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.
Berkshire Partners has acquired a majority interest in Access Information Management. Financial terms weren’t announced. Summit Partners is the seller. Access Information provides records and information management services in North America. Robert W. Baird & Co. provided financial advice to Access.
4 min read · 21 October 2014
In Second Opinion, Ben & Jerry’s won’t rename its “Hazed & Confused” ice cream, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella claims that men and women are paid equally at his company and Apple has sold a lot of iPhones.
1 min read · 20 October 2014
Platform Specialty Products Corp. said Monday it has agreed to buy Arysta LifeScience for about $3.51 billion. Arysta, a crop protection and life science companies, is backed by Permira. Permira is expected to receive about $2.91 billion in cash and a $600 million in a preferred note in Platform. Credit Suisse, Barclays, UBS Investment Bank and Nomura Securities International acted as M&A advisors to Platform. Credit Suisse, UBS Investment Bank, and Nomura have committed financing for the acquisition. Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan provided financial advice to Permira.
8 min read · 20 October 2014
NBK Capital said Monday it closed its latest private equity fund with US$310 million in capital commitments. NBK Capital Equity Partners Fund II was oversubscribed and exceeded its US$300 million target. Dubai-based NBK Capital focuses on growth investments in middle market companies in the MENA region specifically in the GCC and Turkey.
2 min read · 20 October 2014
Recurly said Monday it has closed a $12 million Series B round led by Devonshire Investors, the private investment arm of Fidelity Investments. Greycroft Partners and existing investors, Polaris Partners and e.ventures, also participated. Recurly, of San Francisco, is a pay-as-you-go subscription billing platform.
3 min read · 20 October 2014
Palamon Capital Partners said Monday it named Ali (Alexandre) Rahmatollahi as Associate Partner and Christian Beck as a member of the Firm’s Board of Advisors. Rahmatollahi joins Palamon from Morgan Stanley where he was most recently as an Executive Director with responsibility for Financial Sponsor coverage. Beck has been CEO of several growth businesses including Banqsoft ASA, Sakhalin Petroleum and Small Shops Gruppen, a Warburg Pincus portfolio company.
3 min read · 20 October 2014
Onyx Payments, an H.I.G. Capital portfolio company, has acquired Net Trans Services and Worldwide Payment Systems. Financial terms weren’t announced. Word Payment, of Spain, is a data and payment processing company while Net Trans, of Norway, provides a hotel commission recovery and reconciliation services for travel agencies and other hotel booking professionals.
4 min read · 20 October 2014
Aqua Terra Water Management said Monday that current board member Mark Harris has been hired to serve as CEO of Aqua Terra. Aqua Terra, a merchant operator of salt water disposal facilities, is backed by Bregal Partners.
3 min read · 20 October 2014
Francisco Partners' auction of financial software company eFront has attracted bids in the range of $400 million, according to a person familiar with the transaction.
1 min read · 20 October 2014
Edward "Ned" J. Kelly III, former Chairman of the Institutional Clients Group at Citigroup, and Ranji H. Nagaswami, ex-Chief Investment Advisor to Mayor Bloomberg's administration for the City of New York, have joined Corsair Capital as Senior Advisors. Kelly and Nagaswami will help Corsair identify and evaluate new investments.
5 min read · 17 October 2014
