This week there are a handful of venture, mezzanine and alternative investment associate positions up for grabs as well as a senior position as director of institutional alternative investments at UBS Financial Services.

Leonard Green & Partners is to acquire a controlling interest in CCC Information Services from Investcorp. CCC is a provider of advanced software and workflow tools to the insurance automotive claims and collision repair industries. Committed debt financing has been provided by certain affiliates of Goldman Sachs, including its principal mezzanine funds and J.P. Morgan.

NCR Corporation is to acquire Retalix, a global provider of retail software and services, for a cash purchase price of $30.00 per Retalix share, or approximately $650 million in total. J.P. Morgan acted as exclusive financial advisor and Morrison & Foerster LLP and Amit, Pollak, Matalon & Co. acted as legal counsel to NCR on the transaction. Jefferies & Co acted as financial advisor and Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein acted as legal counsel to Retalix Ltd. on the transaction.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is considering splitting its business in two, separating its struggling handset manufacturing division from its messaging network, The Sunday Times reported, writes Reuters. RIM last month said it had hired JP Morgan and RBC Capital to look at its strategic options. (Reuters) – BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is considering [...]

Jamie Dimon’s testimony in Congress is over and private equity wasn’t dragged into the discussions. But wait, there’s still Volcker.

Itron, a provider of energy and water resource management solutions is to acquire Jackson, Mississippi-based SmartSynch in a $100 million transaction. SmartSynch is a provider of point-to-point smart grid solutions that use a cellular network for communications. Backers of the company include Kinetic Ventures, JP Morgan, Endeavor Capital Management, Nth Power, GulfSouth Capital, Siemens Venture [...]

The wait is finally over. On Wednesday, Facebook finally filed with the SEC for an IPO that could raise as much as $5 billion. Mark Zuckerberg’s company didn’t disclose how many shares it would sell or at what price (that usually comes in future filings), but the company is expected to trade under the ticker [...]

Global entertainment company Lionsgate is acquiring theatrical motion picture development, financing, production and distribution studio Summit Entertainment for $412.5 million. JP Morgan, Barclays Capital, and Jefferies served as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners on financing the acquisition for Lionsgate. PRESS RELEASE Lionsgate LGF (“the Company”) and Summit Entertainment today announced that Lionsgate has completed [...]

Venture Capital funds last year raised the most since 2008, but it’s unclear whether the industry has actually rebounded.

In 2011, 169 funds collected about $18.17 billion. The total is up nearly 32% from 2010 when the same number of funds, 169, raised roughly $13.8 billion, according to data from Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association. Thomson Reuters is the publisher of peHUB.

European private equity firm Cognetas has given up on the sale of French petrol station equipment provider Tokheim after offers failed to meet its price expectations, writes Reuters. Cognetas appointed JP Morgan to carry out a strategic review earlier this year, after receiving a number of expressions of interest for the business, reports Reuters. (Reuters) [...]