Private equity firm 3i made a total return of GBP407m during the year to 31 March 2010, a 16.2 per cent return on opening shareholders’ funds. It had strong realisations of GBP1,385m at good average uplifts of 19 per cent over the opening carrying value. 3i’s net debt reduced to GBP258m from GBP1,912m in 2009. The company increased its net asset value per share to GBP3.21 from GBP2.79 at 31 March 2009. 3i’s chairman Baroness Hogg says: “A transformed financial position, improved performance, and a substantial increase in funds available to invest have put 3i in a strong competitive position.”

Olympus Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm, has acquired Churchill Financial, a middle market focused commercial finance company, through its affiliate Olympus Growth Fund V. Olympus has agreed to refinance existing indebtedness and invest additional capital to support the growth of Churchill’s core middle market lending business.   “Churchill is an excellent addition to our financial services portfolio,” says Rob Morris (pictured), managing partner of Olympus Partners. “We expect further opportunities in the wake of the consolidation prompted by the recent recession.”   “We have been looking for an opportunity to invest in the middle market senior lending area for

Steve Mahon, chief investment officer at Low Carbon Accelerator, a UK-listed cleantech venture capital fund, says he is encouraged by the coalition government’s commitment to showing policy leadership in the low carbon space. According to Mahon, both parties have placed the low carbon economy at the centre of job creation plans and have shown their support for microgeneration and home energy-efficiency improvements. “We welcome the expected appointment of Chris Huhne as the new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. The Liberal Democrats set out the most ambitious carbon reduction targets in their manifesto and we hope that these

The London Stock Exchange has admitted HarbourVest Global Private Equity to the Specialist Fund Market. Following its admission, HarbourVest’s shares will be traded on both the Specialist Fund Market and Euronext Amsterdam under the symbol HVPE.   HarbourVest Global Private Equity is a Guernsey-incorporated closed-end investment company, investing in a private equity portfolio diversified by geography, strategy, vintage year and industry.  It is managed by HarbourVest Advisers, an affiliate of HarbourVest Partners, a private equity fund of funds manager which has committed more than USD30bn to private equity investments over its 28-year history.  HarbourVest Global Private Equity invests in and

Internet Pawn, an online pawnshop in the US, has completed a USD1.5m series A equity financing. New investors Daylight Partners and Access Ventures joined the company’s founders in the financing. "We are thrilled to welcome Daylight Partners and Access Ventures to the company’s family," says Todd Hills, co-founder and chief executive. "The expertise and capital our new partners bring will help us meet the increasing demand for our cash loan services around the US." Rocky Mountain, of Austin, Texas based Daylight Partners, has joined the company’s board as part of the transaction. "Daylight rarely invests in companies outside of our

Private equity firm Intel Capital is making some changes to its managerial structure as a result of increasing business opportunities in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Intel Capital EMEA is being split into two geographies with managing directors for each. Marcos Battisti (pictured) and his team will look after Western Europe and Israel, and will be based in London. Battisti joined Intel Capital Europe in 1998 and has recently been responsible for Intel Capital’s mobility sector investments in EMEA. Marcin Hejka will lead the team responsible for the Central and Eastern European Region and Middle East, Turkey and Africa regions and

Private equity firm Riverside has acquired Mansell Group, a provider of web-based email technology-enabled marketing. Mansell’s products allow companies to create, send and track marketing materials. It also provides SMS mobile marketing, broadcast voice messaging, database management, customer intelligence and online lead generation services. Mansell is the first investment funded from Riverside Micro-Cap Fund II. Loren Schlachet, Riverside managing partner, says: “We see a lot of growth potential in Mansell, both via add-on acquisition and through enhanced sales. Mansell provides an outstanding service, and we believe we can deepen existing relationships while building new ones.”   Allen Nance, Mansell president

Tullett Prebon, an inter-dealer broker, has launched a primary placement business for alternatives to raise capital for hedge funds, private equity and other alternative investment funds. Tullett Prebon’s alternative investment desk began over a year ago to place secondary interests in alternative funds on behalf of institutional investors. The team aims to leverage its buy-side experience coupled with its reach in the global institutional investor market to attract blue chip clients. The alternative investment team, headed by Neil Campbell, a former fund of funds manager, has hired Gahtan Vahidy to drive its origination efforts. Vahidy and Campbell previously worked together

Swedbank Ieguldîjumu Pârvaldes Sabiedrîba, SEB Venture Capital and LHV Varahaldus have joined as investors to the BaltCap Latvia managed venture capital fund.  In total the BaltCap fund has attracted seven private sector institutional investors. The other four are Parex Asset Management, Hipo Fondi, LKB Krâjfondi and Pirmais Slçgtais Pensiju Fonds.   Harijs Ðvarcs, head of Swedbank IPS, says: “This is an exceptional opportunity for participants of our pension plans to earn together with fast growing and perspective Latvian companies. Thanks to BaltCap’s local market knowledge and experience, as well as the European Investment Fund’s financing, favourable conditions have been established