LeapFrog Investments has taken a stake in Petra Trust. The business is a pension trustee company based in Ghana.
Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital is examining a bid for Britain's United Biscuits Holdings Ltd and may be teaming up with a corporate buyer, Bloomberg reported, writes Reuters. Beijing-based Hony Capital, which manages more than $6.8 billion, has held informal talks with United Biscuits owners' Blackstone Group and PAI Partners.
Steve Yuzpe, president and CEO of Sprott Resource Corp (TSX: SCP), said he sees "exceptional investment opportunities" in resource sectors in the upcoming year, in part due to a roughly 65% decline in valuations since 2011. For this reason, the private equity firm plans to this year accelerate new capital deployment through increased investment activity and collaboration with the Sprott Group of Companies, and add expertise to its core investment team. Sprott Resource estimated it had a net asset value of up to $370 million at the end of last year. The firm also announced that in Dec. 2013 it committed $5 million for a royalty interest in a number of wells to be drilled by a Calgary-based company that explores, develops and produces oil and natural gas in northwestern Alberta.
European buyout house Motion Equity Partners has secured new funding from investor HarbourVest, giving the private equity group another four years to try to make money out of its portfolio, a source told Reuters.
Roch Capital has bought New Carbon Company from PNC Riverarch Capital. No financial terms were disclosed. Headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, New Carbon is a provider of waffle mix to foodservice establishments.
Northern California private equity firm Bertram Capital said Tuesday that it has acquired Maxcess. No financial terms were disclosed. The newly merged company will be led by Gary Edwards as chairman, Greg Jehlik as CEO, Dave Hawkins as chief financial officer and Doug Knudtson as chief operating officer. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Maxcess is a maker of products that optimize web processing applications.
Activant Capital has completed a growth investment in Austin, Texas-based Upland Software, a cloud provider of enterprise work management applications. Upland will use the new financing to continue its focus on current products and pursue strategic acquisitions.
NVM Private Equity has sold e-know.net to AIM-listed Nasstar, a hosted desktop cloud computing provider. The sale represents a total return on the original investment of 3.6x.
Nordic online travel agency group European Travel Interactive (eTRAVELi) is expanding its operations through the purchase of the price comparison website Flygresor.se. eTRAVELi is a Segulah portfolio company.
Assiniboia Farmland LP has announced the close of the previously-announced sale of its farmland assets portfolio to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for $128 million. The portfolio, which will continue to be managed by the existing management team, includes about 115,000 acres of farmland located throughout Saskatchewan. CPPIB in 2012 launched its agriculture investment program, which will initially focus on farmland opportunities in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. Founded in 2005, Assiniboia Farmland LP is a Regina, Sask.-based farmland investment fund.