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Strand Hanson, the independent advisory-led, merchant bank, has appointed Lek van Cruyningen and Naiem Hussain to lead a new division, Strand Ventures.
Strand Ventures specialises in advising and investing in early stage companies and larger private companies, primarily in the natural resources, agriculture, energy, technology, healthcare, and chemical sectors.
Strand Hanson’s advisory team are introduced to a significant number of businesses each year looking for growth capital, which are not necessarily yet at a stage to undertake a stock market listing, and which are therefore seeking access to private equity and pre-IPO funding. Strand Ventures has been established to identify
Gresham, the mid market private equity firm, has appointed Adam Rudd as Investment Manager. Rudd joins the Manchester office as part of the firm’s deal team.
Rudd joins from KPMG where he worked as Corporate Finance Manager in their northern corporate finance team. Whilst there he had national responsibility for targeting the e-commerce sector and advised on numerous transactions including private equity and public to private transactions.
Andy Marsh, Partner, Gresham Manchester says: “We are delighted to have recruited Adam to our team. He is a talented individual who has a natural instinct for origination with experience in
Lion Capital has been granted a period of exclusivity ina bid to reach a definitive agreement to acquire European optical retailer Alain Affelou in conjunction with Mr Alain Affelou and management of the Group.
Alain Affelou will commence the communication and consultation process with employee representatives this week. This should result in completion of the transaction by June 2012, after it has been approved by the European Competition Authorities.
Founded in France in 1972, Alain Affelou is the largest optical franchisor in Europe, with a network of nearly 1,100 optical retail stores across France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Morocco,
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has appointed Christophe Florin as Head of Emerging Markets Fund Investments in its Private Equities Department, effective immediately.
In his new role, Florin will lead a team of portfolio managers and associates and be responsible for managing existing investments in emerging market funds and for driving future investments. He will also manage and develop key external relationships with GPs, portfolio companies and other relevant parties. Based in Abu Dhabi, Florin will report to Hareb Al Darmaki, Executive Director of the Private Equities Department.
With over 20 years of experience in the private equity industry,
A withholding tax ruling expected from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could lead to investment funds receiving a EUR4.2bn tax rebate, says Deloitte, the business advisory firm.
The case, which relates to the French withholding tax regime, will provide guidance for similar challenges being taken against several EU member states by portfolio investors such as investment funds, pension funds and charities.
France and several EU member states levy a withholding tax on dividend payments to some foreign investment funds while comparable domestic investors are exempt. EU and US-based institutional investors argue that the French rules amount to
Trident Fund Services has added the Geneva World Investor module to its existing implementation of Geneva. Trident Fund Services leverages the Geneva platform to provide integrated portfolio management and investor servicing across private equity, real estate and hedge fund clients.
"A robust, integrated technology platform underpins our ability to provide high-quality, tailored, cost-efficient fund administration services to our clients, whatever their specific requirements. We chose Geneva World Investor for its strong integration, automation, onshore and offshore investor level accounting, and the ability to deliver complex reporting to private equity and hedge fund clients," says Rick Gorter, Managing Director, Trident Fund
Ingenious Clean Energy, a division of UK based investment and advisory group Ingenious, has successfully closed its pioneering Ingenious Energy Efficiency EIS Fund, exceeding its GBP10m target fund raise.
The fund, which is the first of its kind in the UK, has been launched in collaboration with the Investment Advisors to the Fund, Sustainable Development Capital LLP. It will now begin deploying funds into companies which provide energy efficiency services in commercial and industrial properties.
The UK energy efficiency market presents a unique opportunity for investors as it continues to expand, driven by high and rising energy prices and concerns
Alter Domus has appointed Michael Ellul as Director of the firm’s office in Malta.
The office in Malta, which was established in 2010, offers corporate management support to holding and financing companies of investment firms, multinationals, and private investors. Solutions range from fund administration services to company management. Malta’s importance as a fund domicile of choice and a member of the EU made it a logical location in the expansion of Alter Domus global network.
Michael Ellul, who joins an existing team of experienced professionals in Malta, has significant local experience in banking and in trust and company formation. In
Following its official launch on 12 March 12, 2012, the European Angels Fund (EAF) has now commenced operation in Germany, with Business Angel Friedrich Georg Hoepfner, making the first investment into Fotografen-Service GmbH (www.fotograf.de), a provider of a software-as-a-service tool to support professional photographers throughout their entire business cycle from client acquisition and sales to business monitoring.
Matthias Ummenhofer, Head of Venture Capital at the European Investment Fund, says: “It is exciting to see the European Angels Fund become operational so quickly after its launch. In view of the healthy pipeline, we look forward to teaming up with other Business
A new report out today from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation describes how most institutional investors, including larger state pension funds, endowments and foundations, may be shortchanged by their investments in venture capital funds.
Over the past decade, public stock markets have outperformed the average venture capital fund and for 15 years, VC funds have failed to return to investors the significant amounts of cash invested, despite high-profile successes, including Google, Groupon and LinkedIn.
The report, "We Have Met the Enemy … And He is Us," is based on a comprehensive analysis of the Kauffman Foundation’s more than 20 years
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