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.
1-800-FLOWERS.COM Inc said March 15 it has agreed to sell all the outstanding equity of Fannie May Confections Brands Inc to Ferrero International SA for $115 million. The transaction is expected to close on May 30. The deal includes Fannie May Confections Inc and Harry London Candies Inc as well as all related assets and liabilities including, but not limited to, Fannie May’s ecommerce business,79 retail stores located primarily in and around Chicago, a manufacturing facility in North Canton, Ohio and two temperature-controlled warehouse and distribution facilities, located in Maple Heights, Ohio and Chicago, respectively.
6 min read · 16 March 2017
2 min read · 15 March 2017
Flow has raised a $13 million Series A investment from Bain Capital Ventures. Flow, of Hoboken, New Jersey, provides a software platform that lets retailers and brands sell products internationally.
3 min read · 15 March 2017
Denit, a portfolio company of Main Capital, is acquiring Dutch Cloud. Financial terms weren’t announced. Denit, of Amsterdam, is a managed cloud services provider. Dutch Cloud, of the Netherlands, is a cloud solutions provider focused on large corporates and SaaS companies.
4 min read · 14 March 2017
Baird Capital said March 14 that John DiGiovanni, Alex Kessel and Tom Smith were promoted to principal from vice president, while Michael Holgate was promoted to investment director from investment manager.
3 min read · 14 March 2017
Selecta Group BV, a portfolio company of KKR, has agreed to buy Pelican Rouge Group BV. Financial terms weren’t announced. Pelican Rouge is a leading European coffee services providers with a strong focus on office coffee services and hotels, restaurants and cafes. Selecta is a European vending and coffee services provider.
4 min read · 14 March 2017
TA Associates said March 14 that it completed an investment in Ideal Cures Private Ltd. Financial terms weren’t announced. Ideal Cure, of Mumbai, makes and exports pharmaceutical excipients and ready-to-use coating systems for solid oral dosage forms. K Law served as legal counsel to Ideal Cures, while DSK Legal served as legal counsel to TA Associates. TA Associates Advisory Private Ltd provided advisory services on the investment.
4 min read · 14 March 2017
2 min read · 13 March 2017
HMS Holdings Corp said March 13 that it has agreed to buy Eliza Corp for $170 million. Parthenon Capital Partners is the seller. Eliza, of Danvers, Massachusetts, is a health engagement management and member analytics firm. FT Partners and William Blair provided financial advice to Eliza. Kirkland & Ellis LLP was their attorney. Citi advised HMS. News of the sale was reported by Buyouts last month.
8 min read · 13 March 2017
The Carlyle Group said March 13 that Ben Schryber joined the firm last week as Managing Director, based in New York. Schryber will lead credit sales and business development efforts globally at Carlyle. He will report to Mark Jenkins, head of Global Credit and Mike Arpey, Head of Investor Relations. Schryber was most recently Global Head of Credit at First Avenue Partners.
2 min read · 13 March 2017
