FORWARD FEATURES CALENDAR

Find us on

Latest News

Money stack
Cambridge based small cell innovator www.ipaccess.com has closed a new round of funding, raising some USD15m from its current investors and from a major new backer. 

The company’s existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners, Cisco, Intel Capital, Qualcomm, Rothschild & Cie Gestion, Scottish Equity Partners and TE Connectivity all participated in the funding and re-affirmed their commitment to the small cell market.

 CEO Simon Brown confirmed the capital raised will be used to continue the acceleration of the company’s small cell product development roadmap and deployment activities.

 “We are delighted with this show of support from our investor partners,” says Brown.
The European Investment Fund (EIF) has invested in Bridges Ventures Fund III, a UK-focussed sustainable growth investor, which held its first closing at GBP72m. This is EIF’s first commitment into the impact investing segment and illustrates its willingness to support European social entrepreneurship. Bridges Ventures will target ambitious businesses across four key impact themes: Underserved Areas (meaning economically deprived areas); Environment; Education & Skills and Health & Wellbeing, where underlying social or environmental problems create an imperative for change and attractive growth opportunities for entrepreneurial businesses.  Through the success of its two predecessor funds (Bridges I and II, with similar
SEI has been selected by EIG Global Energy Partners to provide an operational outsourcing solution for the firm’s alternative investment business. Given its recent spin-out from Trust Company of the West and its aggressive growth projections, EIG required a partner with a global presence as well as greater processing depth and power to accommodate the increasing number of investors and expanding quantity of data. This is the latest in a series of private equity wins for SEI as more firms adopt operational outsourcing to focus resources on core business functions.   Under the agreement, SEI will provide a full range
Blue Coat Systems, a provider of Web security and WAN optimisation solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an investor group led by San Francisco-based private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo, LLC, in a transaction valued at approximately USD1.3 billion. The Blue Coat Board of Directors has approved the agreement and resolved to recommend that the shareholders of Blue Coat adopt this agreement. Blue Coat will continue to operate with its focus on Web security and WAN optimisation. The investor group is led by Thoma Bravo and includes the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Teachers’) through its
Aureos Capital Limited has expanded its Asia team with the appointment of Ashish Patel as Partner for Asia. Aureos is a private equity fund management company specialising in investing in small and medium sized businesses in emerging markets. Patel spent over a decade at Intel Capital, the private equity arm of international technology company Intel, where he was Managing Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa from 2003. He joins from AVG Technologies, the global security software company, where he was head of Strategy, Emerging Markets and Corporate Development since 2010.   He has over 15 years’ experience working with
Two fingers
Sovereign Capital, the UK private equity Buy & Build specialist, has appointed Sunil Jain and Nick Miller as Investment Managers. These hires further strengthen the investment team following the appointments of Manish Miglani and Rob King earlier this year.  Prior to joining Sovereign, Sunil was an Investment Manager at Blenheim Chalcot, the investment group, where he predominantly focused on education, technology and financial services.  Previously Sunil spent five years at Oliver Wyman Financial Services, where he specialised in financial services strategy, working predominantly with insurance and private equity companies.  Sunil holds a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of
Lyceum Capital has closed its 14th deal this year with the acquisition of Kent-based commercial drainage specialist Drain Control by its portfolio company UKDN. The deal is the second major transaction in as many months for UKDN which has so far invested over GBP15 million in its market consolidation strategy. Already the UK’s biggest independent provider of specialist drain maintenance and repair services, the deal further strengthens UKDN’s existing foothold in the commercial market and re-enforces its presence in the South East.   Established 20 years ago, Drain Control provides a full portfolio of drainage and plumbing services to a
DiGiCo Europe Limited (“DiGiCo”) has announced a GBP50 million management buyout funded by ISIS Equity Partners (ISIS). The deal allows Matrix Private Equity Partners (Matrix) to substantially realise its investment in DiGiCo in which it invested in 2007. Since that transaction, the business invested heavily in R&D, creating the highly acclaimed SD series of consoles, and Turnover has grown from GBP8 million in 2007 to GBP22 million in 2011.   The sale to ISIS returns over £20m to Matrix in cash and loan stock in addition to a continuing equity holding of 11%. This return equates to a 4.4x multiple of
Thomas Becket, CIO, PSigma Investment Management
After the turbulence, trauma and topsy-turvy markets that investors have endured in 2011, it is no wonder that we are all tiredly gazing towards 2012 with some trepidation, says Thomas Beckett, CIO of PSigma Investment Management… Events over the last few weeks have once again encapsulated the perilous and punishing world that we now live in; question marks have once again appeared over both the future of the Eurozone and the sustainability of the economic recovery the world has enjoyed since the depths of the Great Recession that ended in 2009. Despite the cracks that have appeared in the global
Caledonia Investments has invested GBP24 million in cash to acquire a 20% preferred equity interest in B&W Group Limited (“Bowers & Wilkins” or the “Company”), a well-established and rapidly growing British company which designs, manufactures and distributes high-end audio equipment.  Bowers & Wilkins has been led by Joe Atkins, its Chairman, since 1996. The investment in Bowers & Wilkins represents a good fit with Caledonia’s strategic aims in the unquoted sector. The Company is managed by an experienced and stable team, has a strong balance sheet and benefits from a global operational footprint and exposure to expanding markets where its

Special Reports

Featured

Events

12 November, 2026 – 8:00 am

Directory Listings