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Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) has announced the successful close of its new growth equity and venture capital fund, SEP IV, confirming that it had reached its GBP200 million target by the end of 2011.
The fund, which ranks as one of the largest raised in Europe over the last year, attracted very strong support, defying the generally difficult climate for private equity fundraisings. SEP’s existing investors accounted for 80% of the total raised. Approximately half of the fund was accounted for by UK-based investors, with the remaining 50% coming from investors based in Europe and the United States.
Investors in
2011 trailed behind 2010 in private equity deal activity, but was still a marked improvement over 2009 and left the industry poised for strong future activity, according to PitchBook Data’s year-end analysis of US PE activity.
"The light at the end of the tunnel appears to be very close for the US private equity industry," says John Gabbert (pictured), CEO and Founder of PitchBook. "The first half of 2011 saw robust private equity activity, but the second half was slowed down by economic concerns and continuing turmoil in the debt markets. Look for activity to increase in 2012 as these
The Jordan Company, a leading middle-market private equity firm, has completed the sale of International Mining Machinery Ltd to Joy Global Inc, a high productivity mining solutions provider. In July 2011, the Jordan Company announced that it had entered into an Share Purchase Agreement to sell 534.8 million shares of IMM, representing approximately 41% of the company’s issued share capital, to Joy Global Inc.
An affiliate of The Jordan Company, LP initially invested in IMM in 2006, and on February 10, 2010, IMM priced a 520 million share public stock offering at HKD4.88 per share.
Headquartered in Hong
Middle-market private equity firm American Industrial Partners has completed the purchase of Heil Trailer International from Dover Corporation. Heil Trailer is a global provider of engineered tank and specialty trailers for a diverse range of end markets including oil and gas and infrastructure.
Heil Trailer was founded in Wisconsin in 1901 and is headquartered in Athens, TN. The Company is a global enterprise with three manufacturing facilities located in North America and facilities in both Thailand and Argentina which address the growing emerging markets of Asia and Latin America. The Company’s products include liquid, dry-bulk and specialty trailers.
Concurrent with the transaction
Global M&A for the year to date totalled USD2,178.4bn, up 2.5% from the same period in 2010 (USD2,125.9bn), making it the busiest year since 2008 (which saw USD2,405.8bn), according to figures released by MergerMarket. A total of 12,455 deals were announced in 2011, 1.3% below the number for 2010 (12,296 deals).
Activity did, however, decrease over four successive quarters, with USD432bn-worth of deals announced globally in the fourth quarter of 2011, down 22.5% from Q3 2011 (USD557.5bn). Fourth quarter activity was 39% lower than in Q4 2010 (USD 708.1bn), with the lowest quarterly total since Q3 2009 (USD325.4bn). The largest
An affiliate of Sun European Partners, the European adviser to Sun Capital Partners, Inc, has acquired Kobusch-Sengewald, an international producer and processor of custom-designed plastic packaging from Pregis Corporation.
Kobusch Sengewald is a leading provider of high value, bespoke, plastic-based flexible and semi-rigid packaging solutions to the food, chemical, hygiene product and medical sectors. The business benefits from its unique technical capabilities, custom-made product offering, and geographical presence providing a “one-stop-shop” of tailored solutions to customers across multiple jurisdictions. Kobusch Sengeweld employs over 1,100 employees across six sites located in Germany, Egypt and the United Kingdom. The Company’s range of
Stuart Howard has joined HarbourVest as Chief Operating Officer, European Listed Products. Based in London, Howard is responsible for overseeing HarbourVest’s role in the operations of HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited (HVPE) and HarbourVest Senior Loans Europe (HSLE), two listed investment companies managed by HarbourVest affiliates.
Stuart joins HarbourVest from 3i, where he spent over ten years, most recently as Chief Operating Officer for Asia and the Americas. He has also held senior positions within 3i Infrastructure plc and 3i’s Quoted Private Equity plc. Stuart is a chartered accountant and prior to joining 3i in 2001 was at Credit Agricole
Boston-based private equity firm Berkshire Partners has appointed EJ Whelan as Managing Director effective 1 January, 2012. He joins the 13 current Managing Directors of Berkshire in managing the firm and its affiliated investment funds.
Whelan joined Berkshire Partners in 2005. He has worked extensively with Berkshire’s consumer products, retail and business services companies. Prior to Berkshire, Whelan worked at Summit Partners for two years and also served on the management team at Sterling Auto Body Centers, a Berkshire portfolio company. Whelan began his career at Bain & Company as an associate consultant. He received a BA from Dartmouth College
When it comes to emerging markets, China invariably seems to be the focus of attention, but the country to watch in 2012 is India, according to Edward Bland, Head of Investment Research at Duncan Lawrie Private Bank…
We are keen on emerging markets, especially India, because they offer the best prospects for the long-term equity investor. The effect on India from the continuing crisis in the Eurozone is likely to be less pronounced than on other Asian economies, including China, as the Indian economy is less dependent on exports than its neighbours. Currently I see India as a contrarian buying
Foresight Group has appointed Sarah Cole as Head of Institutional Investor Relations. Based in Foresight’s Sevenoaks office, Sarah will take responsibility for Foresight’s growing institutional client base.
Cole joins from Winton Capital Management, where she was Vice President US and UK Institutional Clients. Prior to that, Cole worked in New York as a specialist hedge fund consultant, and before that for Citigroup’s Capital Introductions team in London.
Bernard Fairman, Chairman of Foresight, says: “Sarah’s experience in institutional investor relations on both sides of the Atlantic will be a great asset to Foresight as we develop our institutional business in the UK
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