Funds managed by Neuberger Berman, including NB Secondary Opportunities fund IV LP, have acquired all units of Fondo Italiano di Investimento (FII). The assets were acquired from Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Nexi, Banco BPM, Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna, Credito Valtellinese, Banca Popolare di Cividale and UBI Banca.

The portfolio of FII includes minority positions in 21 portfolio companies with aggregated sales and EBITDA equal to about €2.3bn and €282m.

The Neuberger Berman private equity team has collected over 7 billion dollars since 2005. This particular fund will be managed by a team of nine professionals specialising in investment from Fondo Italiano d’Investimento SGR.

“The team will maintain a consistent investment philosophy focusing on long term value creation, in partnership with leading entrepreneurs,” Neuberger Berman said in an emailed statement.

“We believe there are very strong Italian entrepreneurs, who are leaders in their fields, and who, with access to our global network and capital, can successfully internationalise and accelerate their growth plans,” Anthony Tutrone, Managing Director and Global Head of NB Alternatives, said in an e-mailed statement.

Neuberger Berman was represented in this transaction by Gianni Martoglia and Giorgio Groppi and Alessandra Ghezzi of Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Law Firm in Milan, as well as Christian Neira, General Counsel of Neuberger Berman’s private equity business and Jagdip Gujral, Associate General Counsel.

Mondottica International Ltd, the Nottingham-based designer and distributor of branded eyewear including Ted Baker, Cath Kidston and Benetton, has secured £14.9 million funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial to fuel its UK and international expansion plans and develop its luxury eyewear division, Brando. The funding, which includes Santander’s specialist Growth Capital loans aimed at the UK’s fastest-growing, most dynamic businesses, will also create up to 45 new jobs for the firm and its subsidiaries. Mondottica’s global headquarters are based in Hong Kong and the company has several offices and partnerships including in Paris, Barcelona, Tokyo, Delhi, Moscow, New York and Sydney, as well as the Nottingham base in the UK.

Established in 2003, Mondottica International signed its first licence with Ted Baker London. Mondottica’s founder, Michael Jardine, facilitated the deal through his connections to the owner of Ted Baker and the company continues to be Mondottica’s largest client in a current portfolio of 15 brands. Over the past 15 years, the international business has seen exceptional growth, signing deals with companies such as Hackett, Converse, Joules, Pepe Jeans, Cath Kidston and Ducati. Recent new clients include Sandro, Maje and Benetton.

Mondottica were advised by LGF Partners.  A UK-based debt advisory business that provides creative debt solutions to global innovative and fast growth SME’s.  David Hart, Mondottica’s Chief Operating Officer added, “The LGF team were invaluable in securing this transaction for us and they provided a consistent level of expertise, counsel and flexibility and helped us secure a deal that exceeded our initial expectations. To succeed in such transactions it is evident you need a real expert trusted business partner by your side, one who understands your business and not just a ‘finance adviser’, LGF is that real expert partner for us, providing a distinctive service.”

K + S completed the sale, by its subsidiary K + S KALI France, of all the shares it held in the share capital of K + S KALI Du Roure and K + S KALI Rodez, two fertilizer factories, to management.

K + S KALI France is a French distribution company of K + S KALI GmbH, a listed German group, one of the world's leading producers of specialty and standard fertilizers and the world's largest salt producer.

Osborne Clarke Paris advised the K + S group with Catherine Olive, Anne-Laure Laroussinie, Cyrille D'Amécourt (M&A), Sophie Jouniaux and Benoit Menez (Tax).

Alcya Conseil advised K + S KALI Du Roure and K + S KALI Rodez Management with Laurent Simon and Virginie Novaretti.

"We are delighted to be able to transfer these two sites to Philippe Camps because we know that they will be able to offer the best development potential to the activities and teams of these sites", said Alexa Hergenröther, Managing Director of K + S KALI GmbH.

Involved fees earner:  Catherine Olive - Osborne Clarke; Anne-Laure Laroussinie - Osborne Clarke; Cyrille d'Amécourt - Osborne Clarke; Sophie Jouniaux - Osborne Clarke; Benoit Menez - Osborne Clarke; Laurent Simon - AlcyaConseil; Virginie Novaretti - AlcyaConseil;

Law Firms:  Osborne Clarke; AlcyaConseil

Customers: K + S Aktiengesellschaft; K + S KALI Du Roure; K + S KALI Rodez

EOH, the South African technology and knowledge services provider giant listed in the Johannesburg stock exchange, has acquired the Italian company Allos Srl based in Carmignano del Brenta near Venice. They have acquired 100% of its capital.

Allos Srl, with over 30 years of experience in Human Capital Development, specialises in Cloud solutions and specifically in SAP SuccessFactors since 2006. Allos has developed custom applications based on SAP Hana Cloud Platform and other frameworks. Allos Srl is one of the world leaders in Digital Content and Change Management. The sellers have been represented by a team of the Vicenza based boutique firm PLLC - Diritto e Finanza led by Luigi Pavanello, Partner, and Andrea Lovisatti of Counsel. EOH by its internal counsels. PLCC represented the selling shareholders.

