Bugatti-Sedona Inc, a designer, importer and distributor of business accessories, has bought Bond Street Ltd, a New York-based provider of travel wallets, briefcases, writing cases and related merchandise under the Bond Street and Stebco brands. The financial terms of the transaction were not released. Based in Montréal, Bugatti-Sedona was established in June 2013, following the acquisition of Guarantee Handbags Co Ltd. Partnering in that deal was Capital régional et coopératif Desjardins, a retail fund managed by Canadian private equity firm Desjardins Capital de risque, and Investissement Québec. Bugatti-Sedona's purchase of Bond Street is the first in an expected series of add-on acquisitions.
Volaris Group, a subsidiary of Constellation Software Inc (TSX: CSU), has bought Incognito Software Inc, a provider of communications operations support systems solutions based in Vancouver. The acquisition, the financial terms of which were not published, included Incognito's operations in Ireland. Constellation said the deal represents Volaris' first acquisition in the communications vertical market. With headquarters in Toronto, Constellation is an acquirer, manager and builder of vertical market software businesses. It is a portfolio company of OMERS Private Equity, an investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS).
Cassidy Turley, a U.S.-based commercial real estate services provider, has agreed to merge with DTZ Group. The transaction, the value of which was not disclosed, is being backed by an investor group made up of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, PAG Asia Capital and TPG Capital. Cassidy Turley said the combination will create a global, full-service commercial real estate services company under the DTZ brand with revenue of more than US$2.9 billion. Ontario Teachers, PAG and TPG are in the process of closing their US$1.1 billion acquisition of Chicago's DTZ by Oct. 31. The merger is expected to be completed by the end of December.
Spanish bank Santander and Italian rival UniCredit are close to a deal to combine their asset management businesses to create a European fund managing powerhouse, sources told Reuters.
L Capital, Temasek Holdings and International Finance Corp are in advanced talks to buy a 30 percent stake in the retail arm of India's Aditya Birla Group for about $400-500 million, sources told Reuters.
Sovereign Capital has made an investment in both SJD Accountancy and Nixon Williams. The combined value of the transaction is 100 million pounds. BlueBay provided the debt financing. Both SJD and Nixon Williams are UK-based accounting firms.
Symphony Technology Group has agreed to buy McGraw Hill Construction, a provider of data and insights for construction professionals, for $320 million in cash.
BrandMaker, a Germany-based provider of marketing resource management solutions, has raised over $30 million in funding. The investors are Munich-based private equity firm PINOVA Capital and a fund run by L-Bank (State Development Bank of Baden-Württemberg).
TBC Holdings, a holding company created to acquire and manage advertising, marketing and technology companies has acquired New York-based LocalVox Media. LocalVox provides a range of marketing software platforms targeting local and multi-location businesses. TBC Holdings is backed primarily by affiliates of Blackstone’s GSO Capital.
Private equity firm Silver Lake is in advanced talks to acquire online photo-sharing service Shutterfly Inc for at least $2 billion.