I've been a business reporter for a while. I've covered Wall Street, venture capital and now private equity. I'm always looking for a scoop or something to talk about. I'm the eternal optimist and am still waiting for the Chicago Cubs to win the World Series. Yes, I believe.
LendingCrowd said March 28 that it secured another 2 million pounds ($2.8 million) in funding led by Equity Gap. Also participating were a number of private investors from Scotland’s entrepreneurial and finance scene and the Scottish Investment Bank. LendingCrowd, of Edinburgh, Scotland provides a peer to peer lending platform.
4 min read · 28 March 2018
General Atlantic has invested in Landmark Health. Financial terms weren’t announced. Landmark, of Huntington Beach, California, is a risk-based provider group that delivers home-based medical care for chronically ill patients. Barclays acted as financial adviser to Landmark, while Latham & Watkins LLP and Shearman & Sterling provided legal advice. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP acted as legal adviser to General Atlantic.
4 min read · 28 March 2018
Apollo Global Management is weighing an IPO for Rackspace Hosting, the cloud computing company it has owned for less than two years, Bloomberg reported. Apollo has held early talks with advisers and may seek to begin the process before the end of 2018, the story said. Rackspace could be valued at $10 billion, Bloomberg said.
1 min read · 27 March 2018
TCV has agreed to buy a controlling stake in Watermark. Financial terms weren’t announced. Exceed Capital Partners is also investing. Quad Partners and Watermark's management team will retain stakes. Watermark, of New York, provides assessment software for higher education institutions.
3 min read · 27 March 2018
AkzoNobel said March 27 that it is selling its specialty chemicals business to Carlyle Group and GIC for 10.1 billion euros ($12.57 billion). The deal will create two businesses, paints and coatings, and specialty chemicals. AkzoNobel said net proceeds are expected to be around 7.5 billion euros.
5 min read · 27 March 2018
Narrow Gauge Capital said March 26 that it closed its buy of Class Appraisal LLC. Financial terms weren’t announced. ICG Strategic Equity and Aberdeen Standard Investments co-invested in the deal. Class Appraisal, of Troy, Michigan, provides real estate asset valuation and appraisal management solutions to the residential mortgage industry. Keefe Bruyette & Woods provided financial advice to Class Appraisal in the transaction, while Bass Berry & Sims PLC served as legal counsel. Berkery Noyes acted as financial adviser to NGC, and Winston & Strawn LLP served as legal counsel.
3 min read · 27 March 2018
Adagene Inc said March 26 that it raised $50 million in series C funding led by Sequoia China. Also participating were New World TMT, AVIC Trust, King Star Capital, Gopher Asset Management as well as other investors. Adagene, of Suzhou, China, is an antibody discovery and development company.
4 min read · 27 March 2018
Ryan Flanders has joined Monroe Capital LLC as a vice president, serving on the firm’s investor relations & marketing team. Previously, Flanders was the head of private debt products at Preqin.
2 min read · 27 March 2018
Carlyle Group and GIC have won the fight to buy the specialty chemicals arm of Akzo Nobel for 10.1 billion euros ($12.5 billion), including debt, the Financial Times said. Apollo Global Management, Hal Investments and a consortium of Bain Capital and Advent International were vying for the unit, the FT said. Akzo Nobel’s specialty chemicals division produces basic chemical building blocks including chlorine and salt, the story said.
1 min read · 27 March 2018
Capzanine said March 27 that Clément Colin was promoted to principal, while Emmanuel Fournial was named a senior associate.
1 min read · 27 March 2018