Funds advised by DPE Deutsche Private Equity Management III GmbH (DPE) are investing in the AWK Group, Zurich, the leading independent Swiss IT consulting specialist. The owner-managed AWK Group has grown considerably over the past few years, generating sales of over CHF 50 million and realising around 300 projects for its customers in the current year. The AWK Group is aiming to expand its service portfolio further and double its workforce in the medium term from 250 to 500 on the back of this move.

AWK intends to shape “digital Switzerland” with its customers.

“Our aim is to greatly expand the consulting offering. We want to shape digital Switzerland – and we are continuing to invest heavily with this goal in mind. We are expanding in order to offer our customers a comprehensive service range from one single source,” explains Oliver Vaterlaus, CEO of the company.

He views the company’s size is a decisive factor in this respect: “Our continued strong growth is allowing us to keep pace with the rapid development of technology. Nowadays IT permeates all business processes, and our projects require interdisciplinary abilities,” says Vaterlaus. In DPE, the AWK Group has now gained an investor and partner that will actively support the company with expertise as part of its expansion moving forward. “I am delighted to have found DPE – a partner that shares our values and offers a wealth of experience in the expansion of SMEs,” adds Vaterlaus.

Nothing else is set to change with regards to the company’s successful philosophy. CEO Vaterlaus will continue to be a significant AWK shareholder, and all AWK Group partners will remain invested in the business. DPE partner Guido Prehn stated: “The AWK Group is a dynamic company with an outstanding reputation in a sector enjoying strong growth. Together with Oliver Vaterlaus and the management, we will now plot a course which allows the AWK Group to advise its customers even more comprehensively moving forward.”

Bratschi advised DPE on the tax structuring of the transaction. The team was led by Michael A. Barrot (Tax Partner) and includes Tabea Lorenz (Associate).

Deutsche Asset Management (Deutsche AM) and Rimorchiatori Riuniti S.p.A. (RR) have announced a partnership in a harbour towage business in Italy and the Mediterranean. Pan European Infrastructure II L.P. (PEIF II), managed by Deutsche AM’s infrastructure business, has agreed to acquire a 35% stake in Rimorchiatori Mediterranei S.p.A. (RM), with RR retaining the remaining 65%.

RM is the leading player in the harbour towage sector in Italy, and number two in the Mediterranean, holding long-term concessions under a solid regulatory framework in various major Italian and Maltese ports.

RM operates a modern fleet of more than 100 tugs and other units, equipped with advanced technology; in 2016 it generated revenues of around €110 million.

RR has selected Deutsche AM, a global infrastructure investment manager, as a long-term partner to support RM’s growth ambitions in the harbour towage sector. Deutsche AM brings to the partnership both financial backing and strong sector knowledge through its long-term experience in the port sector.

“It was not an easy decision to take a new partner on board with whom to continue the rapid growth phase that this group has undergone over the last ten years of towage services,” admits Gregorio Gavarone, Chief Executive Officer of RR and Chairman of RM.

“However, we are convinced that the future success of this business will very much depend on our capacity to build up large economies of scale, transparent standard processes and adequate investments to ensure an efficient service of the highest quality for our clients. Deutsche AM has, from the beginning, shared our vision and approached this in a very constructive manner. We are thrilled to join forces with a group that has such a solid background, strong international business relations and deep experience in service and infrastructure ventures,” he added.

Connect Telecom has acquired Bedfordshire-based Assimilated Communications in another £1m+ deal as part of plans to double the size of the business within the next 18 months.

The acquisition, which is the company’s sixth this year, takes its total Vodafone connections across the UK and Ireland to almost 60,000.

The deal also expands the company’s geographical spread and its ability to serve customers right across the UK market with offices in Aberdeen, Dunstable, Glasgow, Carlisle, Manchester and London, in addition to its Belfast headquarters.

All staff including Assimilated Communications Managing Director, Owen Keenan-Lindsey, will transfer to Connect Telecom.

Scott Ritchie, who acquired the business in 2015, said: “Already this year Connect Telecom has purchased Aberdeen-based Coltel, Carlisle-based Nortech and the Vodafone mobile base of a communications company in London amongst others, with all reporting dramatic improvements in customer service and retention rates.

“We also acquired the Vodafone base of a second telecoms company in southern England and this latest acquisition of Assimilated Communications will consolidate that providing us with a more critical mass in the market.

“Connect Telecom has seen 200% growth outside of Northern Ireland with approximately 60% of our business outside the region, our regional offices based in the mainland allow us to deliver an even better service and add further value to our growing customer base.

“2017 sees Connect Telecom celebrate its tenth year in business with our continued growth and success stemming from our unrivalled relationship with Vodafone and the ability of our skilled team. We have a very ambitious growth strategy with opportunities for further acquisition in the coming months, so we are delighted to have Owen and his team on board to assist with these plans.”

Owen Keenan-Lindsey, Managing Director at Assimilated Communications which will now be known as Connect Telecom, said: “The coming together of two strong players in the market ultimately enhances the offering to Vodafone business customers.”

McCartan Turkington Breen acted on behalf of Connect Telecoms in its purchase of Assimilated Communications Ltd.

