Blackstone Group is among the final bidders for the $9.5 billion US shopping mall assets owned by Australia’s Centro Properties Group, Reuters reported. The field has narrowed to three consortia, including NRDC Equity Partners and Lend Lease Corp; and a team formed by Morgan Stanley's real estate fund and Starwood Capital Group, Reuters said. Final bids are expected toward the end of February.
1 min read · 09 February 2011
The funds ProVen VCT and ProVen Growth & Income VCT, which are managed by venture firm Beringea, have exited their stakes in Saffron Digital, a developer of video delivery platforms, the firm announced. HTC Corp., a designer of smart phones, bought the company for 30 million pounds ($48 million). With the deal, the funds saw a multiple of 5.8 times the cost of the original investment, generating an IRR of 65%.
3 min read · 08 February 2011
Paul Capital, a firm focused on the private equity secondary market, has added Anand Sunderji and Akshat Shukla as sourcing agents in India. Both will source and evaluate potential secondary private equity deals. Previously, Sunderji was the co-head of the private equity fund-of-funds operations at Guggenheim Capital Management in Mumbai. Shukla previously managed the Indian investment strategy for Adveq Management AG. Founded in 1991, Paul Capital has $7.6 billion under management. The firm has offices in Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, San Francisco, and São Paulo.
3 min read · 08 February 2011
Citi has hired Steve Conway, a former executive at Swiss bank UBS, as its most senior European banker advising private equity firms, Reuters reported. Conway joins as managing director and head of the Citi's Financial Entrepreneurs Group for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He has worked previously as a senior advisor to private equity firm TDR Cpital and an operating partner at Advent International.
1 min read · 08 February 2011
Emptoris, a provider of supply management and contract management services, has acquired Rivermine Inc., a telecom company backed by the Southern Appalachian Fund. The fund originally backed BBR Wireless Management, a company acquired by Rivermine in 2007. The firm later backed the combined company. No terms of the latest acquisition were released. The Southern Appalachian Fund is a $12.5 million venture fund focused on low-income areas of Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Appalachian counties of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
4 min read · 08 February 2011
Palestinian entrepreneur Bashar Masri has launched a $60 million private equity fund for small and medium-sized companies in the West Bank, Reuters reported. The Siraj Palestine Fund will focus on promoting “technological advancement, job creation and addressing the acute shortage of equity capital,” the firm said in a statement.
1 min read · 08 February 2011
Private equity firm LLR Partners has invested an undisclosed amount of growth capital in United Seating & Mobility, a provider of rehabilitation products and wheelchairs. The funding will help United Seating & Mobility pursue future acquisitions, among other growth strategies. Philadelphia-based LLR Partners has more than $1.4 billion under management.
3 min read · 08 February 2011
Venture capital fund Baird Venture Partners has exited its investment in Accuri Cytometers, selling the company to Becton, Dickinson and Company. Financial terms of the deal were not released. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2011. Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Accuri has raised upwards of $32 million from investors. Baird led the company’s Series B financing round for Accuri in May 2007 and participated in subsequent financing rounds.
3 min read · 08 February 2011
2 min read · 08 February 2011
Private equity firm Glencoe Capital, investing through its Glencoe Capital Michigan Opportunities Fund, has acquired Spring Lake, Mich.-based Campbell Grinder Company. Financial terms of the deal were not released. Campbell Grinder manufactures high-precision grinding machines and filtration systems. Glencoe Capital and its affiliates have roughly $1.4 billion under management and offices in Chicago and Birmingham, Mich.
3 min read · 07 February 2011
