OpenGate Capital closed its buy of the Kotka Mills division of Stora Enso, a Finnish corporation. The deal also includes Stora Enso’s laminating paper operations in Malaysia and Stora's related business operations in Tainionkoski, Finland. Financial terms were not disclosed. Los Angeles-based OpenGate is an opportunistic private equity firm.
Providence Equity Partners has bought Study Group, a private education provider, for A$660 million (U.S. 570 million). CHAMP Private Equity and Petersen Investments were the sellers. Providence Equity, a private equity firm based in Providence, R.I., invests in media, communication, entertainment and information services.
Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE: AMG) said Wednesday that it has completed its buy of Pantheon from Russell Investments (a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual Life). The deal was valued at roughly $775 million. Pantheon is a fund-of-funds and secondary fund manager. AMG is an asset manager.
Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC, Harvest Partners LP and Pine Brook Road Partners LLC have invested $100 million in Green Bancorp., which owns Green Bank N.A. of Houston. No investor owns more than 24.9% of company. Friedman Fleischer is a San Francisco private equity firm with about $2.5 billion in assets under management. New York-based Harvest Partners is a $1.3 billion private investment firm. Pine Brook Road Partners, of New York, invests in energy and financials services.
While PE firms have largely failed to buy banks, North American Financial Holdings, a large capital pool backed by buyout shops, has succeeded.
A study finds that buyout returns have rebounded since the financial crisis but still lag the public markets.
An affiliate of H.I.G. Capital has completed its investment in the Higher Gear Group. Financial terms were not disclosed. The High Gear Group, of Schaumburg, Ill., provides customer relationship management software to automotive dealers in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. H.I.G. Capital is a private equity firm with more than $7.5 billion of equity under management.
LeadDog Capital said Tuesday that it has committed to provide up to $30 million in capital to Blue Castle Holdings Inc. LeadDog, which focuses on private placements, will receive Blue Castle stock. Blue Castle is developing nuclear power plant projects in Green River, Utah.
THL Partners has completed the sale of its majority stake in food supplier Michael Foods to GS Capital Partners for $1.7 billion. THL, which acquired the company in 2003, has retained a 20% ownership position.
The Carlyle Group has agreed to invest up to $190 million into industrial fishery China Fishery Group Ltd. (Singapore: B0Z.SI), via a private placement.