News Briefs

UK buyout shop Cinven has appointed Chris Woodhouse chairman and chief executive of Gondola, owner of PizzaExpress, which the firm acquired in October for Pounds 559m ($1.1 billion), according to The Financial Times. Woodhouse, 45, joins from Debenhams, where he was finance director; he earlier was chief executive of Homebase. www.cinven.com

Angel investor group Venture Farm has closed its debut fund at about $1 million, according to VentureWire. The Mission Viejo, Calif-based group also made its first investment, taking a stake in data center monitoring company TrendPoint Systems LLC. The group was launched about a month ago to make seed investments in wireless, enterprise software, energy […]

Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank said it intended to set aside $630 million of its $2 billion Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund for regional infrastructure investments, according to Middle East Company News. Ithmaar Bank and Deutsche Bank are the co-sponsors of the fund, which is managed by Abraaj Capital. The fund is earmarked for minority or majority […]

Alpen Capital Ltd. and Corecap have been tapped as financial co-advisors for CERT Innovations, a $100 million venture capital fund sponsored by the Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training, according to Gulf News. The plan is to finance the transfer of technology from international companies to start-ups in the areas of education, health […]

UK buyout shop Bridgepoint Capital is looking to get Pounds 50 million ($97.9 million) for children’s clothing retailer Adams, according to The Times. The firm has hired PricewaterhouseCoopers to advise on strategic options for the company. www.bridgepointcapital.com

BigBand Networks Inc. Friday filed for an initial public offering intended to raise up to $140 million through the sale of common stock, according to Dow Jones. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company sells systems to cable TV companies that support a variety of services, including high-speed data, voice over IP, and digital broadcast TV. Backers […]

Harmony Information Systems, provider of case management software to human resources executives, has lined up $7.5 million in a first-round of institutional financing from JMI Equity and Updata Partners. The money will be earmarked for product development and marketing. Brad Woloson, a general partner at JMI, and Tim Meyers, a general partner at Updata, are […]

UK buyout shop ECI Partners this weekend appeared to be in the final stages of selling Internet hotel-booking site Laterooms.com to travel company First Choice in a Pounds 108 million ($211 million) transaction, according to The Sunday Times. The company claims to hold about 12% of the UK online hotel-bookings market. Meantime, First choice continues […]

Netage Capital Partners Inc., a Japanese venture capital firm, has spent $1.5 million to acquire a 40 percent stake in an Internet start-up business launched by Swiss telecom company Swisscom, according to the Jiji Press English News Service. The company, coComment, lets customers keep track of the comments they post on different Web sites. www.cocomment.com

Online shopping software developer Venda has secured $20 million from an investor group led by Investor Growth Capital, the venture capital division of Swedish investment firm Investor, according to The Sunday Times. The deal values Venda at $100 million pre-money; ICG’s Noah Walley and Phil Dur are joining Venda’s board. Customers pay Venda a flat […]