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