International law firm Eversheds has advised leading private equity firm LDC and other selling shareholders on the sale of portfolio company Ascend Worldwide Group Holdings to Reed Business Information (RBI), the business information division of Reed Elsevier. Ascend, a provider of data analytics and advisory services to investors in the aerospace, will become part of Flightglobal, RBI’s aerospace information and data services business. LDC acquired Ascend in 2005 when it backed the management buyout of Airclaims, an aviation claims provider. LDC then brought in a management team to spin out a new company from the former information and consultancy arm

Climate Change Capital Private Equity LP (CPE), a EUR200 million fund dedicated to investments in clean technology companies, has invested EUR8m in NEURA GmbH, an Austrian renewable technology company focused on manufacturing smartgrid enabled, high performance heat pumps for both residential and commercial properties.   Currently NEURA manufactures some of the most sophisticated, technically advanced and efficient heat pumps in the world. They offer 15-20% greater efficiency than their nearest rivals, are smaller, easier and faster to install and offer the only smart-grid enabled operating system currently available in the market. This investment by CPE will support NEURA’s vision of

Bayside Credit Partners, the direct-lending arm of Bayside Capital, has provided mezzanine financing to support the acquisition of Ideal Shopping Direct (Ideal Shopping), a leading home shopping retailer in the UK, by Inflexion Private Equity (Inflexion). The acquisition de-lists Ideal Shopping from the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange, where its shares had been traded since 2000. Ideal Shopping sells a broad range of general consumer products (craft, home and leisure, personal care) through four TV shopping channels, the internet and mail-order catalogues. The TV channels broadcast to over 23 million households in the UK, where they operate on all

Golub Capital has completed a USD112 million senior secured credit facility for the refinancing of Au Bon Pain, a portfolio company of LNK Partners. Golub Capital acted as the Sole Bookrunner and Administrative Agent for this financing.     Founded in 1978, Au Bon Pain has grown into an internationally recognised leader in the fast casual restaurant category. The chain’s signature items — breads, pastries, sandwiches, salads, soups, and coffee — are served in welcoming cafe environments, emphasising quick service and hospitality. Au Bon Pain offers consumers a wide array of delicious, nutritional foods, and over the brand’s last three

Lexington Partners (Lexington), the dedicated secondary private equity manager, has announced the final close of Lexington Capital Partners VII, LP (LCP VII) and associated vehicles, with equity commitments totalling USD7.0 billion. The fund, which commenced investing in 2010, received substantial investor interest in excess of its hard cap of USD7.0 billion. LCP VII will acquire portfolios of private equity partnership interests and co-investments in the global private equity secondary market. LCP VII also has the ability to acquire direct investments in operating companies through secondary market purchases, facilitate the spin-out of established private equity teams from banks and corporations, and invest

Gresham, the UK mid market private equity specialist, has backed the secondary buy-out of Walker Technical Resources (Walker) from Maven Capital Partners. The buy-out is being made via ICR Integrity Ltd, a newly formed vehicle and group brand under which other businesses in the integrity, corrosion and repair sectors can be acquired.   Gresham’s backing will facilitate growth on a global scale both organically and through a ‘buy and build’ strategy.   Headquartered in Aberdeen, Walker specialises in composite repairs to pipework and structural assets for the oil and gas industry.   It currently employs 45 full-time staff in Aberdeen