Vivacta, a medical diagnostics company, has closed a GBP4m financing round. The current shareholders, HBM BioVentures, IDInvest Partners (formerly AGF Private Equity), Spark Ventures and Viking, all participated in the round. Vivacta’s piezofilm technology platform enables the development of a new generation of near-patient diagnostic products achieving high sensitivity and wide dynamic range, equivalent to laboratory testing. The test uses whole blood samples and requires only a finger prick sample, providing actionable results within ten minutes. Vivacta has developed a diagnostic test for thyroid stimulating hormone, one of the most widely prescribed laboratory tests and the industry gold standard for

The Enterprise Development Corporation of South Florida, a non-profit organisation specialising in providing business development services to emerging science and technology companies, has revealed that jobsite123.com is among the 14 finalists to do a three-minute on-stage presentation at the 13th Annual Emerging Technology Business Showcase. ETBS is South Florida’s annual event for science and technology startups where the investment community convenes to preview South Florida’s most promising young companies in the region. Participants include first and second stage entrepreneurs, business leaders, educators, investors and service providers. This year’s theme is “Growing Our Entrepreneurial Ecosystem”, and it is EDC’s first time

Cornerstone Acquisition & Management, a sub-adviser to Centaur Performance Group, has acquired a portfolio of royalty interests in producing oil and gas properties located in Southern Oklahoma, operated by Houston-based Citation Oil and Gas.   “This transaction is indicative of the type of private assets we like to target and acquire for our investors,” says Derren Geiger, portfolio manager of the Caritas Funds and chief operating officer of Cornerstone.   Cornerstone currently manages in excess of USD100m of oil and natural gas royalty interests diversified across 21 states and several hundred counties.   “We target properties located 100 per cent onshore

Huntsman Gay Global Capital, a middle market private equity firm, has made a growth equity investment in iCongo, an e-business systems and software developer that provides an e-commerce platform with B2C, B2B, multi-channel, order management and marketing solutions. iCongo’s founders will continue to manage the business going forward. Terms of the private transaction were not disclosed. Headquartered in Montreal, iCongo serves more than 100 clients with its e-commerce platform and related services, including many multinational and world-renowned retailers and brands. The company recorded a revenue increase of more than 30 per cent in fiscal year 2010 and added 13 new

The CapStreet Group, a Houston-based lower-middle market private equity firm, has completed its final close for CapStreet III, reaching total commitments of USD178m. CapStreet III’s investors consist of financial institutions, pension funds, insurance companies, funds of funds, and family investment offices. “We are very pleased to have the support of such a high quality group of investors, particularly during a challenging fundraising environment,” says George Kelly, CapStreet’s chairman and chief executive. CapStreet III has already invested approximately 30 per cent of its capital commitments in three platform investments: GHX, a fabricator and distributor of industrial gaskets and hoses; Trinity Steel,

Regulatory reforms and a range of other factors will trigger increased shareholder activism over the next 12 months, according to the second edition of Shareholder Activism Insight published by Schulte Roth & Zabel in association with mergermarket. Based on a series of interviews with corporate executives and activist investors, the study examines the core issues affecting shareholder activism in the current market and provides a forecast for shareholder activism in the year ahead. The majority of both corporate (64 per cent) and activist (60 per cent) respondents expect to see an increase in shareholder activism in the upcoming 12 months.

Arma Partners has acted as exclusive financial adviser to Latens Systems on its sale to Pace. The transaction is valued at GBP28.75m.   Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Belfast, Latens specialises in payTV software security and enhanced TV services. Latens provides a range of solutions in next generation software Conditional Access and Middleware for all types and sizes of payTV operators including cable, IPTV, DTH, DTT and mobile. Latens has offices in the UK, US and India.   Pace is a technology developer for the global payTV market, working across satellite, cable, IPTV and terrestrial platforms. Arma Partners is

Platina Partners, a private equity fund manager specialising in renewable energy infrastructure investments and special situation buyouts, has acquired 10MW of solar photovoltaic projects from the Degennaro Group, an Italian construction firm.  The PV projects become Platina’s first operational plant in Italy, supporting an investment strategy focused on the assembly of a portfolio of operational renewable electricity generation projects across Europe. Following this investment, Platina’s portfolio includes 162MW of renewable energy projects in operation, including 31MW operational solar PV projects, a further 82MW in construction and over 900MW of projects in development.  Since Platina was established in 2002, it has