Barry Whyte

The former president of Visa Inc, Hans Morris, has joined General Atlantic LLC, a growth equity firm, as managing director and head of GA’s global financial services sector. Morris had previously worked for GA as a special advisor. Morris was president of Visa in March, 2008, during Visa’s IPO, during which they offered 51% of the company for $19.7 billion, the largest IPO in U.S. history. GA has invested nearly $1.7 billion in growth equity to date in 2010.

Shamrock Capital Growth Fund II, a California-based, media-focussed private equity firm, has invested significant growth capital in INgrooves, a digital media company in San Francisco. Shamrock now joins Universal Music Group as a minority shareholder in the company. INgrooves will use the money to expand into “ancillary media verticals” such as eBooks. The financial details were not disclosed.

Boathouse Capital, a Philadelphia-based investment fund, has invested $28 million in its first four deals, the fund announced today. Boathouse, which focuses on mezzanine investments, has invested $8.7 million in PTG Enterprises, a Florida taxi and limo service to acquire the assets of Yellow Cab Service Corporation, also based in Florida. Boathouse invested an undisclosed amount of debt in Platinum Protection, a security company. It invested $5.1 million in Pleatco, a New York water filtration product manufacturer. And it invested an undisclosed amount in Audax Group, a food service industry company.

The private equity firms who together hold 88% of Danish telecoms group TDC – Blackstone, Permira, KKR, Providence and Apax Partners – plan a share sale in December and have appointed banks to coordinate the sale, according to Reuters. The five PE firms bought into TDC in 2005 for a record $18 billion. The five-firm consortium is aiming to complete the sale by the end of the year. There is no information yet on the size of the sale share.

Clean water tech company HaloSource Inc has raised about $80 million with an initial public offering of its common stock. It raised $50 million in gross proceeds, with certain selling shareholders placing with institutional investors at 135 pence apiece, which raised $30 million. Private equity firm Origo Partners had a 15.4 percent stake in HaloSource and said it sold 60 percent of its stake for $11 million.

Tom Beerle, Jeff Giles and Tim Heston have all been named vice presidents at Bertram Capital, a private equity firm headquartered in San Mateo, California. Bertram recently closed its second fund, Bertram Capital II, with $500 million in capital commitments. Beerle worked at Opus Capital before joining Bertram in 2009. Heston joined Bertram Capital in 2009 from Calera Capital. Giles joined Bertram in 2007 from Mindseye Group.

Manhattan Beachwear, Inc, a portfolio company of Linsalata Capital Partners has purchased Apparel Ventures, Inc, a swimwear manufacturer. The details of the deal have not been announced. Linsalata Capital Partners is an Ohio-based private equity firm founded in 1984 and has made 96 buy-side transactions totaling more than $2 billion. It is currently investing from its sixth fund, Linsalata Capital Partners Fund V, L.P. (LinCap V), with $425 million in committed equity capital.

Black Pearl Capital Partners has invested in the UK-based Hantec Markets, a forex and bullion broker, in order to get access to the European retail forex market. Hantec Markets is part of the Hantec Group, which has a presence in China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. The details of the deal were not revealed.

NBK Capital, the investment arm of the National Bank of Kuwait, is attempting to buy stakes in five firms for a private equity fund, according to Reuters. The bank’s chief executive, Sala al-Fulaij, said that one deal was about to be finalized in Qatar, while one was based in Saudi Arabia. The size of neither deal, nor the size or location of the three remaining deals, was announced.

KKR, with South Korea’s National Pension Service, has bought Chevron Corp’s 23.44 percent stake in Colonial Pipeline, a U.S. oil pipeline company. The stake is worth around $895 million and was all cash. The South Korea National Pension Service is a large investor in private equity funds.