Luisa Beltran

Friedman Fleischer & Lowe LLC, Harvest Partners LP and Pine Brook Road Partners LLC have invested $100 million in Green Bancorp., which owns Green Bank N.A. of Houston. No investor owns more than 24.9% of company. Friedman Fleischer is a San Francisco private equity firm with about $2.5 billion in assets under management. New York-based Harvest Partners is a $1.3 billion private investment firm. Pine Brook Road Partners, of New York, invests in energy and financials services.

While PE firms have largely failed to buy banks, North American Financial Holdings, a large capital pool backed by buyout shops, has succeeded.

Munsters said Wednesday that it has agreed to sell MCS. Triton, a private equity firm based in Frankfurt, is the buyer. MCS, a unit of MunsterS, provides damage restoration services and had net sales of SEK 2,768 M and 1,805 employees in 18 countries. The deal value is roughly SEK 1,300. Munsters, of Kista, Sweden, said its remaining businesses will be focused on air treatment solutions.

A study finds that buyout returns have rebounded since the financial crisis but still lag the public markets.

Ryt-way Industries, a portfolio company of Wind Point Partners, has bought the food and beverage and equipment and manufacturing businesses of Cloud Packaging Solutions. The deal includes food and beverage and equipment and manufacturing businesses of Cloud Packaging Solutions. Financial terms were not disclosed. Ryt-way, of Lakeville, Minn., is a contract packager of dry food products. Wind Poitnt is a Chicago private equity firm.

Riverside Co. has agreed to sell Teufel Speakers GmbH to HgCapital, a private equity firm targeting the European sector. Financial terms were not disclosed. Teufel is designer and online retailer of loudspeaker systems in Germany. Riverside invests in the smaller end of the middle market.

City Ventures has received a $100 million investment from an affiliate of Ares Management LLC. Ares will have a majority stake in City Ventures, a California urban homebuilder. Imperial Capital Group, which has previously invested in City Ventures, will retain its stake.

Babson Capital Management LLC said Wednesday that it has invested in the mezzanine debt notes of Collins Foods Finance Pty Ltd., a unit of Collins Food Group. Financial terms were not disclosed. The investment is part of a refinancing of Collins Food Group. Babson Capital is an investment firm based in Springfield and Boston, Mass., and Charlotte, N.C. Collins Food Group is a restaurant operator and franchisor based in Queensland, Australia.

Click Forensics said Wednesday that it has closed a $6 million Series C round of funding led by Austin Ventures. Sierra Ventures and Shasta Ventures also participated. Click Forensics, of Austin, provides online advertising and audience verification services.

Gilde Buy Out Partners, a private equity group in Europe and the Benelux, said Wednesday that it has closed its latest fund at EUR 800 million. Gilde Buy-Out Fund IV was oversubscribed and received commitments from investors in the Asia Pacific, Europe and the U.S. MVision Private Equity Advisers acted as global placing agent and SJ Berwin […]