WinBuyer, a provider of onsite comparative pricing applications, has completed a USD6.9m first round investment led by Pitango Venture Capital alongside Giza Venture Capital. WinBuyer’s OCP solution accelerates consumer purchasing behaviour and maximises income for online retailers by enabling price comparisons at the point of sale. Isaac Hillel (pictured), Pitango managing partner, and Ori Israely, Giza managing director, are joining WinBuyer’s board of directors. Additionally, Dan Clarke has been appointed to the role of chief executive. Clarke has previously held positions as senior director at Intel US and chief executive of Vcommerce, an ecommerce platform used by online retailers. WinBuyer

Pharos Financial Advisors has launched the Pharos Miro Agriculture Fund, a USD350m private equity fund focused on acquiring and operating agricultural land in Eastern Europe, Eurasia and Africa.   Pharos Financial Advisors is an emerging markets investment manager that is authorised and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. It is part of the Pharos Financial Group of companies that were founded in 1997.   The new fund is in partnership with Miro Asset Management, a part of Dubai-based Miro Holdings International. Miro is a global agriculture and timber operator that will act as asset manager for the fund overseeing arable

KKR’s assets under management were USD54.8bn as of 30 September 2009, up 7.9 per cent from USD50.8bn at 30 June 2009. Fee related earnings were USD61.5m for the quarter ended 30 September 2009, compared to USD54.3m for the quarter ended 30 June 2009 – an increase of 13.3 per cent. Economic net income was USD656.6m in Q3, an increase of 78.9 per cent from USD366.9m in Q2. Private equity dollars invested amounted to USD1.1bn for the quarter ended 30 September 2009. KKR Guernsey, formerly known as KKR Private Equity Investors, had a net asset value of USD3.5bn as of 30

TowerBrook Capital Partners is leading the creation of a new independent commercial lending institution called Haymarket Financial. Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Omers Private Equity are investing alongside TowerBrook in this transaction. HayFin will be headquartered in London and funded entirely by permanent equity capital of approximately USD700m. The management team believes that the supply of credit, particularly to mid-sized companies in Europe, will remain disrupted for some time. HayFin intends to take advantage of the structural changes in the market to establish a lending business and will provide capital for growth and acquisitions as well as debt refinancing

SS&C Technologies, a provider of financial services software and software-enabled services, has acquired TheNextRound, a provider of software solutions for the private equity and alternative investment communities. The acquisition extends and complements SS&C’s private equity software and services offering for the alternative investment management market. With more than 225 clients in 25 countries and 45 skilled professionals, TheNextRound is a privately-held company that specialises in software for the private equity, family office, real estate partnership and alternative management space. Its flagship product, TNR Solution, is an enterprise solution that supports the full breadth of front to back office capabilities, including

The Wolverine Venture Fund, part of the University of Michigan’s Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies at the Ross School of Business, made a USD2m return on its strategic venture capital investments in HandyLab. An Ann Arbor-based developer and manufacturer of molecular diagnostic products, HandyLab entered into an agreement earlier this autumn to be acquired by BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company). The transaction closed on 19 November, handing Michigan business students their third successful portfolio-company exit since the fund’s inception in 1998. HandyLab was added to the WVF portfolio in 2000 when the fund participated in

Pinnacle Foods has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Birds Eye Foods from a holding company controlled by Vestar Capital Partners, Pro-Fac Cooperative and Birds Eye management in a transaction valued at USD1.3bn.  Birds Eye Foods owns consumer brands in frozen vegetables and meals such as Birds Eye, Birds Eye Steamfresh, and Birds Eye Voila!, as well as shelf-stable brands including Comstock and Wilderness pie fillings and toppings, Nalley and Brooks chilli and chilli ingredients, and snacks from Tim’s Cascade Snacks, Snyder of Berlin and Husman. Pinnacle Foods, owned by private equity funds controlled by The Blackstone Group, manufactures and

Arma Partners has acted as exclusive financial adviser to freenet in relation to the proposed sale of its Strato web hosting business to Deutsche Telekom for a total consideration of EUR275m (USD409m) in cash. The proposed sale was announced on 19 November 2009. Strato provides web hosting and SaaS solutions to business and retail customers around Europe.   Closing of the transaction is subject to German Federal Cartel Office approval.   For the first nine months of 2009, freenet has reported revenues for its hosting business activities of EUR66m and Ebitda of EUR24m.   The disposal of Strato marks the

Aerostar Capital has partnered with Presidio Global to explore private equity investment opportunities in Asian aerospace markets. The move comes on the heels of dynamic developments in Asian aerospace, including the emergence of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China as a future competitor to the long-standing Airbus/Boeing duopoly, the delivery of the first A320 assembled in China, and India’s rapidly growing defence expenditures. Aerostar Capital invests in middle market companies that serve the global aerospace market. Presidio Global provides strategic and capital advisory services to clients with a focus on the aerospace and biotechnology industries in emerging Asian markets. The