RJD Partners, a UK lower middle market private equity investor, has backed the management buy-in of Dunham Leisure, a holiday park business based in south east Scotland. Dunham was previously owned by Dennis Dunham, an independent caravan park operator, along with other members of his family.  The business comprises two parks: Thurston Manor, a 175 acre park situated 30 miles from Edinburgh near the historic coastal town of Dunbar in East Lothian; and Pease Bay, which is situated directly beside a sandy beach, five miles south east of Thurston Manor. RJD has backed the buy-in team of Graham Hodgson as

Octopus Investments has made an investment of GBP2m into PrismaStar, a product search company in Europe. It represents the 18th deal concluded by Octopus this year.   PrismaStar was founded in 2005 and has designed and patented technology to help consumers find products and services personalised to their individual tastes in the e-commerce market. It enables users to find products based on multiple product specifications.   The injection of funding will help PrismaStar increase its footprint on the growing US, UK and EC market for online retail, forecast to be worth USD945bn in 2012.   Alan Wallace from Octopus says:

Private equity firm The Carlyle Group has entered the UK student housing market following the acquisition of a site in Highbury & Islington in London, and the formation of a joint venture agreement with Generation Estates.    Carlyle and Generation Estates are also progressing schemes on a further three sites in London which are to be acquired, providing the group with an initial portfolio with capacity for circa 1,850 beds at a total value of around GBP350m.  Carlyle and Generation Estates also hope to work closely with London Universities and other private sector and overseas educational providers to fulfil their

ECI Partners, a UK mid-market private equity firm, has invested in XLN Telecom alongside management, acquiring a majority stake from Zeus Private Equity.  Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets Acquisition Finance jointly arranged a package of senior debt and a revolving credit facility. XLN is a provider of telecoms services for small businesses, with over 115,000 customers. In the last three years, XLN’s revenues have grown from GBP27m in 2006/07 to over GBP54m in 2009/10. ECI will continue to support Christian Nellemann, founder and group chief executive, and his management team to grow XLN both organically and through acquisition. As a result

Private equity firm Doughty Hanson has signed an agreement to sell Impress Coöperatieve, a consumer metal packaging company, to Ardagh Glass for EUR1.7bn. Closing of the transaction is subject to competition clearances.  Doughty Hanson’s Private Equity Funds II and III were invested in Impress and the total distribution to investors from this investment will be EUR688m or 2.6x investment cost for each fund.  Impress is the last investment to be sold from Doughty Hanson Fund II which will now be closed with total returns of 2.7x cost and an IRR of 84 per cent. Only one investment, LM Wind Power,

Onstream Media, a provider of live and on-demand internet broadcasting, corporate web communications and virtual marketplace technology, has signed an agreement to sell its securities to Lincoln Park Capital Fund, a Chicago-based institutional investor.  Under the agreement, LPC has agreed to invest gross proceeds of USD900,000 in Onstream in exchange for 300,000 shares of common stock at USD1.25 per share, preferred shares convertible into 420,000 shares of common stock at a fixed conversion price of USD1.25 per share and a one-time commitment fee of 50,000 common shares.  USD1.25 per share represented an approximately 34 per cent premium to the closing

Technology venture capital company MTI Partners has completed an investment round of GBP1.19m in Eykona, an Oxford University spin-out medical technology company. The round, which was over-subscribed, allows Eykona to progress its 3D wound imaging system to launch and beyond.  The financing was led by MTI through the UMIP Premier Fund alongside further investment from existing and new shareholders including H2O Venture Partners, Parkwalk EIS Technology Fund 1, Hygea VCT, the LBA Roundtable EIS Fund 2009 with three LBA investors and a number of other Angel investors. Technikos remains the largest shareholder.   Paul Murphy, chief executive of Eykona, says:

Northern 2 VCT, a venture capital trust managed by NVM Private Equity, has reported a net asset value per share at 31 July 2010, after deducting the 2009/10 final dividend of 3.5p per share paid in June 2010, of 76.7p. This represents a fall of 1.5 per cent over the six month period.  The return per share for the period before dividends was 2.1p compared with 10.8p in the corresponding period last year, reflecting a relatively low level of investment sales and the cautious view taken on investment valuations in the current economic climate.   Investment income for the period

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, a regulatory compliance and risk management business, has acquired FRSGlobal, a Brussels-based financial regulatory reporting and risk management business, from The Carlyle Group and growth equity investor Kennet Partners. FRSGlobal’s solutions enable financial institutions to centralise multi-country risk and regulatory reporting, and address major financial regulatory, compliance and risk management requirements. This acquisition will enable Wolters Kluwer Financial Services to offer financial organisations compliance and risk solutions that cover operational risk, compliance risk, and financial risk and reporting. “The financial crisis, globalisation, and increasing regulatory scrutiny have created a complex and challenging environment for financial organisations,”