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Vision Opportunity China Fund has invested USD3m in China Ceramics as part of a USD26m underwritten secondary public offering.
Roth Capital Partners acted as sole book-running manager of the offering with Maxim Group acting as a co-manager.
China Ceramics is a manufacturer of ceramic tiles in China. Its ceramic tiles are primarily used for exterior siding, interior flooring and design in residential and commercial buildings. It currently operates two facilities in Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, with a total capacity of approximately 38 million square metres.
The board, advised by Vision Capital Advisors, believes the Chinese ceramic tiles industry
Matrix Group, the privately owned UK financial services business, has appointed Paul Bramley as chief operating officer for its asset management division.
Bramley has over 20 years’ experience in financial services, including chief financial officer and chief operating officer roles in investment banking and asset management.
He has significant experience of building out the financial and operational infrastructure for growth businesses.
Bramley qualified as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen and subsequently worked at NatWest Markets, Kidder, Peabody and Merrill Lynch International in senior finance, treasury and operations roles.
Bramley is also a former chief financial officer of two
Yorkville Advisors, the US-based alternative investment manager, has entered into a GBP7m standby equity distribution agreement on behalf of one of its funds with AIM listed Ascent Resources.
Ascent Resources is an independent, multi-project, European focused oil and gas exploration and production company.
The transaction also included a promissory note for the amount of GBP2.1m. The deal was advised out of London.
Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Ascent Resources has the discretion to withdraw funds of up to GBP7m in tranches in exchange for the issue of new equity for up to 36 months.
Simon Cunningham,
Matrix Private Equity Partners has launched a GBP21m linked fundraising across three of the venture capital trusts it manages that focus on investing in management buyouts.
Mark Wignall, chief executive of Matrix, says: “A tried and tested investment strategy that focuses on management buyouts at the lower risk end of the market has put us in a very strong position. Our market coverage and strong deal flow enables us to invest in good businesses at good prices. At this lower point in the economic cycle company valuations have become more attractive, with positive signs that vendors want to sell believing
Drago Capital and an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management have acquired a real estate portfolio consisting of 97 bank branches from Caja Madrid in a sale and 25-year lease back transaction.
Caja Madrid is the fourth largest Spanish financial group.
The financing for the transaction is being provided by Banco Santander, La Caixa and Natixis.
Cushman & Wakefield was responsible for the valuation of the branches. Gómez-Acebo & Pombo and Ashurst served as legal advisers to Drago and Cerberus. Linklaters advised the financing banks.
A spokesperson at Drago says: “We are very satisfied to complete this transaction with
Centerview Partners, through its private equity business, together with members of Richelieu management, have acquired Richelieu Foods, a producer of private label pizza, salad dressing and other pourable products.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Richelieu Foods is a USD250m food manufacturer that supplies private label frozen pizza and pourable products to national retailers and foodservice providers. The company has four facilities in the Midwestern US. Richelieu was previously owned by Brynwood Partners.
Richelieu’s management, including chief executive Vincent Fantegrossi, will remain with the company and they have made a significant equity investment in the business.
Fantegrossi says: "I
The latest Preqin private equity compensation study reveals that changes in bonus payouts to employees at private equity firms have been mixed.
While base salaries have remained relatively stable, with three-quarters of firms reporting no change or relatively small increases, bonus payouts are where the real divergence has occurred.
The study finds that 24 per cent of firms reported a decrease in bonus payouts for performance in 2009 compared to the previous year. Of these firms, nearly one-fifth (19 per cent) almost completely withdrew bonus payouts altogether, reducing them by 91 to 100 per cent.
Twenty eight per cent of
Merchant House Group, the AIM-listed merchant banking and financial services group, has launched an expanded corporate finance business under the brand Merchant Pensum.
The business will trade as a division of Merchant Capital, a wholly-owned, FSA-authorised subsidiary of Merchant House Group.
Merchant Pensum acted as introducer for Craig Whyte on his potential acquisition of a majority shareholding in Rangers Football Club from Murray International Holdings.
Merchant Pensum has been created through a merger of the corporate finance division of Merchant Capital and the business of Pensum Partners, a cross-border corporate advisory and consulting firm.
The new business will offer advice
The Securities and Exchange Commission voted by a 4 to 1 majority on Friday to propose new rules to strengthen its oversight of investment advisers and fill key gaps in the regulatory landscape, notably by bringing managers of hedge funds and other alternative investments under its aegis.
The SEC’s proposed rules would implement provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that became law earlier this year, and that notably provide the authorisation to require advisers to hedge funds and other private funds to register with the SEC.
In 2004 the SEC introduced a controversial rule
Saul Singer (pictured), a principal at Fusion Alternatives, the alternative investment asset manager specialising in investment diamonds, examines the current price movement of rough and polished diamonds.
Rough diamond prices continue to rise as evidenced by recent sales held by major diamond producers. Reports from the De Beers ‘sight’ held earlier this month in London point to an overall rise of three to five percent in rough diamond prices. Similar increases were seen at recent sales of BHP and Rio Tinto.
The continued increase in rough prices sent a clear message to the market by the major producers that
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