Victory Park Capital has sold Global Employment Solutions to TZP Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Global Employment Solutions offers contract and permanent placement staffing services.
MainStreet Media Group, backed by The Brookside Group, has sold four Northern California weekly newspapers and associated digital properties. The purchased titles include Santa Cruz's Good Times, the Gilroy Dispatch and the Morgan Hill Times, The Hollister Free Lance, along with the sanbenitotoday.com web site. Earlier this year, MainStreet Media Group sold the assets of its subsidiary MainStreet Communications, to an affiliate of the San Diego Union Tribune.
GenNx360 Capital Partners has backed Novel Ingredient Services, a specialty nutraceutical ingredient services supplier to the health and wellness industry. Headquartered in West Caldwell, New Jersey, Novel was founded in 1995 and serves over 400 customers in multiple product segments including sports nutrition, herbs and botanicals, meal replacement, and specialty supplements.
Starr Investment Holdings and Partners Group have completed the acquisition of MultiPlan from Silver Lake and BC Partners. Founded in 1980, MultiPlan delivers comprehensive transaction-based solutions to healthcare payers.
Siris Capital Group has agreed to acquire Stratus Technologies, which provides infrastructure solutions to keep applications running continuously. The transaction is valued at about $352 million. Equity will be provided by an investor group led by Siris, while debt will come from SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and Macquarie Capital.
The Africa Group has acquired a 25 percent stake in Telemed Medical Services, an Ethiopian engineering consultancy that specializes in health system design and implementation within the Ethiopian healthcare sector. The company will use a tranche of growth equity from Africa Group, and a grant from USAID and DFID-backed development fund to increase service capacity across Ethiopia, build a remote patient monitoring system and facilitate a major marketing campaign. Africa Group also will provide technical assistance.
ACON Investments has acquired Igloo Products Corp., a manufacturer of coolers. ACON purchased the company from J.H. Whitney, which will maintain a small stake in the company. Igloo will continue to be led by chairman and chief executive officer Gary Kiedaisch and other existing members of the management team, who are also acquiring interests in Igloo in connection with the deal.
DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, Credit Suisse's mid-market leveraged buyout business, has spun off into an independent advisory firm, aPriori Capital Partners, established by the existing DLJ MBP management team led by Colin Taylor and Susan Schnabel. aPriori Capital will manage the DLJ Merchant Banking Partners III, L.P. and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners IV, L.P. private equity funds (together with related vehicles, the MBP Funds), collectively representing approximately $2 billion of value across 22 portfolio companies as of December 31, 2013.
Cooler manufacturer Igloo Products Corp has been acquired by an affiliate of ACON Investments. ACON purchased Igloo from J.H. Whitney, a Connecticut-based private equity firm, which will maintain a small stake in the company.
Bridgepoint Development Capital has acquired a majority stake in Inspired Thinking Group. The investment will support the existing management team to deliver the next phase of ITG’s growth both within its home UK market and internationally into Europe and North America.