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By Simon Gray – The advent in July 2013 of the European Union’s Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive could help Luxembourg to consolidate its position as a domicile and servicing centre for private equity funds and acquisition vehicles, according to industry members and analysts in the grand duchy.
Luxembourg is best known as a centre for retail funds established under the EU’s Ucits regime, which allows funds established in one member state to be freely marketed to investors throughout the 27-country bloc as well as other members of the European Economic Area. Its total fund assets of EUR2.22trn at the
Tradition Midstream has closed a USD200 million equity commitment from Denham Capital. The funding will help the company take advantage of the increasing need for new and expanded infrastructure required by the continued growth of natural gas, natural gas liquids and crude oil production in the United States today.
“There is a tremendous opportunity for an established midstream management group to assist producers and consumers in developing, constructing and operating infrastructure in emerging shale plays across the US,” says John O’Shea, CEO of Tradition. “Tradition’s team has an excellent track record of providing value-added solutions for our customers by serving
Private equity firm Insight Venture Partners has provided equity financing for digital photo business Photobox’s GBP120m (USD195m) acquisition of Moonpig.
of Photoways Holdco Ltd, a vehicle owned by digital photo business PhotoBox, in connection with the acquisition by Photobox of Moonpig for £120 million (US$195 million).
The cash component of the purchase price for the Moonpig acquisition consisted of equity financing from Insight, Greenspring Associates and Quilvest, as well as from certain existing shareholders of Photobox, and debt financing from UK lenders.
Dewey & LeBoeuf represented Insight in the equity financing and also provided assistance to PhotoBox’s Photoways Holdco on the debt financing
Secondary private equity firm Paul Capital has acquired an interest in a portfolio of private equity assets managed by alternative asset manager Cognis Capital.
The transaction, approximately EUR70 million, is comprised of 20 mostly European assets across a diverse range of industry sectors. The Paul Capital investment, made through Ffenics I Fund LP, a newly formed vehicle, will also provide follow-on capital to the existing investments. This transaction provides liquidity to investors but also granted them the option to rollover their investment into the new fund.
“Cognis has built a promising portfolio and we are delighted to partner with their
Venture Capital Bahrain Fund, the first SME investment fund in Bahrain, has partnered with vBuildings Co WLL, a smart building and grid solutions business led by entrepreneurs Mohamed Radhi and Ahmed Bayoumi. Venture Capital Bahrain Fund was established by Venture Capital Bank with contribution from the Bahrain Development Bank and a group of private investment companies interested in developing the local economy.
vBuildings was established in Bahrain to provide innovative solutions to utility and telecom companies, and real estate developers and managers. It designs, sources and implements competitive smart building services and smart grid solutions built on flexible IT platforms
Middle-market private equity firm Huntsman Gay Global Capital has completed the sale of Grand Isle Shipyard, Inc (GIS), an offshore oilfield maintenance services company to NANA Development Corporation. Huntsman Gay closed its debut USD1.1 billion fund in July of 2009, and the sale of GIS is the firm’s first realisation from the fund. Terms of the private transaction have not been disclosed.
GIS, based in Galliano, Louisiana, is an industry leader with 17 locations throughout the Gulf Coast and Texas providing a broad range of services to large global and mid-major oil production companies. Its services include offshore platform maintenance,
Leading Generalist VCT Manager, Matrix Private Equity Partners has sold its investment in Original Additions, the market leading beauty accessories business which sells eyelash collections designed by Cheryl Cole and Girls Aloud, that it first backed for The Income & Growth VCT in 2004.
The sale netted 4.2 times the original GBP1 million invested, achieving a profit over the life of the investment of GBP3.2 million for the VCT, representing a gain equivalent to 8% of the VCT’s current NAV. The sale of the investment has no significant impact on the VCT’s latest announced NAV per share.
Original Additions, which
Ernst & Young LLP has appointed Herb Engert as the new Americas Leader of Strategic Growth Markets (SGM), its practice that provides services to entrepreneurial high-growth companies. He succeeds Maria Pinelli, who became Global Vice Chair of SGM for the Ernst & Young organization July 1, 2011, after serving as Americas Leader for five years.
Engert, 44, brings more than 20 years of experience in both public accounting and the private sector to his new role. Throughout his career, he has led a variety of transactions, including private and public debt and equity offerings, initial public offerings, and mergers and
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Teachers’) has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of Babcock & Brown Gates Parking Investments LLC (BBGPI), which includes Imperial Parking Corporation (Impark), one of the largest parking management companies in North America. Terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.
Impark, headquartered in Vancouver, BC, currently leases or manages more than 2,000 parking locations, consisting of more than 400,000 parking spaces, in over 25 markets throughout Canada and the United States. BBGPI, a joint venture between Gates Group Capital Partners, a Cleveland-based private equity firm, and London-based Global Partners Fund, acquired Impark in
Subsidiaries of Funds advised by Apax Partners (Apax) have completed the acquisition of the Golden Jaguar restaurant chain in the People’s Republic of China.
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Shanghai, Golden Jaguar has grown rapidly in recent years and now has multiple locations in Shanghai and Beijing as well as six other cities across China. The buffet-style restaurants serve China’s rising urban middle classes and offer their customers a huge array of Chinese and international dishes including limitless Haagen Dazs. Golden Jaguar also provides wedding banquet services to thousands of Chinese couples per year.
Located in shopping malls, department
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