A new bank, Cambridge & Counties Bank, targeting established small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), has launched in the UK.  The bank will provide SMEs with loans secured against commercial property as well as a highly competitive deposit account. In addition to this, it will also offer secured pension scheme lending, and has plans to launch professional firm financing, as well as other competitive savings accounts into both the retail and non-retail sectors. The bank has a unique structure being jointly owned by Cambridgeshire Local Government Pension Fund and Trinity Hall, a College of the University of Cambridge. They each own 50%

Funds advised by Apax Partners (Apax) and JMI Equity are to acquire Paradigm Ltd (‘Paradigm’), the largest independent software vendor focused on the growing oil and gas exploration & production (E&P) space, for approximately USD1 billion in an all-cash transaction. Paradigm is a multi-national company with a significant presence across Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, China and Australasia.
 Paradigm’s mission critical software enables engineers to optimise drilling and production decisions through the analysis of vast quantities of seismic and well-log data, spanning the entire spectrum of the E&P lifecycle from basin evaluation through to development & production.  Paradigm

The management team behind Find Invest Grow (FIG), a venture capital firm targeting the student and recent graduate market, has launched the asset management company New Model Venture Capital (NMVC).  NMVC’s first fund, the FIG Concept Seed Fund (the Fund), will provide access to FIG’s current portfolio of start-up investments as well as future deal flow.     NMVC received FSA authorisation in April 2012. It is well-advanced with capital raising for the Fund which, once closed, will provide additional funding to the start-ups supported by FIG.   Both FIG and the Fund invest in businesses founded or managed by UK

Montagu Private Equity (Montagu) has sold medical supplies manufacturer BSN medical (BSN) to EQT VI (EQT) for an enterprise value of around EUR1.8 billion. The transaction is subject to statutory regulatory clearances.   BSN, with close to EUR700 million in sales and approximately 4,000 employees, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of wound care, compression therapy, and orthopaedic products to hospitals, pharmacies and sanitary shops.   In Wound Care, the company’s diverse product portfolio includes both acute and advanced wound care products. The Compression Therapy business focuses predominantly on ready-to-wear and custom-made compression garments. In Orthopaedics, BSN offers a

A holding company owned by the Permira funds is to acquire Intelligrated (www.intelligrated.com), a North American-based provider of automated material handling solutions, services and products, in a transaction at a valuation in excess of USD500 million. Intelligrated’s management, led by founders Chris Cole and Jim McCarthy, will maintain a significant stake in the company as part of the transaction and will continue to lead the company. Intelligrated designs, manufactures and installs complete material handling automation solutions for the warehousing, distribution, consumer product manufacturing, postal and parcel markets. Solutions include conveyor systems, sortation systems, palletisers and robotics, order fulfilment systems, warehouse