Angela Sormani
Norwest Venture Partners has backed Kendra Scott, a fashion jewelry designer, The investment will enable the business to expand its retail, wholesale and online presence.
Charterhouse Capital Partners has sold Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing to EQT VI. Founded in 1991 in the Netherlands, Bureau van Dijk is a global publisher of financial and commercial information. Charterhouse Capital Partners will retain a minority stake in BvD. Goldman Sachs Principal Investment Area will acquire a minority stake in the company. Ashurst advised Charterhouse in connection with the sale.
This morning First Read brings you links to the most consistent performing private equity fund managers of 2014, how early stage 2012 vintage is doing, CalPERS big movers in 2013 and a look at market and regulatory developments in the US versus Europe.
Kinderhook Industries has sold a majority stake in Tectum Holdings (THI) to TA Associates. The sale represents a return in excess of $300 million for Kinderhook Capital Fund II, translating to approximately 23x Kinderhook's invested capital.
ThetaRay, a provider of big data analytics solutions has closed a $10 million investment round. Existing investors General Electric, Jerusalem Venture Partners and Poalim Capital Markets participated, as well as new financial and strategic investors.
Digital health start-up Kurbo Health has raised $5.8 million in Series A funding, led by Signia Venture Partners. Other investors include Data Collective, Bessemer Venture Partners and Promus Ventures. Kurbo is part of Rock Health, a full-service seed fund for digital health startups.
Post Oak Energy Capital has committed $150 million to CP Exploration II (CPX). Funding from the commitment will be used for acquisitions and growth capital. CPX is a newly formed oil and gas company co-located in Dallas, TX and Lafayette, LA.
Centric Software has secured $24 million in growth capital as part of a Series D round. The financing was co-led by Fung Capital and Silver Lake Waterman. Centric Software is a provider of PLM software for retail, apparel, footwear, luxury and consumer goods companies.
Blackstone's Strategic Partners Fund Solutions has appointed Mark Burton to lead its real estate secondaries practice. Burton will serve as principal and oversee Strategic Partners’ real estate secondary investment activities.
Cloud software company SkyKick has secured $3 million in strategic capital, bringing its total capital raised to $7.2 million. The round adds several strategic private equity investors to SkyKick's backers, as well as some notable angels such as Tim Ferriss, former Qwiki COO, Navin Thukkaram and Ironfire Capital.