Firms & Funds

Apollo Aviation Group raised $213 million for its Sciens Aviation Special Opportunities Fund. The aviation fund is managed by an affiliate of Apollo Aviation, which is a commercial aircraft investment and asset manager. Apollo Aviation is jointly owned by its founders and principals William Hoffman and Robert Korn, and by an affiliate of New York-based Sciens Capital Management.

Atlantic Bridge has held the first close of Atlantic Bridge II with €85 million ($115.7 million) in commitments. The Dublin, Ireland-based private equity shop expects to make investments of between €5 million and €20 million in European middle-market technology companies.

Barclays plc of the U.K. plans to spin off its private equity arm. Reuters reported the business will go to the managers of the fund in return for a share of future profits, according to a person familiar with the matter. The buyout of Barclays Private Equity will not take place until after the first closing of its latest fund sometime next year, the source said.

The New York private equity firm Centerbridge Capital Partners is forming a holding company to operate two recently acquired companies: Rock Bottom Restaurants and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Groups. The new company, CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, will focus on beer-focused, casual dining restaurants, of which it now already controls nearly 200 across the U.S.

Fahrenheit 212 signed an exclusive partnership with Catterton Partners, a Greenwich, Conn.-based private equity firm. Fahrenheit 212 will work with a number of Catterton’s portfolio companies to help the investments’s growth potential. Fahrenheit 212 is a consulting firm based in New York.

Falfurrias Capital Partners plans to raise $200 million for its second fund, the Charlotte Business Journal reported Thursday. In an interview with the newspaper, Managing Partner Marc Oken said Falfurrias is in the early stages of raising Falfurrias Capital Partners Fund II. The Charlotte, N.C.-based private equity firm invests in lower mid-market businesses.

First State Super and Health Super plan to merge, Reuters reported. The transaction would form the fifth largest private pension fund in Australia, the firms said. The two funds together have A$28 billion ($27.48 billion) in funds under management.

Hercules Technology Growth Capital Inc.’s public offering of 6.25 million common shares was priced at $10 each. This represents gross proceeds of $62.5 million for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based specialty finance company. The offering’s underwriters have an over-allotment option to purchase up to 937,500 more shares.

David Messer and Frank Gallipoli, who are the founders of a commodity firm that grew to become RBS Sempra, plan to launch a new private-equity backed company, Reuters reported. The new firm will be called Freepoint Commodities. It will be backed by buyout shop Stone Point Capital LLC of Greenwich, Conn.

New Mountain Capital portfolio company Avantor Performance Materials said that it is renaming its Mallinckrodt chemicals brand line to Macron Chemicals. The name change will be implemented on March 7. New Mountain Capital, a New York buyout firm, acquired Phillipsburg, N.J.-based Avantor in August from Covidien. Avantor Performance Materials, formerly known as Mallinckrodt Baker, makes high-performance chemistries and materials under the brand names J.T. Baker and Macron.

Canadian private equity firm Onex has raised C$320 million ($314 million) in an initial public offering of its high-yield debt fund, OCP Senior Credit Fund, Reuters reported. The firm sold 32 million shares at $10 apiece. The offering was handled by a syndicate co-led by CIBC World Markets and RBC Capital Markets.

Partners Group AG of Zug, Switzerland, provided mezzanine financing to Harrington Group Inc. on behalf of clients. Harrington Group is a provider of specialty medical products.

Partners Group AG opened an office in Seoul, Korea. The firm expects the new location will allow it to more directly target and invest in Korean companies. Partners Group already has more than 100 professionals in five Asian countries.

New York private equity firm Quadrangle Group is winding down, though it plans to re-emerge under a different name, Reuters said, citing an article in the New York Post. The media-focused firm was co-founded by ex-car czar Steve Rattner. Rattner left the firm last year, and is currently the subject of a lawsuit by outgoing New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo.

RoundTable Healthcare Partners portfolio company Argon Medical Devices Inc. of Athens, Texas, signed a licensing contract with Rex Medical LP for exclusive rights to sell the UltraStream chronic dialysis catheter worldwide. The device provides long-term vascular access to patients receiving dialysis treatments.

Silk Invest plans to launch a private equity fund that will invest in African food-related industries, Reuters said. The fund will operate in Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria and other markets. The vehicle will have a target of €150 million ($206.8 million).

The U.K.-based Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd portfolio company EMI Group Ltd, which is the record label for the Beatles, reached an agreement to make the Beatles’ catalog of songs available on the iTunes music download service operated by Apple Inc.

UNC Kenan-Flagler’s student-run private equity fund held the final close of KFBSF Private Equity Fund II LP on Oct. 15, with $3.1 million in commitments. The students have a total of more than $5 million under management including, its first investment vehicle. Investors in the two funds include Halifax Group, PNC Equity Fund, Hatteras Funds, Tryon Capital, Carrboro Capital, Plexus Capital, SV Life Sciences and others.