Private equity firm Stirling Square Capital Partners has acquired a majority interest in Italy’s Viscolube, a major European player in the used oil recycling sector. The stake is being acquired from Giorgio Carriero and his family, who will retain a minority interest. Carriero, who had previously acquired a minority stake owned by ENI S.p.A., will continue as President of Viscolube. The acquisition is the first for Stirling Square’s recently appointed Special Opportunities team, which is led by Manilo Marocco. The Special Opportunities team shares the same pan-European outlook as the First and Second Fund team at Stirling Square but concentrates

Private equity emerging markets investor Actis has invested USD71 million in Endurance Technologies Limited, a leading Indian auto component manufacturer. Endurance manufactures aluminium die castings, suspensions, transmissions and brakes with a specific focus on the motorcycle and scooter market and high end engine and transmission components for passenger and commercial vehicles. It is amongst the largest Indian auto components businesses and has a proven track record of growth. The majority of the company’s revenues come from two-wheeler and three-wheeler vehicle manufacturers including industry leaders such as Bajaj, Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda Motorcycles and Scooters and Royal Enfield.  In the passenger car

GMZ Energy has secured USD14 million in Series C financing. The new investment was led by Mitsui Ventures and includes I2BF Global Ventures, Energy Technology Ventures (a joint venture of GE, NRG Energy and ConocoPhillips), Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and BP Alternative Energy. With the new funding, GMZ will expand its engineering and go-to-market capabilities as the company moves into production of a new class of renewable technologies.   GMZ specialises in direct heat-to-electricity conversion, applying an advanced nanotechnology process to produce high-performance and economically viable thermoelectric material. The GMZ material unlocks the potential of primary heat sources like

Golden Seeds has closed its second fund with USD26.5 million in committed capital for investments in early stage, high growth companies across at least three sectors, including technology, life sciences and consumer goods. The fund already boasts eight portfolio companies: AboutOne – online household management system; Cognition Therapeutics – drug discovery for Alzheimer’s disease; Hatsize – cloud-based training and demonstrations of complex technologies; LARK – sleep system that helps you wake better, and sleep better too; Open Road Integrated Media – digital publisher and multimedia content company; RuMe – manufacturer and distributor of fair trade reusable fashion items; Style for

Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has acquired The Sniffers, a Belgian provider of emission monitoring and related services to the global oil and gas industries, from majority owner Creafund. Creafund and The Sniffers’ management team will continue as minority owners. Equity for the investment comes from Carlyle Europe Technology Partners II. Terms of the transaction, which closed on 21 December 2011, were not disclosed.   Founded in 1991, The Sniffers is one of the largest providers of fugitive emission monitoring outside the United States and has a premier market position in Europe and the Middle East. Fugitive emission

DNV has acquired 74.3% of KEMA’s shares. The new combined company DNV KEMA will consist of all 1,800 KEMA employees and 500 employees from DNV’s renewable energy and sustainability activities. The new company will be led by Thijs Aarten, the CEO of KEMA, and headquartered in Arnhem, the Netherlands.  Aarten will report to a Supervisory Board chaired by DNV CEO Henrik O. Madsen. “By joining forces, 2,300 experts will meet the needs of an industry in rapid transition and growth,” says says Leif Arne Langøy, the Chairman of DNV’s Board of Directors. “The combination of cleaner fossil-fuel-based power generation and