Aleric Turtle, MTB’s Corporate & Commercial Partner, said “We are delighted to have been Connect Telecoms’ trusted legal advisers in all six of its corporate acquisitions to date this year”.

Senseye Limited, the leader in predictive maintenance software, announced it has raised £3.5 million at the close of a Series A funding round led by MMC Ventures, a venture capital fund investing in early stage, high growth companies. The round was also supported by existing investors Breed Reply, IQ Capital and Momenta Partners.

Named NMI Emerging Tech Company of the Year 2016, and highly commended for ‘Tech Business of the Year’ in the 2016 startups.co.uk awards, the company will use the capital to meet fast-growing customer demand for its Senseye automated condition monitoring diagnostics and prognostics product - the leading-edge software solution that enables industrial companies to easily predict the failure of machines months in advance.

Senseye’s cloud-based solution helps manufacturers reduce maintenance costs by automatically identifying machine failure through machine learning algorithms fed with data from the Industrial IoT.  Users can benefit from up to a 40% reduction in maintenance costs, as well as lowering unplanned downtime by up to 50%. The product requires no additional hardware or customisation, which means it can be installed quickly, realising the benefits almost immediately.

At the core of Senseye are the product’s unique advanced prognostics algorithms, which enable manufacturers to monitor and understand the remaining useful life of thousands of machines based at multiple sites – without the need for on-site expert technical input.

Richard Hall, CloudOrigin CEO once again led the Technology and Operational Due Diligence on behalf of MMC Ventures:  “We were delighted to work on another data science led investment project for MMC and be witness to a highly experienced industry team launching another world-class UK technology services firm”.

Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. (NYSE:RYAM) announced that it has completed the acquisition of Tembec Inc., combining two complementary high purity cellulose businesses and diversifying its product offerings with integrated forest products, paper, paperboard and newsprint businesses. The combined company, which will operate under the name Rayonier Advanced Materials, will be a stronger, more diversified global leader in its core businesses with an expanded international footprint that further positions it to serve the larger customer base with the highest quality products and services. In addition, the combined company offers enhanced new product development capabilities, a broader and more versatile asset base, and the financial strength to invest back into its businesses for continued growth.

KAUFHOLD & REVEILLAUD, Avocats commented:

Within the framework of the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Tembec Inc. by Rayonier Advanced Materials on 17 November 2017 (the “Acquisition”), Kaufhold & Reveillaud, Avocats (“KR”) advised Rayonier Advanced Materials with respect to the incorporation of a common limited partnership and a private limited liability company. KR also advised Rayonier Advanced Materials with respect to the funding partly in equity and partly in debt of the newly incorporated limited liability company designated as the acquiring entity to complete the Acquisition. The two main professionals involved in this transaction were Emmanuel Réveillaud, Partner, and Matthieu Groetzinger, Counsel.

Law firm Iliffes Booth Bennett Solicitors (IBB Solicitors), with 17 specialist practice teams and clients including Aviva and Xerox(UK), has merged with Turbervilles Solicitors, which has particularly strong legal expertise in private client services, Family and Childcare, Commercial and Park Homes.  Turbervilles’ client-base includes National Caravan Council, Symrise Limited, WMF UK Ltd and Parexel International.

Harwood Hutton Provides Financial and Tax Advice in Law Firm Merger

Harwood Hutton played a key role in the £20m merger between Iliffes Booth Bennett Solicitors (IBB) and Turbervilles Solicitors which came into effect on 1 January 2018.

The move creates a regional powerhouse firm serving clients in the Thames Valley and western Home Counties.

Harwood Hutton is a multi-disciplinary firm of chartered accountants, corporate finance specialists and tax advisers with offices in Beaconsfield and central London. It provided advice on corporate and personal tax and on regulatory aspects of the deal.

Harwood Hutton serves corporate and personal clients from all over the world and across a variety of business sectors, notably the property and IT fields. The firm is a Global 100 Recommended Expert and picked up a string of awards in 2017, including UK Corporate and Tax Adviser of the Year.

Harwood Hutton directors Adam Stronach (pictured) and Cormac Marum were invited by Turbervilles to consider the corporate taxation and regulatory implications of the merger. Personal tax specialist Nikki Davies was also involved in the process.

“We at Harwood Hutton have considerable knowledge of legal professional practices and the changing commercial landscape for them over the past few years in the wake of the Legal Services Act”, said Adam Stronach. “We are very familiar with the changes in regulations concerning ownership and participation in law firms.

“Turbervilles has been a client of ours for many years, and we have worked alongside both Turbvervilles and IBB on many mutual client matters, including corporate finance, taxation and forensic engagements.

“We were delighted to support Turbervilles as it entered into the talks with IBB, and this included considering questions on SRA regulations and engaging with IBB’s professional advisers over the taxation aspects when two law firms come together. We wish the combined firm every success for the future.”

Russell Hallam, Managing Partner at Turbervilles, said: “The support of the HH team to me and the firm during the lead up to the merger was outstanding, and as the business moves forward we look forward to maintaining a fruitful relationship for the benefit of both IBB and Harwood Hutton.”