable partner and sounding
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has opened an office in Singapore. The office, which is KKR’s seventh in Asia Pacific, will serve as the regional hub for Southeast Asia and will be dedicated towards its investment activities throughout the region.
The Singapore office builds upon KKR’s model of marrying market knowledge of experienced local hires with KKR’s global network for the benefit of its investors and portfolio companies. KKR’s Southeast Asia team is led by Ming Lu, member and regional leader of Southeast Asia, and includes directors Kabir Mathur from Singapore and Ridha Wirakusumah from Indonesia.
Henry Kravis, co-founder, co-chairman and co-CEO of
Businesses across Britain had 27,300 overdraft and loan applications worth as much as GBP1.264bn rejected in Q1 2012, according to research carried out by Cambridge & Counties bank.
The analysis also revealed that 300 applications are turned down every day, equating to 13 an hour. The average credit facility turned down was GBP46,300.
Gary Wilkinson, Chief Executive, Cambridge & Counties Bank, says: “The UK relies heavily on the SME sector which is essential in leading our economic recovery. To grow and be successful, a large number of organisations are looking to raise capital, but it has become harder to
The current low yield environment has created greater interest in non-conventional segments of the credit market.
This was demonstrated by boutique investment bank Dexion Capital’s inaugural conference exploring “Opportunities across the credit spectrum”, held at the London Stock Exchange.
Investment managers who presented at the conference included Neuberger Berman, Alcentra, GSO Capital, Axa IM, DRC Capital, Gravis Capital Partners, Boussard & Gavaudan and CQS.
The keynote speaker at the conference was Edward Eyerman, head of European leveraged finance at Fitch Ratings, who gave an overview of European credit markets. The presentation noted the structural changes to several parts of
Riordan Lewis & Haden | Equity Partners’ (RLH) portfolio company, ABB Concise Optical Group, has been recapitalised by New Mountain Capital.
The transaction provided a favourable financial outcome for RLH’s investors while affording the ABB Concise management team the opportunity to continue their growth strategy in partnership with a new investor.
ABB Concise, based in Coral Springs, Florida, is the nation’s largest distributor of soft contact lenses. The company supplies more than two-thirds of the independent eye care professionals in America with brand name contact lenses, high grade ophthalmic products, and fully customisable gas permeable lenses.
The ABB Concise transaction
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