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Mid-market private equity firm, CapVest Limited is selling United Coffee (Cafe2011 Holdings Limited trading as United Coffee) to UCC Holdings Limited.
United Coffee is the largest independent coffee business in Europe with leading market positions in the UK, Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain and a growing presence in France and Scandinavia. The transaction is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year.
CapVest acquired United Coffee, then called Drie Mollen, in 2008 and set about implementing a strategy to transform the business into a truly pan-European leader in the coffee industry. In 2010, this culminated in the creation
The transition to a new party leadership in 2012 should facilitate bolder reform and further unlock China’s growth potential, says Yiqian Jiang, fund manager, DWS Invest Chinese Equities fund…
We believe that fears of an economic hard-landing will prove unwarranted as the Chinese economy is poised to complete the last stage of “soft-landing” in first half of 2012, setting the stage for recovery in the second half of the year. Macro policy crossed an inflection point in the fourth quarter of 2011, turning from tightening to moderately accommodative. We expect policy turnaround to precede economic change by around six months, when the
US-based companies raised USD6.3 billion through 717 venture capital deals during the first quarter of 2012, an 18% decline in capital and 9% decline in deals from the same period last year, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.
"The declines were pretty evenly spread across industries so there weren’t any big winners or big losers in the quarter, but there were some surprises. Investment in consumer Internet companies fell after two exceptional investment years, while the IT industry fared well thanks to strong interest in software start-ups," says Jessica Canning (pictured), global research director for Dow Jones VentureSource.
The median amount
Guernsey’s zero-10 corporate tax regime has been deemed harmful by the EU’s Code of Conduct Group on Business Taxation.
The Code Group had previously ruled similarly in relation to both the zero-10 regimes of both Jersey and the Isle of Man.
Guernsey had argued that the offending element from the Jersey and Isle of Man regimes, known as deemed distribution, was different in its tax system to the extent that the Island’s zero-10 regime was actually compliant with the Code Group’s criteria.
However, on the day following a General Election in the Island, a statement from Guernsey’s Policy Council said:
Amidst ongoing Eurozone concerns and uncertainty surrounding Spain, Schroders’ Head of Global Macro, Bob Jolly, discusses his tactical approach in light of his outlook for the global fixed income markets…
The risks to growth expectations could go either way, so we expect markets to remain nervous and levels of volatility to remain elevated. We believe the best approach in this environment is to trade tactically instead of taking any significant strategic positions.
However, we are still taking a strategically positive view on the prospects for US growth. We are less bullish about the US economy than we were a month ago, but
SynGen Inc, a Regenerative Medicine device company focused on the development of next generation stem cell harvesting systems, has completed a USD5 million Series A preferred stock financing with Bay City Capital.
Under the terms of the transaction, BCC will appoint two representatives to SynGen’s board of directors.
"We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Bay City Capital to maximise SynGen’s potential. Their expansive knowledge of the global life science field and vast networking capability combined with a strong reputation as a top tier venture capital firm made our decision easy," says Phil Coelho, SynGen’s president and
Sterling Infosystems, Inc, a company owned by management and private equity firm Calera Capital, has acquired BackCheck.
BackCheck, a provider of background checking products and services, is the market leader in Canada and one of the largest providers in the United Kingdom. Sterling, already one of the largest background checking companies in the world, is now the largest within North America and is well positioned for future growth.
William Greenblatt, Founder and CEO of New York City-headquartered Sterling, says: "BackCheck and Sterling will bring together the strengths of two organisations that are leaders in their respective markets. Both organisations have a
The Federal Reserve Board has announced its approval of a statement clarifying that an entity covered by section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or the so-called Volcker Rule, has the full two-year period provided by the statute to fully conform its activities and investments, unless the Board extends the conformance period.
Section 619 generally requires banking entities to conform their activities and investments to the prohibitions and restrictions included in the statute on proprietary trading activities and on hedge fund and private equity fund activities and investments.
Section 619 required the Board to adopt
Aquila Capital, the Hamburg-based alternative investment company, is expanding its position in the agricultural investment space with the appointment of seven highly-experienced ‘farmers who speak finance’.
The expanded team enables Aquila Capital to meet a growing demand for a globally diversified portfolio of agricultural investment solutions.
Aquila Capital has an advisory team whose background lies in farming rather than in the financial industry. The team is therefore strongly placed to provide high-level advice and insight into the fast developing trends in the global agricultural arena.
The expansion of its agricultural team is designed to widen Aquila Capital’s reach
Hogan Lovells has expanded its private equity practice with the hire of Lars Benger in Dusseldorf. He will join the firm in May 2012.
Benger was previously Counsel in the private equity team of Clifford Chance in Frankfurt. He has experience in working on M&A transactions for large and mid-cap private equity houses, in particular on complex cross-border leveraged buy-outs and advising strategic investors.
Recent high profile private equity transactions on which Hogan Lovells’ has advised include advising Gores on its USD85 million acquisition of Mexx from Liz Claiborne; Kelso Place Asset Management LLP on its acquisition of the
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