Harbinger Group and Harbinger Capital Partners have reached a definitive agreement for the transfer of Harbinger Capital Partners’ majority interest in consumer products company Spectrum Brands to Harbinger Group. Harbinger Group is a publicly-traded holding company majority-owned by Harbinger Capital Partners. Harbinger Capital Partners views Harbinger Group as an efficient, long-term capital market vehicle for exercising its majority ownership over Spectrum Brands to build significant stockholder value. Following the transfer of majority ownership, Spectrum Brands will remain a standalone publicly-traded company, and the transaction will have no impact on its credit profile or financial position. Philip Falcone, chief executive of

VoltDB, a developer of high-scale database systems, has closed USD5m in financing from Kepha Partners and Sigma Partners. VoltDB will use the additional capital to grow adoption and build community awareness of its open-source database software. VoltDB’s database design allows companies to scale database performance. The system can process millions of transactions per second on a cluster of inexpensive, off-the-shelf servers. "VoltDB is a major step forward in database technology," says John Mandile (pictured), managing director of Sigma Partners. "We see a lot of urgency scaling database applications today. VoltDB’s unique combination of product innovation and open-source business model gives

There has been a significant increase in the percentage of pension portfolios investing in alternatives when compared to the previous two years, a poll by SEI suggests. In 2008, 51 per cent of pension executives surveyed said their pension portfolio was invested in alternatives. In 2009 the percentage increased to 53 per cent and this year’s poll saw an increase to 65 per cent. Use among pensions with more than USD300m in assets is significantly higher than those with less: 84 per cent compared to 53 per cent respectively. Other poll findings include that nearly all pension executives viewed improved

Kareo, a provider of web-based medical billing software for physicians in the US, has closed an investment by Boston venture capital firm OpenView Venture Partners.  OpenView’s recent investment of growth capital, together with its earlier stock purchase from a prior investor, brings OpenView’s total investment to USD9.5m.  Kareo will use the new capital to enhance customer service, expand its product suite, build out sales and marketing initiatives, and bolster its management team.  In connection with the investment, Adam Marcus, a principal at OpenView Venture Partners, has joined Kareo’s board of directors. "Kareo is growing quickly because we offer a solution

Transatlantic restructuring activity is set to increase in line with refinancing difficulties over the next 12 months, according to a study released by Debtwire in association with Merrill DataSite. Based on a series of interviews with 125 financial and legal advisers across North America and Europe, the Transatlantic Restructuring Outlook report identifies emerging trends in transatlantic restructuring activity and provides insight into overall market sentiment.   The large majority of respondents (76 per cent) believe debt or liquidity issues will be the primary driver of transatlantic restructurings over the next 12 months. Additionally, more than half of respondents (52 per

French venture capital firm Seventure Partners has completed the restructuring of its legacy holdings into a new vehicle ahead of the liquidation of its retail and institutional funds of vintage 2000, 2001 and 2002. Several funds under its management have sold all of their minority shareholdings within five companies to a newly formed vehicle, Chopin Invest, which is sponsored by Greenpark Capital, a London-based secondary fund.   Seventure Partners will act as the general partner of Chopin Invest.   RainMakers Private Equity served as Seventure’s sole financial adviser.   All shareholding interests owned by FCPI BP Innovation 4, 5, 6,

Hogan Lovells has advised Actis, an emerging markets private equity investor, on its acquisition of fashion retail business Vlisco Group from Gamma Holding for EUR118m. The real estate in Helmond, Netherlands, will remain the property of Gamma Holding and will be let out to Vlisco Group. A long-term lease with a market-rate rent, to be indexed annually, has been agreed. Vlisco Group is a 164-year-old business which contributes to multiple West African economies with diverse brands ranging from luxury, Vlisco, through to its mid-tier business, Uniwax, to contemporary brands GTP and Woodin. The brands have a strong following among African