Munich-based MegaZebra has secured a multi-million Euro amount in its latest round of financing led by Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures, one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms. Kizoo Technology Ventures, which provided the previous funding round, also participated, alongside private investor Markus Stolz. Founded in 2008 and originally operating on a number of social networks, MegaZebra moved to focus only on Facebook throughout 2010. Its games are amongst the most popular in their respective category, such as highly popular Mahjong Trails (pictured).   Since launch, MegaZebra has put great emphasis on high-quality game play, true virality, and international games. With

2010 was a year of two halves for European mid-market private equity fundraising, according to Acanthus Advisers 2011 fundraising review. The second half of the year showed a significant increase in terms of both deal activity and fundraising after the freeze of 2009, with some EUR12 billion was raised overall by 43 European mid-market funds. A notable fundraising trend was the distinct flight to quality of capital, as bifurcation between GPs widened – some GPs raised very quickly and experienced oversubscription, while a much higher proportion than usual have experienced longer fundraising periods. Acute selectivity on the part of LPs

  The outlook for the private equity industry looks at its brightest since the onset of the financial crisis despite tighter regulation in prospect within the European Union and elsewhere, according to industry experts. Worldwide 81 funds held a final close in the third quarter of 2010, raising a total of USD57bn, but the total fell to USD32bn raised by 92 funds in the final three months of the year, according to research firm Preqin. The aggregate of USD225bn raised over the year as a whole was the lowest annual total since 2004.   There are reasons to believe that

New research from Investec Fund Finance indicates that private equity professionals are less confident about receiving carried interest from their current fund than they were 18 months ago. While three quarters (76%)(1) of general partners (GPs) within the private equity industry still expect to receive carried interest from their current funds, Investec’s research shows that this is a 6% fall compared to the 83% who believed their current fund would generate carry for them in August 2009. Despite this, more than three quarters (77%) of GPs surveyed believe that carried interest still represents their main opportunity for future personal wealth

The Fidequity group has changed its name to Fimeris. The new name was chosen to reflect a better alignment with its new lines of service as well as an expanded geographical presence.   Fimeris was founded in 2007 as an independent integrated financial and advisory services provider to the private capital markets investors and fund managers. The group is a privately held company headquartered in London.   Over the past four years, Fimeris has advised clients on primary and secondary transactions through a global platform with offices in North America (New York and Denver), Europe (London and Paris) and the

Mid-market growth investor Lyceum Capital is acquiring a controlling interest in EAT The Real Food Company. The transaction will see Lyceum Capital invest alongside the founders and management to support a significant store roll-out and brand development programme.   Founded in 1996, EAT has established itself as one of the leading brands in the GBP3 billion specialist food and coffee ‘to go’ market. It has 110 stores across the UK selling a wide range of soups, salads, sushi, panini, sandwiches, baked goods and coffee, which are freshly prepared in-house by EAT each day.   The business’s strongly differentiated, quality-led brand

The UK can realise a GBP10bn economic opportunity through adopting a new, holistic approach to nuclear energy that would tackle concerns over security of energy supply, rising oil prices and safety issues, a new report by the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE) has concluded.   A low carbon nuclear future: Economic assessment of nuclear materials and spent nuclear fuel management in the UK explores possible future scenarios to accelerate the delivery of a safe, holistic and long-term strategy for current and future nuclear material and spent fuel management. It assesses likely costs, risks, safety and potential returns