UK telecoms giant Vodafone has paid €31.5m for a Danish software company that specialises in making software for mobile phone address books. The business, ZYB, is based in Copenhagen and was founded in 2005. In late 2006, Nordic Venture Partners invested in the company and over the course of the last 18 months invested a […]
Buyouts group Advent International has sold Polish insulation business Bolix to Berger Paints, one of India’s largest paint manufacturers, for US$38.6m. It is Advent’s first Central & Eastern European exit since June 2007 when it sold its stake in the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) to AIG Capital Partners for €1.08bn. Advent closed its fourth fund […]
Institutional investors in emerging markets private equity are ignoring the credit crunch and showing their confidence by continuing to commit money according to a survey conducted by the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA). The research results show that 74% of limited partners are looking to increase allocations to emerging markets private equity over the […]
WirelessMatch, a VC funding network aimed at the wireless, mobile internet and mobile telecoms markets, has launched a partnership with angel investment network Invensco aimed at young companies in the space. The WM Investment Pool has chosen five companies for its members to invest in, with a minimum amount of £25,000. Within that pool, investors […]
The limit to annual investment under the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and other tax-based venture capital schemes could be raised above £2m according to the UK government. At the EIS Association’s spring seminar, David Halliday of the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announced that the government was negotiating with Brussels to up the state aid […]
In this busy world it can be tough to find that someone special, especially if you’re a business angel sitting on a pile of cash itching to invest in some promising entrepreneur if only you can find one. Angels Den, a company that specialises in putting investors together with start-ups, has come up with a […]
UK venture capital firm Eden Ventures has teamed up with enterprise software company salesforce.com to find the next generation of online software. Early-stage companies will compete for prize of up to £1m, in the form of an investment from Eden, which launched the Force.com Investment Challenge in May. Winners will be announced in November at […]
UK venture secondaries firm Shackleton Ventures has closed its second fund on £25m and made its first acquisition with the purchase of a 13-strong investment portfolio from 3i for an undisclosed amount. Shackleton Secondaries II (SSIILP) received the majority of its backing from an unnamed European fund-of-funds investor with over €1.5bn under management. The new […]
More money is the key to making good returns on investments in the biotech sector says a survey by HBM Partners, the Swiss venture capital house. It looked at all trade sales of venture-backed biotechnology and specialty pharma companies from 2005 to 2007 and found that investments that generated returns of 3x or more, known […]
UK venture firm MTI has reached a first close on University of Manchester spin-out vehicle UMIP Premier Fund, raising £32m of a final target of £50m. The fund will have first approval of any investment opportunities generated by the university’s technology research, which has already produced companies like Renovo, a wound treatment business, which floated […]