Entrepreneur Mike Ashley is causing a stir with the full-list float of Sports Direct. Claiming to be the country’s biggest sports retailer by revenue and operating profit (even bigger than JJB Sports), Sports Direct operates through the Sports World, Sports Direct and Lillywhites.
Broker HB Corporate is lining up an early March debut for Dual Holdings, an intriguing technology-focused workforce management venture. It plans to profit from the legislative creep impacting upon the nation’s employers.
Pakistan coal venture Oracle Coalfields is seeking £1.2 million on the reinvigorated PLUS. Entrepreneurs Shahrukh Khan, 35, and Conrad Windham, 23, have launched their 5p-a-share offer, with backing from small company investor Bruce Rowan and St Helen’s Capital as adviser.
Close Growth Capital (CGC), a provider of equity and debt funding, has backed the £32 million secondary management buy–out (MBO) of A-Gas International, a global distributor of speciality gases and chemicals to the refrigeration and insulation foam industries.
Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry Richard Lambert has praised private equity houses, saying they offer a compelling model to improve business performance which has seen companies return to the stock markets in far more robust shape than when they were previously listed.
Laser technology developer DataLase has secured funding worth £4.9 million. It was backed by BASF Venture Capital, which supplied £1 million, plus MTI Partners and Hotbed.
Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry Richard Lambert has praised private equity houses, saying they offer a compelling model to improve business performance which has seen companies return to the stock markets in far more robust shape than when they were previously listed.
Laser technology developer DataLase has secured funding worth £4.9 million. It was backed by BASF Venture Capital, which supplied £1 million, plus MTI Partners and Hotbed.
Casper, a provider of products and services to SMEs, has made its second acquisition since it was established in June after it bought King UK, a distributor of non-food products to the licensed trade and catering sector.
