Haymarket Financial, a specialty lending platform, has launched into the European financing markets.    Headquartered in London, HayFin is a privately owned, independent commercial lending institution funded by USD700m of permanent capital, led by TowerBrook Capital Partners. Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Omers Private Equity have invested alongside TowerBrook.   HayFin’s core objective is to provide growth capital, acquisition capital and restructuring capital in order to address the financing gap faced by medium sized companies in the UK and Europe. HayFin also has a proprietary investment business and manages money on behalf of institutional clients.   In spite of recent

Syntaxis Capital has completed the first close of its second Central European mezzanine fund with aggregated commitments of EUR140m, just over half its targeted amount. SMF II follows on the firm’s maiden fund which reached final close at the end of 2008 collecting just under EUR120m in aggregate commitments and is now largely invested. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the anchor of the Syntaxis’s first fund, also anchored the second alongside the European Investment Fund. Other commitments were received from Fund I limited partners re-upping into Fund II, as well as from new investors. Syntaxis Mezzanine Fund II’s

Navigation Capital Partners, an Atlanta-based middle market private equity firm, has acquired the assets and associated liabilities of Prepaid Solutions USA via newly-formed entity Prepaid Solutions. Prepaid Solutions USA was a division of West Suburban Bank, a Chicago area-based community bank and wholly-owned subsidiary of West Suburban Bancorp. WSB’s Prepaid Solutions USA division was founded in 2001. Prepaid Solutions is a payments company offering prepaid/debit solutions for corporate America, self-banked and under-banked consumers. Solutions include payroll, general-purpose reloadable, performance, incentive, reward and gift. Navigation Capital has appointed Ken Goins and Eric Ohlhausen as the new chief executive and chief financial

Infiniti Capital will be working with Chengdu-based Green Leaf Film Studios and five-time Oscar winner Richard Taylor to raise USD200m to USD400m in a new fund called Panda Screen Productions. The fund will invest in a diversified portfolio of film, television and related special projects with strong merchandising and ancillary revenue potential. “We have all been excited by the opportunities and capabilities we have seen in China and have decided to bring together the combined benefits of top industry talent and production savings in a focused offering,” says Kenji Steven, chairman of Infiniti Capital. Infiniti Capital’s Hong Kong subsidiary, Infiniti

The UK’s development finance institution, CDC Group, has committed EUR10m to an investment fund that will back renewable energy projects in India and other developing countries in Asia.  CDC’s financial commitment to Berkeley Energy’s Renewable Energy Asia Fund will support the fund’s investments in private sector companies aiming to tap into the growing demand for clean energy infrastructure in Asia.   CDC has committed its capital alongside five other experienced emerging market investors, allowing the fund to raise EUR50.7m for future investments in green energy. The fund will use the capital to make equity investments of between EUR5m and EUR15m

Polar Capital has reported a recovery in its assets under management, which increased by 27 per cent from USD1.5bn at 30 March 2009 to USD1.9bn at 30 September 2009. The company says equity markets have recovered over the past six months, which has benefited its long only funds and enhanced the outlook for its clients, resulting in an improvement in fund flows. Polar Capital made a loss before tax and share-based payments of GBP0.4m, compared with a profit of GBP1.5m at 30 September 2008. The company’s basic loss per share was 0.62p (30 September 2008: earnings per share of 0.59p)

Maven Capital Partners, as joint manager of the Capital for Enterprise Fund, has made a GBP2m investment in Pentagon Chemicals, a UK-based chemical manufacturer. The GBP75m fund is a government backed initiative launched earlier this year to help small and medium size enterprises in the UK gain access to the financial support required to bridge the funding gap caused by the credit crisis. In April 2009, it was announced that GBP60m from the fund would be allocated to two separate GBP30m funds, one of which is managed by Maven. A further GBP15m is being managed as a co-investment fund by

Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group has acquired a 40 per cent stake in Medical Park Sağlık Hizmetleri, Turkey’s second largest healthcare services company.  The founding shareholders, the Sancak and Usta groups, will remain as significant investors in Medical Park. Carlyle’s all-equity investment will be used primarily to finance the hospital company’s continued expansion and reduce debt.   Can Deldağ (pictured), Carlyle managing director and head of the Turkish investment team, says: "We, as Carlyle, are very pleased to invest in a strong, growing company like Medical Park. The Turkish healthcare services sector shows great promise as patient demand