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.
The Carlyle Group said Monday it has agreed to invest $115 million for an 18.54 percent stake in JIC Leasing Co. Beijing-based JIC is a financial leasing company in China that targets leasing equipment in sectors such as information technology, advanced equipment manufacturing as well as healthcare, environment and alternative energy. Equity for the investment is coming mainly from Carlyle Asia Growth Partners IV.
3 min read · 29 June 2015
Novartis International AG has agreed to buy Spinifex Pharmaceuticals Inc. for an upfront cash consideration of $200 million plus undisclosed clinical development and regulatory milestone payments. based in Stamford, Connecticut and Melbourne, Australia, Spinifex develops drugs for the treatment of chronic pain. Deutsche Bank advised Spinifex. Spinifex's investors include Novo A/S, Canaan Partners, GBS Venture Partners, Brandon Capital Partners, Uniseed and UniQuest (University of Queensland, Australia).
3 min read · 29 June 2015
A Warburg Pincus-led consortium has invested another $100 million in Vincom Retail, a subsidiary of Vingroup Joint Stock Co. The Warburg-led group has invested a total of $300 million in Vincom Retail, including $200 million in May 2013. Vincom Retail is a shopping mall operator in Vietnma with 20 malls in operation or under development.
4 min read · 29 June 2015
Southfield Capital Advisors is in the market for its next fund, sources said.
1 min read · 29 June 2015
Marlin Equity Partners has agreed to buy International Business Systems. Financial terms weren’t announced. International Business, of Sweden, provides enterprise resource planning and supply chain management software to the distribution industry.
3 min read · 29 June 2015
Prospect Mortgage said Friday it is buying certain assets of CapWest Mortgage, a division of Farmers Bank & Trust. Financial terms weren’t announced. Kansas City-based CapWest is a call center operation focusing on Consumer Direct sources of business. Prospect Mortgage is backed by Sterling Partners.
3 min read · 29 June 2015
New Mountain Capital LLC has completed its roughly $692 million buy of Zep Inc. The deal was announced in April. Atlanta-based Zep makes maintenance and cleaning chemicals.
3 min read · 29 June 2015
ABRA Auto Body & Glass, a portfolio company of Hellman & Friedman LLC, has agreed to buy 23 Kadel’s Auto Body locations in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Financial terms weren’t announced. Tigard, Oregon-based Kadel’s is regional auto body provider in the Pacific Northwest. Kadel’s is backed by KCB Private Equity.
4 min read · 29 June 2015
XPND Capital said Friday it had sold its stake in Lumenpulse. Financial terms were not announced. Montreal-based Lumenpulse makes architectural LED-based lighting.
2 min read · 29 June 2015
Paine & Partners LLC said Friday that it has agreed to sell Icicle Holdings to Convergence Holdings Inc. and to Dominion Catchers LLC. Financial terms weren’t announced. Convergence is buying Icicle’s land-based wild seafood processing and farmed salmon activities, while Dominion will acquire the company’s harvesting and processing vessels as well as the associated fishing rights. Seattle-based Icicle processes seafood including wild salmon, pollock, halibut, cod, sablefish and herring in fisheries throughout Alaska, with both on-shore and floating processing facilities.
3 min read · 29 June 2015
