When New York private equity law firm Schwartz celebrates its fifth anniversary later this year, it will do so from new offices at 75 Rockefeller Plaza.  Schwartz founder and managing partner Kenneth Schwartz says: “Our new office will bring us much closer to our New York-based private equity clients and will be far more convenient for the many out-of-town visitors to our office.” The law firm, which advises corporations, investment funds and major private investors, is particularly known for its work in Brazil and other emerging markets.  The firm is moving from 90 Broad Street in the financial district.  No

Alpstar Capital, a European asset manager and investment adviser, has bought a company in the cement sector in the Netherlands and has completed a direct lending facility to an energy-related company in Spain. "We are delighted to have completed two private transactions that evidence our credit skills in identifying and participating in undervalued asset opportunities," says Nicolas Bravard, Alpstar managing partner. The acquisition of MGP, or Cementum, was completed last week with an industrial partner. Rabobank provided the financing. Direct lending was provided to Esinor, a firm active in energy and telecommunications in Spain.  Alpstar intends to build out a

Change Capital Partners, the private equity firm specialising in retail and consumer industries, along with the founders Tim Whitworth and Carl Brewins, have reached an agreement on the sale of Republic, the young adult fashion retailer, to funds managed by buyout group TPG Capital.   Finance details were not disclosed. Republic’s management team will continue to run the business and remain significant investors.   Republic currently operates 105 stores throughout the UK, offering its customers aspirational brands such as G-Star, Diesel, Firetrap, as well as up and coming niche brands and its own exclusive range.   Change Capital Partners acquired

An affiliate of New York-based investment and private equity firm Signal Capital Management has stepped up its involvement in the domestic US oil and gas sector by signing a letter of intent to acquire and develop the largest undeveloped domestic oil and gas field, located in Alaska. Signal, in partnership with a large foreign oil and gas concern, is partnering with Houston-based Escopeta Oil to develop and further explore a 111,000 acre shallow-water offshore find that may hold in excess of 1.2 billion recoverable barrels of light crude oil and eight trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Shane Rodgers, chief

Arma Partners is acting as financial adviser to e-commerce site PriceMinister on its proposed sale to Rakuten, announced on 17 June 2010.   The transaction is valued at approximately EUR200m and is expected to complete during July 2010.   With over 11 million unique monthly visitors and 12 million members, PriceMinister is the largest e-commerce site in France by audience, surpassing the online audience of eBay. The company has more than 100,000 active sellers and over 21,000 merchants offering a selection exceeding 160 million products. PriceMinister has launched e-marketplace operations in both Spain and the UK.   In addition to

Prudent Energy, a clean energy storage company with offices in North America and China, has added another USD10m in venture capital funding to top off its oversubscribed series C round. Jafco Asia, Mitsui Ventures, CEL Partners and other investors will bring total outside funding within the last three months to over USD32m. "We are delighted to welcome new investors to our group," says Johnson Chiang, Prudent Energy’s chief executive. "With their combined experience growing emerging cleantech companies such as ours, we have an even greater opportunity to expand manufacturing while creating pathways into new markets. Our US office in the

Offshore firm Appleby has acted as the Cayman Islands counsel for Costin New Materials Group in relation to its global offering and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 21 June 2010. The Appleby team was led by Tan Li Lee, a counsel in Appleby’s Hong Kong office, assisted by Vincent Chan. Costin is based in the Fujan Province of China and is engaged in the research, development, production and sales of nonwoven fabrics and chemical fibres. The group promotes and markets its products primarily through direct contacts with potential customers and participations in large-scale conferences and exhibitions. To

The Dow Chemical Company has closed the sale of its Styron division to an affiliate of Bain Capital Partners, the private equity firm.  Dow has elected to retain a 7.5 per cent equity position in Styron, which is now a privately held materials company. Also included in the transaction are several long-term supply, service and purchase agreements between Dow and Styron that aim to generate additional value for both companies.   “The Styron divestiture is another major step in Dow’s transformation and a strong example of our disciplined approach to portfolio management and business prioritization,” says Andrew N. Liveris (pictured),