Polaris Private Equity has acquired HTC Sweden, a global developer and manufacturer of professional floor grinding systems and floor solutions. Polaris has acquired the company from Håkan and Gunn Thysell. 3i Group and former management, who held 40%, have also sold their interest in the company to Polaris.

OMERS Private Equity, the private equity investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, has completed its purchase of Civica Group PLC from British buyout firm 3i Group for an enterprise value of 390 million pounds (or around US$604 million). Civica is a London, U.K.-based provider of specialised software systems, cloud-based IT services and technical outsourcing to public sector organisations worldwide. 3i took the company private in 2008.

A consortium led by 3i Group has agreed to acquire Óticas Carol, a Brazilian eyewear retailer from Brazilian entrepreneur Marcos Amaro. As part of the transaction, OC CEO Ronaldo Pereira will significantly increase his equity stake in the company. Institutional investors Neuberger Berman and Siguler Guff are co-investing alongside 3i in the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of March. The combined equity investment amounts to R$108 million (£36.4 million).

3i Group may not have a new fund to invest,but the publicly traded investor will use its balance sheet to seek out deals in North America and Europe, says says Ken Hanau, North America managing partner.

3i Group confirmed today that Tighe Sullivan passed away earlier this week. Sullivan died in a helicopter crash on his way back from a corporate golf outing in the US, a 3i spokeswoman says. Sullivan, 51, was killed in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.

3i Group has employed Coveo for its enterprise search-based platform, Insight Solutions. Coveo’s solutions have enabled 3i to be more effective at identifying and retrieving internal information and at identifying industry expertise among investment professionals. Quebec-based Coveo is backed by BDC Venture Capital, Propulsion Ventures, and The Solidarity Fund. PRESS RELEASE Today Coveo announced that [...]

A group of private investors spend about EUR 1.54 billion to acquire the electricity distribution network and heat businesses in Finland from Vattenfall. Lakeside Network Investments is a consortium consisting of 3i Infrastructure, 3i Group and GS Infrastructure Partners.

3i Group has made its first investment in Brazil, acquiring a “significant minority stake” in Brazilian cable TV and broadband provider Blue Interactive Group. The deal is valued at about $55 million. Blue Interactive was formed in 2009.

European power firm Vattenfall is selling its electricity distribution and district heating businesses in Finland to a consortium of investors in a deal worth 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion), Reuters reported Friday. The buyer is Lakeside Network Investments, a consortium made up of 3i Infrastructure, 3i Group, GS Infrastructure Partners and Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co.

Element Materials Technology, which was formerly known as Stork Materials Technology, has acquired Detroit Testing Laboratory. Financial terms weren’t announced. Warren, Mich.-based DTL is a product qualification testing provider. Element Materials is a portfolio company of 3i Group.