Arsenal Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm, has acquired Para-Chem Southern, a provider of adhesives, coatings and polymers. Concurrent with the transaction, Para-Chem will be merged with Arsenal’s platform investment, Royal Adhesives and Sealants, announced two weeks ago.  Headquartered in South Carolina, Para-Chem offers adhesives, coatings, polymers, surfactants and thickeners across a range of markets in North America including carpeting, personal care, household, institutional and industrial, graphic arts, construction, specialty textiles, paper, packaging, and military. John Televantos, a partner at Arsenal Capital, says: "Para-Chem has a long history of innovation providing great solutions and service to its diverse

Edwards, the vacuum technology group, has decided to pursue an initial public offering during the course of 2011. The decision has been made in conjunction with its leading shareholders, CCMP Capital and Unitas Capital. The decision to pursue an IPO follows a period of growth for the group, which is a supplier of vacuum and abatement solutions to a global blue chip customer base. Matthew Taylor, Edwards chief executive, says: “In what is shaping up to be an excellent year for us, I am delighted with the results of our strategic review and the prospect of Edwards remaining independent and

Darwin Private Equity has entered into an agreement to sell Maxinutrition Group to GlaxoSmithKline for GBP162m. The transaction is subject to approval from the Office of Fair Trading. Maxinutrition, the parent company of Maximuscle, Maxifuel and Maxitone, is a European sports nutrition company. The sale of Maxinutrition is Darwin’s first exit from its inaugural fund which closed in August 2008. The announcement is three years to the day since Darwin acquired the business for GBP75m and represents Darwin’s fourth transaction this year, following its acquisitions of Plum Baby, Fenn Wright Manson and Euroffice during 2010. Iain MacRitchie, chairman of Maxinutrition,

EFG Hermes, an investment bank in the Arab world, is co-sponsoring the PPP Investment Summit Egypt. The summit, presented by Egypt’s Ministry of Finance, focuses on new public-private partnership opportunities for investors in Egypt’s infrastructure sector. Key officials from the ministries of finance, transport, housing and investment along with premier regional investors, project sponsors and financiers are in attendance. EFG Hermes chief executive officer Yasser El Mallawany delivered a keynote presentation detailing the renewed investment opportunities offered by infrastructure projects in Egypt, potential challenges, and new financing channels for private equity investment in PPP infrastructure projects. "EFG Hermes has a

Legal practice Norton Rose has advised UK private equity fund Impax Asset Management on the planned purchase of Epuron’s wind development and operating business in Germany and France. Epuron is a subsidiary of German TecDax-listed solar system manufacturer Conergy. The purchase agreement was signed on 9 December 2010. The financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed. Impax Asset Management is an investment manager dedicated to the environmental sector, with a focus on alternative energy, water and waste. It will acquire the Conergy wind development activities based in Hamburg, all partnership shares of three operating wind farms in Eastern

A private equity survey of general partners and limited partners by bfinance, a financial services consulting firm, shows a fall in expected internal rate of returns of five to ten per cent over the coming years.  Combined with expectations by over 81 per cent of limited partners of higher dispersion and significant increased volatility of private equity returns, 71 per cent of institutions surveyed plan to narrow existing general partner relationships and narrow the number of funds in their portfolios to avoid the expected compression of returns. The survey shows that over 74 per cent of limited partners target net

TYRX, a company dedicated to the commercialisation of implantable medical devices designed to help reduce surgical-site infections associated with pacemakers and defibrillators, has raised USD20m in venture capital funding. The funding was led by new investor HLM Venture Partners, along with previous investors Clarus Ventures and Pappas Ventures. The financing round also included USD4m in debt financing from Comerica Bank. In connection with the financing, Edward L. Cahill, managing partner at HLM Venture Partners, will join TYRX’s board of directors. "This continued investment from Clarus and Pappas Ventures, along with participation from new TYRX investor HLM Venture Partners, is a