Matilda Battersby

The European mid-market private equity and renewable energy infrastructure investor has hired two members for its renewable energy team. The division led by Tom Murley now has a total of seven professionals sourcing deals.

Shenzhen-based Easou has raised a Series C funding round from private equity firms including AXA and iD TechVentures.

The Canadian pension suffered a negative 8.5% return in the second quarter owing largely to a decline in its public equities portfolio, which has in turn increased its exposure to private equity, real estate and infrastructure.

The private equity firm specialising in environmental infrastructure investments has opened a new office in Italy to continue raising its European Solar fund. It is targeting €50m and has already raised €40m.

The European private equity firm has purchased 3i's and Merseyside Special Investment's stakes in Liverpool-based MJ Quinn, an infrastructure services business. Quinn has contracts with the London Underground, UK rail networks and the UK Ministry of Defence.

Private equity, real estate and infrastructure are the asset classes most likely to see increased allocations from LPs, according to a trio of recent studies.

The UK-based private equity firm specialising in management buyouts has recruited former 3i executive Sonia Powar. The firm said its deal flow has nearly quadrupled in the past 12 months.

The asset manager, an independently managed subsidiary of Cargill, has partnered with energy technology firm White Energy on a $101m joint venture.

The energy and commodities-focused private equity firm aims to help address the South African energy crisis by backing BioTherm Energy, a South African company that specialises in turning waste to energy. The investment could help supply as many as 500,000 households with alternative energy.