Harvest Power, a producer of renewable energy and fertilizer products from organic waste, has raised USD51.7 million in Series B financing. Generation Investment Management, a London-based firm, led the round with DAG Ventures and Keating Capital also participating alongside pre-existing investors Kleiner Perkins, Waste Management (NYSE: WM), Munich Venture Partners, and TriplePoint Capital. “Investors recognise our platform as the smart, cost-effective choice for managing organic waste,” says Paul Sellew, CEO of Harvest. “Communities trust us to carry their organic management plans forward and provide local renewable energy and nutrient rich soil amendments with disposal costs lower than landfills.” Harvest’s advanced

Golden Gate Capital is to sell its majority stake in J. Jill to an affiliate of Arcapita Bank BSC. J. Jill, a leading multi-channel retailer of women’s apparel, will continue to be led by President and CEO Paula Bennett and the current management team. As part of the transaction, Golden Gate Capital will remain a minority shareholder of the company. “We have enjoyed a very successful partnership with Paula Bennett and the entire J. Jill team,” says Joshua Olshansky, a Managing Director of Golden Gate Capital. “J. Jill is a fantastic brand and, given their experience in the sector, Arcapita

Royalton Capital Investors II, a private equity fund focused on making investments in Central and Eastern Europe, has acquired a 100% stake in Litcargus UAB, Lithuania’s leading ground handling company, from Cerberus Holdings Ltd. The acquisition of Litcargus marks Royalton’s first investment in Lithuania and second in the Baltic States. Nigel P Williams, the Managing Partner at Royalton Partners says: “The acquisition of Litcargus is fully consistent with Royalton’s strategy of taking control positions in companies active in the non-tradable space in Central and Eastern Europe. The company is involved in all aspects of ground handling, serving airlines and their

Private equity firm Olympus Partners has sold K-Mac Holdings Corp, the third largest Taco Bell franchisee in the country, operating 167 Taco Bells, mainly in the Southwest. It also owns KFC and Golden Corral restaurants, which together with the Taco Bell stores total 190 premises.   Olympus and management acquired K-Mac and its 144 stores at the end of 2004. Since then, the company has opened and/or acquired 46 restaurants and has expanded geographically in several other states. Cash flow has more than doubled since 2004.  Employment has increased by 30 percent. Paul Rubin of Olympus Partners says: “K-Mac has

Beringea, manager of the ProVen VCTs, has announced it has provided a GBP2.65 million investment package to software company MatsSoft. This expansion capital funding will come from ProVen VCT and ProVen Growth & Income VCT. MatsSoft is a software company providing powerful and innovative web-based workflow and communications solutions. The software, which is marketed as MATS as well as under other brand names by various resellers, includes a comprehensive management information suite and configuration tools. This allows companies and organisations to drive efficiency gains, cost reductions and service improvements across a whole host of business processes, including; case management, customer

Over USD814bn of leveraged buyout (LBO) debt, spread over 6,055 deals held by private equity portfolio companies globally, is due to mature over the next six years with over USD80bn (across 752 deals) due for refinancing this year alone. A peak of almost USD200bn is expected in 2014, according to a new report by international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. The issue appears to be almost exclusively a European/US affair. European private equity portfolio companies account for more than half (52% or USD424bn) of LBOs maturing by 2016, ahead of North America (43% or USD352bn). The positions are reversed this year when North

Carey Olsen has advised Close Brothers Group plc on the sale of its trust, fund administration, asset management and banking businesses in Jersey and Guernsey to Kleinwort Benson for GBP29.1 million.   The deal between two of the largest administration groups in the Channel Islands is the largest sale across the islands in recent years. The sale, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed towards the end of July. A Channel Islands cross-practice team of 16 from Carey Olsen advised on the legal and regulatory aspects of the transaction. The transaction was led by corporate partners Graham Hall

Jumpstart Capital Partners, LLC, an investment company based in Los Angeles, California, has launched Jumpstart Equity Partners, a new investment and asset management platform established to capitalise on liquidity constraints in international real estate markets. Institutional and individual investors will gain exclusive access to pre-qualified real estate investment opportunities outside the United States by way of a unique risk-averse strategy that offers investors the advantages of direct investment and benefits of a professionally managed fund. Jumpstart Equity Partners is initially targeting distressed and undervalued real estate-related investments in select markets within Australia and New Zealand. A region that demonstrates economic