Investment banking advisory firm Evercore Partners has acquired MJC Associates, a commercial real estate advisory boutique. It has also appointed Martin J. Cicco as senior managing director and head of Evercore’s real estate advisory practice. Cicco, who will be based in New York, founded MJC Associates in January 2007. Prior to MJC Associates, Cicco spent 29 years at Merrill Lynch, ultimately serving as vice chairman of global commercial real estate and global head of real estate investment banking. “The addition of Marty and his team broadens Evercore’s industry and sector coverage to commercial real estate where there is a substantial

OFI Private Equity Capital has become the first company to have its environment, social and governance policy rated by EthiFinance, the independent extra-financial research agency, as a listed company made up of the companies held in its portfolio. OFI Private Equity Capital was given the rating AA or 3.5 out of five. The rating follows the hiring in 2008 of a director of sustainable development at OFI Private Equity Capital and the signing of the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment in April 2009.    The aim of the extra-financial rating is to establish a mechanism by which to identify the

Private equity firm The Riverside Company has acquired Eska Implants as an add-on to its UK-based Summit Medical platform. Based in Lübeck, Germany, Eska manufactures and markets a wide range of implants including hip, knee, shoulder, elbow, spine, hand, foot and modular systems for reconstructive surgeries. The acquisition allows Summit Medical and its subsidiary Orthodynamics to continue expanding their product range and international presence while providing growth opportunities.  This acquisition is Riverside’s 42st healthcare investment and fourth acquisition overall this year. Radim Stach, Riverside partner, says: “This is an exciting opportunity to keep building a global player in the orthopaedic

Biotech company Biocartis has closed a series B equity financing round which raised EUR30m (USD41.3m) from its current shareholder base of life science investors and two new investors from the pharmaceutical/diagnostic industry. The new investors are the Debiopharm Group (Switzerland) and Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, which have each obtained a minority stake in Biocartis. The financing round was also underwritten by Aescap, Biocartis’ original lead-investor (The Netherlands), Biovest (Belgium), Advent Venture Partners (UK), several Biocartis employees and Benaruca, the family investment vehicle of Biocartis’ co-founder Rudi Pauwels. Biocartis has developed and licensed a series of new technologies to build

Abris Capital Partners, a mid-market CEE-focused private equity group, has signed an agreement to purchase Masterlease Polska, a Polish auto fleet management business. Abris and its syndicate members have partnered with the company’s management to acquire the business from GMAC, the US-based financial services group part-owned by the car manufacturing giant General Motors. The price has not been disclosed.   Prime Car Management, later operating under Masterlease brand, was established in 1995 by business partners Grzegorz Waluszewski and Jerzy Kobyliński, initially to provide vehicle leasing services to a rapidly expanding number of international and domestic corporate clients in Poland. In

Deutsche Bank is launching a private equity fund of funds business within its asset management division following the closing of the Sal Oppenheim Group acquisition. The bank will combine three existing businesses under the new group entitled DB Private Equity: the private equity group of Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management, the secondaries private equity team of Rreef and Sal Oppenheim Private Equity Partners (Sopep). According to a report by Datamonitor, Chris Minter has been named global head of DB Private Equity reporting to Kevin Parker, global head of the bank’s asset management division and a member of Deutsche Bank’s group

Alimera Sciences, a US-based ophthalmic pharmaceutical company, has set the price band for its proposed initial public offering of six million shares of common stock between USD15 and USD17 per share. The company is seeking to list its common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol ALIM. To the extent that the underwriters sell more than six million shares of common stock, the underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional 0.9 million shares from the company at the IPO price less the underwriting discount. Venture capital firms Scale Venture Partners (formerly BA Venture Partners), Domain

Gresham, a UK mid market private equity firm, has completed an investment of GBP12.3m in Lanes Assistance Services. The investment will buy-out existing shareholder Lanes Group plc and provides capital to develop LAS’ infrastructure and personnel to drive future growth. Gresham provided 100 per cent of the funding. With offices in Manchester and Birmingham, LAS provides an outsourced claims management service for the insurance industry. Its clients include a number of top UK insurers. Andy Marsh, partner at Gresham, says: “We have been looking to invest again in this market for some time now. The key for us has been