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Venture capital firm Highland Capital Partners has launched its eighth fund, Highland Capital Partners VIII.
The new USD400m fund will continue to fuel the firm’s focus on early through growth stage investments in healthcare, internet & digital media and technology companies.
"We are very appreciative for the continued backing of our limited partners," says Bob Higgins (pictured), general partner at Highland. "We are pleased to raise a fund in this challenging environment that will allow us to continue to partner with the world’s best entrepreneurs and management teams in building high-growth and successful companies."
Since its inception, Highland has partnered
CDC Group has become the first development finance institution to make a private equity investment focused solely on Sierra Leone since the end of the country’s civil war in 2002.
CDC will commit USD5m to Sierra Investment Fund, which will invest in small and medium sized enterprises and start ups in the West African nation.
The fund is managed by locally based manager ManoCap.
Over the next few years, the fund hopes to invest between USD20m and USD30m in six to eight investments, with a deal size of between USD1m and USD5m. It will focus on firms that have
Just when you thought that the guards had at last wrested control of the asylum back from the inmates, here comes another proposed feature of the European Union’s proposed Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers that takes one’s breath away.
Not content with amendments that would all but bar non-EU funds from the European market, the Swedish presidency has announced plans to incorporate rules limiting the earnings of hedge fund managers and private equity partners similar to those mooted for bankers.
Why? Apparently the Swedes and other European governments have become convinced that in the same way that excessive remuneration
Meidlinger Partners’ new investment vehicle, Meidlinger Partners Sustainable Investments, has completed its first closing.
Limited partners committed USD4.25m to the round, and Benchmark Asset Managers, a founding investor, expects to add an additional USD10.75m toward the fund’s target size of USD100m.
The fund provides expansion capital to proven companies in the lower market with solutions to solve the world’s water, wastewater and energy problems.
Kevin Brophy, Meidlinger’s co-founder and chief executive, says: “The lower market is the sweet spot where operational, industrial and technical support can act as a catalyst to propel portfolio companies to the next level. Since January
Life Technologies has signed a definitive agreement to acquire BioTrove, a developer, manufacturer and marketer of instruments and consumables for genomic analysis, screening and molecular diagnostics.
Life Technologies is a biotechnology tools company. Both companies are based in the US.
Earlier, BioTrove raised venture capital funding from Catalyst Health Ventures, CB Healthcare Fund II, Vox Equity Partners, Fletcher Spaght Ventures, Excel Medical Fund, Biofrontier Partners, Zero Stage Capital and Echelon Ventures.
The acquisition will enhance Life Technologies’ strategic offerings in high growth PCR market.
Caring.com, an online destination for people caring for aging parents and loved ones, has closed USD10m in series B financing, led by new investor Shasta Ventures.
Existing investors DCM and Split Rock Partners, also participated, along with support by individual investors.
"We’re excited to invest in the large and growing eldercare category. Caring for an aging loved one is a life stage when consumers need a lot of information, products and services," says Tod Francis (pictured), managing partner at Shasta Ventures. "Caring.com is meeting this need as evidenced by its strong traffic growth and the high demand for site inventory
Heritage Capital, the merchant banking division of family-owned Banque Heritage of Switzerland, has appointed Klaus Henke as managing director of its financial institutions group advisory team.
Henke (pictured) joins from Dresdner Kleinwort where he was responsible for cross-border mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets origination.
Henke will be based in the London offices of Heritage Capital where he will report to Joseph Dryer and Peter Horbye, the firm’s founders and co-chief executive officers.
Dryer says: “In the current environment we see the financial sector as a source of enormous opportunity. Klaus is a valuable addition to head
Private equity firm 3i reduced its net from GBP1.9bn at 31 March 2009 to GBP854m at 30 September 2009.
It also reduced its gearing from 103 per cent at 31 March 2009 to 31 per cent at 30 September 2009.
Realisations exceeded investment by GBP317m during the six months to 30 September, further strengthening its balance sheet.
A total of 33 per cent of the opening non-core portfolio by value was realised and sales were agreed on a further 16 per cent during the period.
3i’s liquidity increased by GBP1.0bn to GBP2.0bn, providing greater capacity to invest in the
JVP and Giza, two Israeli venture capital funds, have made an A-round investment in XtremIO, an early stage venture developing solid state drive data storage systems.
XtremIO’s solutions are designed to deliver high performance in enterprise storage environments, while addressing existing storage device limitations and data network connectivity challenges.
Ehud Rokach, chief executive of XtremIO, says: "We are happy that Giza and JVP share our vision and see the potential in XtremIO’s proposition. During our discussions we got to know the investment teams and we feel we found people who understand what it takes to successfully bring innovative technologies to
Maven Capital Partners has completed the exit from Cyclotech by way of a trade sale to M-I Drilling Fluids UK, a member of the M-I Swaco group based in Houston, Texas.
Clients of Maven originally invested GBP1.4m in May 2007 to provide Cyclotech with development capital to expand existing operations, further develop technological products and pursue an ambitious growth strategy.
Since that investment was made, Cyclotech has achieved significant growth with annual revenues more than trebling.
The sale realised an overall return of more than three times the money on the initial investment and an internal rate of return of
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