Shares of CVC Capital Partners are being traded at above €17, according to a report by the Financial Times, with the Luxembourg-based private equity firm having completed its listing on the Euronext Amsterdam at an offer price of €14 per share. CVC’s initial offer price equates to a market capitalisation of €14bn. Through its IPO, the firm raised €250m in fresh capital, having issued 17.8m new shares. CVC’s listing, the fourth international listing on Euronext in 2024, is also the largest so far this year in Europe. According to a press release, the IPO “provides CVC with a long-term instituti ..read more

Apiary Capital (Apiary), a specialised private investment firm focused on lower mid-market UK services, has held the final close of Apiary Capital Partners II substantially above target with £240m in capital commitments. According to a press statement, Apiary’s new fund will continue to focus on the UK lower mid-market targeting asset-light businesses with defensive characteristics across fragmented markets in the business services, financial and technology services, healthcare and education sectors. The Fund will invest in developing management and organisational infrastructure to create plat ..read more

The energy transition powered a recovery in European venture capital in the first quarter of 2024, as investors directed more funds to startups focused on solving the climate crisis, according to Dealroom’s Europe Q1 report. European startups raised $13.7bn in VC funding in Q1 2024, a 5% increase on the same period last year. The increase in funding comes despite concerns in a global slowdown in funding to early stage companies. European VC is on track to be on a similar path to 2023 when the continent raised $59.1B in total, with the UK continuing to retain its crown as the leading country fo ..read more

Lightyear Capital, a New York-based private equity firm focused on financial services technology, healthcare and business services, has closed a single-asset continuation fund for portfolio company ampliFI Loyalty Solutions. ampliFI is a technology and analytics provider of loyalty solutions to banks and credit unions with assets under $50bn for their debit and credit card programs. The portfolio company will continue to be managed by Lightyear via the continuation fund, which was anchored by investment funds affiliated with Neuberger Berman as lead investor. Lightyear Fund IV initially invest ..read more

Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager and a leading credit investor with nearly $420bn in assets across corporate and real estate credit, has appointed Dan Leiter as Head of International for Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI). Leiter, who will report to Gilles Dellaert, Global Head of BXCI, will lead the activity and expansion of BXCI in the EMEA and APAC regions. Additionally, Michael Carruthers has been appointed as European Head of Private Credit and will report to Leiter. BXCI’s investments include direct lending, opportunistic, CLOs, high yield, infrastructure a ..read more

US middle-market private equity firm Vestar Capital Partners has closed a $1.2bn single-asset continuation vehicle for its stake in Circana, a global consumer behaviour adviser, with Blackstone Strategic Partners and HarbourVest Partners acting as lead investors in the transaction. Vestar led a recapitalisation of Information Resources, Circana’s predecessor, with IR’s original control shareholder, New Mountain Capital (NMC) in 2018. In 2022, IR merged with NPD Group, a Hellman & Friedman portfolio company, to form Circana, now jointly owned by H&F, Vestar, NMC and management. The mark ..read more

COMPLY, a provider of compliance software, consulting and education resources for the financial services sector including hedge funds and private equity firms, has appointed Michael J Stanton as its Chief Executive Officer. Stanton succeeds Amy Kadomatsu, who is now transitioning to the role of Board Advisor. Stanton joins COMPLY from FTV Capital, where he served as an operating advisor working with fintech and B2B SaaS businesses. Prior to FTV Capital, Stanton was CFO at Diligent Corporation, a governance, risk and compliance SaaS provider, where he oversaw revenue growth from $90m to $600m ..read more

New Mountain Capital, which manages over $35bn across private equity, credit and net lease real estate, has closed its latest direct lending fund, New Mountain Guardian III BDC, with around $1.15bn of capital commitments from a diverse group of investors. Commitments to the fund, which is expected to have approximately $2.0 billion in investable capital, including leverage, included a substantial investment from the General Partner and employees of the firm. Consistent with the Firm’s investment philosophy, New Mountain’s private credit strategy focuses on lending to the highest quality compan ..read more

Concord, a US investment group backed by Apollo Global Management, has raised its bid for Hipgnosis Songs Fund (HSF) to $1.5bn, surpassing a competing offer from Blackstone and initiating a bidding war, according to a report by the Financial Times. Over the weekend, Blackstone proposed to the company’s board to acquire the music rights group for $1.24 per share in cash, aiming to counter Concord’s offer. Blackstone partially owns Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM), which manages HSF. In outlining this offer, Blackstone stated that its investment adviser has the option to purchase the entire song ..read more

Private equity funds managed by Blackstone are to acquire Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a leading franchisor of fast casual restaurants, from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, marking the first deal from the most recent vintage of Blackstone’s flagship PE strategy. This marks Blackstone’s latest investment in a franchisor follows its previous acquisitions of Hilton Hotels and SERVPRO. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. According to a press release, Blackstone will help “accelerate Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s already-rapid expansion through continued investment in menu innovation, operat ..read more