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Venture capital firm Albion Ventures has consolidated its pub portfolio to be managed by Bravewood Pub Management.
The 34 pub estate will be managed by a single management team jointly led by Ken Buckley who will oversee the pubs in the north of England, known as Bravo Inns, and Daryl Cockerill who is responsible for the balance of the pubs in the portfolio, known as The Charnwood Pub Company.
Shane Holland will act as finance director for the entire portfolio.
The Bravewood management team will focus exclusively on the Albion Ventures pub portfolio.
John Connell, Bravewood Pub Management,
Private equity firm Riverside completed 15 acquisitions in 2009, in addition to closing on its largest fund ever, increasing the value of its portfolio and exiting four platforms.
The 15 acquisitions were made up of six platforms and nine add-ons and put USD200m to work.
The six new platforms are: Sencore, a South Dakota-based designer and manufacturer of a variety of products serving the global video, audio and data transmission industries; Kaul, a German firm that makes anti-sticking and polishing agents used by the confectionary, agricultural and pharmaceutical industries; Crioestaminal, a Portuguese provider of umbilical cord blood preservation services;
Hugh Young, managing director of Aberdeen Asset Management Asia believes that Asia will lead global growth in 2010, pulling other emerging markets along with it.
Whilst developed countries increasingly suffer the effects of fiscal indebtedness, Asia will continue to decouple as domestic demand grows and reliance on exports is reduced.
That is not to say that if the West experiences a relapse, Asia will not be affected. Regional economies still depend to a degree on demand from the West for their manufactured exports, as well as for inward fixed and portfolio investment. That dependence is best reflected in the
CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution, is committing USD10m to ShoreCap Management’s microfinance fund ShoreCap II.
ShoreCap seeks to raise USD100m for the fund to invest in small business banks and microfinance institutions, which in turn provide financial services and capital to entrepreneurs and small businesses in low-income countries in Africa and Asia.
The investments the fund makes in banks and financial institutions are expected to be between USD2m and USD10m, with a preference for those with strong local roots in Africa and Asia.
The commitment of USD10m by CDC is one of the largest made to the fund
Mid Europa Partners has completed its tender offer to purchase any and all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Invitel Holdings, par value EUR0.01 per share, and any and all of the American depositary shares, each representing one Invitel share.
The offer and withdrawal rights expired at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on 22 January 2010.
According to the report of the settlement agent for the offer, a total of 2,900,489 Invitel shares and Invitel ADSs have been tendered and not withdrawn, including Invitel ADSs subject to guaranteed delivery.
As a result of the offer, Mid Europa will own
BaltCap, a private equity and venture capital investor in the Baltic States, has acquired 100 per cent of Air Maintenance Estonia, an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul company, from Scandinavian Airlines.
Air Maintenance Estonia started its operations in 1995, providing maintenance services to Estonian Air aircrafts. Since 2002 the company is operating independently.
The clients of Air Maintenance Estonia are different European aviation companies, including Estonia’s national carrier Estonian Air. In 2009, the company’s turnover was EEK196m.
“BaltCap is excited to acquire a knowledge-based, export-oriented industrial company in Estonia with great outlook. AME has highly skilled and creative
An overall bad year for the US venture capital industry ended on a high note as deal activity increased in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Venture investors put USD6.3bn to work in 743 deals in the most recent quarter, up slightly from the USD6.1bn invested in 619 deals during the same period in 2008, according to statistics released by Dow Jones VentureSource.
In total, 2009 saw 2,489 deals completed and USD21.4bn in venture capital invested in US companies, a 31 per cent drop from 2008 when USD31bn was invested in 2,817 deals.
“Venture capitalists are still treading lightly when making
Sofinnova Partners, a European venture capital firm, has invested EUR2.2m in Celsius X VI II, a French-Swiss firm developing mobile phones based on complex mechanics.
Sofinnova’s investment is joined by AGF Private Equity’s EUR500,000 and a further EUR600,000 from business angels bringing the total funding to EUR3.3m.
Jean Schmitt, managing partner at Sofinnova Partners, will join the Celsius X VI II management board.
“We are thrilled to have the support and experience of Sofinnova Partners as we follow our vision to build the fundamental communications device. Each of our creations will be a significant step towards the dream of a
US President Barack Obama’s call last Thursday for banks benefiting from a public safety net to be barred for “owning, investing in or sponsoring” private equity and hedge funds as part of wider strategy to curb excessive risk-taking by financial institutions that have benefited from public support, could have broad implications for the alternative investment industry well beyond the borders of the US.
By no means all of those prospective implications are negative. But so broad – and in some respects so vague – are Obama’s prescriptions that it’s far from clear what concrete measures they will lead to.
SSL International, the Manchester-based healthcare business, has agreed a GBP410m financing package backed by Yorkshire Bank.
The new finance package will replace SSL’s existing facility and provide funds to allow it to pursue further acquisitions.
Yorkshire Bank is joint arranger with Abbey National, Barclays Capital, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and The Royal Bank of Scotland. Other investors are Handelsbanken, Citibank, KBC and Bank of Ireland.
SSL, a FTSE 350 company, owns the global brands Durex and Scholl as well as a portfolio of locally owned brands, such as Meltus, Medised and Syndol in the UK and Sauber and Mister Baby
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