News and Analysis

Aaron Norton has replaced David Martus as senior portfolio manager in the Alternative Investment Division of the $40 billion Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association. Norton’s goal is to build the private equity portfolio, said Katie Kaufmanis, communications director. Martus left to join Pegasus Capital Advisors, after having spent the past eight years as a private […]

Many limited partners have mandates to invest with emerging managers, but finding these firms can be difficult. And conversely, it can be challenging for small, new firms to catch the attention of large pension funds. A new database created by New York-based Altura Capital Group should help resolve the dilemma. The Altura Emerging Manager Platform, […]

Technology investor syndicate Braveheart has signed an agreement with the University of Aberdeen which will see Braveheart provide financial support to spin-outs and fund intellectual property (IP) projects, and in return be granted first refusal on any commercial investment opportunities that arise. The plan involves two phases. Phase one, which is expected to last between […]

Mid-market private equity firm Barclays Private Equity is to acquire a majority stake in travel company ATP International Group from Lloyds Development Capital (LDC) for £73m. LDC, the London-based private equity provider, backed a £36m management buyout of ATP in December 2006, taking a majority shareholding. With six locations across the UK, as well as […]

Scottish private equity firm Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital has sold portfolio company ID Support Services Holdings (IDSSH) to Penta Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount. The sale has earned Aberdeen a 1.8x return, and an IRR of 61%, and the firm will continue to hold a nominal stake. IDSSH is a Manchester-based outsourcing company […]

Baltic private equity house BaltCap has sold its stake in Lithuania-based IT Protraining Group to Estonian IT business MicroLink Eesti. The deal involves MicroLink acquiring an 83% equity position in the business, which sees management continue as minority shareholders. IT Protraining is the largest company of its type in the region, specialising in information and […]

UK VC MTI has returned its investment in ApaTech, a UK specialist in bone graft technology, in a deal which sees company raise US$45m in a development capital round led by 3i and US investor HealthCor. MTI still retains a significant stake in the business, which it backed in April 2004, leading a £4.55m series […]

Munich-based private investment company ATS has acquired a majority stake in German-based GANYMED Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed sum. The shares were previously held by a pool of investors including Ingro Finanz, KfW, Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg (LBBW), Nextech Venture, Varuma, VI Partners, WFT and a number of private investors from Switzerland and Germany. GANYMED is a biopharmaceutical […]

Earlybird and 3i among sellers of German website company Dooyoo.de