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NEWSLETTER | 26 Mar 2021

On Thursday Private Equity Wire hosted its virtual event, 'European Awards 2021', to celebrate excellence within the European private equity industry.

The award categories covered buyout, growth, funds of funds, secondaries, private debt, co-Investment, real estate, and real assets. It also featured a fireside chat with Unigestion’s Dr Christian Bohler, Switzerland-based head of secondaries, and David Swanson, head of secondaries in the US.

Two salient points mentioned in their respective speeches included that the lack of exits in 2020 has led to a ‘backlog’ of deals to complete in 2021, as well as having contributed to bringing forward an increase in subsequent activity in the secondaries market.

PEWire would like to thank Bloomberg for providing the fund performance and fundraising data on which the nominations for best debt private equity fund managers were decided.

In this week's Tuesday podcast we spoke with Sumit Mehta, Managing Director of Dubai-based Arrow Capital, about the growth of SPACs in emerging markets. The podcast looked closely at the differences between the US ecosystem versus emerging markets, and aimed to forecast the challenges that need to be resolved in order to fully leverage the trend globally.

Arrow Capital is a boutique investment firm based in Dubai International Financial Centre and Mauritius. The firm recently co-sponsored a USD276 million SPAC in partnership with Silicon Valley VC firm Tribe Capital, called Tribe Capital Growth Corp I, which trades under the ticker ATVCU on Nasdaq.

After the turmoil of last year, there are burgeoning signs of growing optimism in markets, according to Steve Phillips, CFO, and Somil Goyal , Investment Lead, at GovGrant. Accelerating vaccination programmes are feeding investor hopes of a return to normal life and business activity in 2021.

The path out of the downturn caused by Covid-19 is not going to be a smooth one, however, and pressure on businesses is likely to persist. Read the feature to find out more about their views on UK capital markets, recovery and innovation.

Karin Wasteson
Editor, Private Equity Wire

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

By Steve Phillips, CFO, and Somil Goyal (pictured, far left with Philips), Investment Lead, at GovGrant – After the turmoil of 2020, there are signs of growing optimism in markets. Accelerating vaccination programmes are feeding investor hopes of a return to normal life and business activity in 2021.

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

Greenbriar Equity Group, LP today announced the final closing of Greenbriar Equity Fund V (Fund V) with total capital commitments of USD1.68 billion.

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

US Bank announced it is expanding services to include Irish Limited Partnership (ILP) funds, providing an end-to-end solution across loan administration, fund and investor services, depositary, custody and account banking.

Nordic Capital sells MFEX to Euroclear

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

Nordic Capital has signed an agreement to sell MFEX, a global independent fund distributor, to Euroclear. During Nordic Capital’s ownership, MFEX has successfully repositioned itself from a Nordic player to a pan-European leader with an emerging global presence.

Solana Foundation partners with OKEx and MXC

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

The Solana Foundation has partnered with cryptocurrency exchanges, OKEx and MXC, to launch two strategic investment funds that will bring USD40 million of new capital to accelerate the growth and development of key projects in the Solana ecosystem.

Linktree raises USD45m

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

Linking platform Linktree has raised USD45 million in a Series B funding round co-led by Index Ventures, an investor in Patreon and Discord, and Coatue, an investor in TikTok, with participation from returning investors AirTree Ventures and Insight Partners.

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

Horizon Capital's USD200 million fund, Emerging Europe Growth Fund III, has sold its minority stake in Dobrobut to existing shareholders - Oleg Kalashnikov, Dobrobut’s Managing Shareholder and CEO, and Concorde Capital.

Council Capital partners with ViaQuest

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

Council Capital, a healthcare-focused private equity firm based in Nashville, has invested in ViaQuest Holdings, Ltd and Affiliates (ViaQuest).

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

JTC, a specialist global fund administrator, has been appointed by Resolute Capital Partners (Resolute Capital), a San Francisco-based private equity firm, to administer its two new international feeder funds.

Lukka raises additional USD53m Series D

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

Lukka, a specialist enterprise crypto asset software and data provider, announced it has completed its USD53m Series D round of financing. Participants in the round include Soros Fund Management, S&P Global, and CPA.com (a subsidiary of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants). This fundraise follows Lukka’s recent Series C round, which was led by State Street just three months prior.

Tech startup Zobi raises USD1.5m

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

Zobi, the developer of domestic cybercrime solution Hedgehog, has secured USD1.5 million of funding to bring Hedgehog to life and create Zobi Home Intelligence, the brains designed to help users manage and keep their online identity safe through digital guardians.

Avista Capital invests in eMolecules

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

Avista Capital Partners (Avista), a private equity firm focused exclusively on healthcare, is to invest in eMolecules, a novel and fast-growing e-procurement platform for high-value chemicals and bioreagents used by pharmaceutical companies in drug discovery. Financial terms of the investment have not been disclosed.

Hornetsecurity acquires Zerospam

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

Hornetsecurity Group, a cloud email security provider, has made its second acquisition this year – email protection specialist Zerospam, which comes hot on the heels of its acquisition of worldwide backup solution provider Altaro in January.

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

Pine Island Capital Partners (Pine Island), a private investment firm that combines an experienced investment team with a group of accomplished former senior government, military officials, and business leaders, has appointed former NASA Administrator Major General Charles F Bolden Jr, USMC (Ret) as a partner.

BTIG appoints MD

Fri | 26 Mar 2021, 12:45

BTIG has appointed Biju Kurian as Managing Director in its Technology, Media and Telecommunications Investment Banking unit.