Novel Capital Group has appointed Sam Wilby as Associate. Sam began his career at PwC, working predominantly with oil and gas clients and gaining international exposure through a secondment to Houston, Texas. He managed 27 international component audit teams, deepening his experience in global reporting standards. Following that, Sam held a role of Group Financial Accountant at British Land plc, one of the largest property development and investment companies in UK, where he was responsible for financial reporting and covenant assessments of prospective tenants. Sam later joined Oakley Capital as Senior UK Accountant, taking on a broad remit spanning financial reporting of UK's leading private equity firm Oakley Capital Investments, business partnering and FP&A. 

Sam will work closely with the team to support the firm’s continued growth and deliver exceptional outcomes for clients. His experience reflects Novel Capital Group’s commitment to strong financial expertise and rigorous analysis. We welcome Sam as he continues to progress in the next phase of his career with the firm. 

Portugal has secured a major milestone on the global stage, earning the title of "Economy of the Year 2025" from The Economist. The recognition highlights the country’s impressive blend of robust GDP growth, economic stability, and energetic corporate expansion, positioning Portugal at the top of the ranking of the world’s 36 wealthiest economies.

The achievement reflects a thriving domestic ecosystem fuelled by strong foreign investment and a highly skilled workforce. According to The Economist, Portugal has successfully paired solid economic indicators—strong GDP growth, low inflation, and a rising stock market—with continued tourism momentum and increasing interest from foreign residents.

In the third quarter of 2025, Portugal recorded a 2.4% year-on-year GDP growth rate and saw share prices surge by 20.9%, placing its stock market among the best performers worldwide. This combination of above-average European growth, controlled inflation, and significant market gains ultimately propelled Portugal to the top of the global economic ranking for 2025.

Read more from the sources: https://www.portugalglobal.pt/en/ and https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/12/07/which-economy-did-best-in-2025

Novel Capital Group appoints Christopher Robinson as Senior Director. Christopher brings over 17 years of experience in financial services, having held roles at WesBank (FirstRand Bank), Absa Private Bank, Bidvest Bank, and Ernst & Young (Manager in the Banking and Capital Markets division). His career spans key areas including credit and risk management, financial analysis, banking operations, and strategic advisory. 

Christopher has developed a strong track record of delivering operational insight, strengthening governance frameworks, and supporting strategic decision-making across both banking and professional services environments. 

Christopher's extensive industry experience and analytical approach align with Novel Capital Group’s commitment to excellence and purposeful growth. He will work closely with the deal team to advance strategic initiatives and support exceptional outcomes for clients. We are delighted to welcome Christopher as he begins this next chapter of his career with the firm.

Novel Capital Group has appointed Keatan Rasmussen Kaul as Associate. Keatan graduated with First Class Honours in BSc (Hons) Economics, attaining Firsts across all three years of study. Demonstrating advanced analytical capabilities, he was a prize-winner in Oxford’s National Economics Essay Competition. He has previously worked at Lloyds Banking Group, and M&G Investments, one of the UK's largest and longest-established investment houses with over 90 years of experience and more than £343 billion in assets under management.

Keatan will work closely with the deal team to drive strategic initiatives and deliver outstanding outcomes for clients. His expertise reflects Novel Capital Group’s commitment to analytical rigour and strategic growth. We are delighted to welcome Keatan as he embarks on the next stage of his career with the firm. 

Novel Capital Group has announced the appointment of Ajit Mehta as Associate. Ajit brings over 10 years of expertise in capital markets and fundraising, having executed complex equity and credit transactions across multiple sectors. He previously held roles at OakNorth Bank and Mirae Asset Securities, a subsidiary of Mirae Asset Financial Group, which manages over £585 billion in assets globally. Ajit's credentials include the following transactions:

• Carlyle / CEPSA ($72m / $700m LBO financing)

• SpaceX (Series J)

• Twitter (PE) 

• X.ai (PE) 

In his role, Ajit will collaborate with the deal team to advance strategic initiatives and deliver exceptional results for our clients. His expertise aligns with Novel Capital Group’s dedication to innovation, precision, and performance. We extend a warm welcome to Ajit as he begins this next stage of his career with the firm. 

The hub, named Kasvuhoone, will host 100 companies and 1000 employees. European renowned startup accelerator Norrsken Accelerator, founded by the Swedish organization Norrsken Foundation, will have a special role in Kasvuhoone, as the anchor accelerator, focusing on impact investments.

The former Machine building Factory dating back to 1899, is being transformed into 15,000 m² of dynamic space that brings together startups, creative industries, and community initiatives to flourish together. Featuring world-class accelerator programs, creative studios, flexible workspaces, and vibrant public areas including a food street, bakery, exhibition area and makerlab, we’re cultivating the perfect climate for European breakthroughs to take root and grow to global impact. The entire on-site ecosystem will encompass over 100,000 m² of office space alongside residential quarters, covering a total area of 10 hectares. 

Norssken Accelerator plans to launch its program in Tallinn as early as next year. Kasvuhoone, being created in the former Krulli mechanical workshop, will be designed as Europe’s most influential business environment by Denmark’s leading architectural firm Cobe. 

Norrsken supports entrepreneurs building solutions to the world's greatest challenges. The Norrsken ecosystem connects more than 50 000 founders, funders and supporters in a global ecosystem dedicated to positive impact.  Norrsken manages award-winning Norrsken House hubs in Barcelona, Spain, Kigali, Rwanda, Brussels, Belgium and Stockholm, Sweden. Norrsken’s five funds have raised more than 750m USD to back exceptional entrepreneurs who combine profit with positive global impact: Norrsken VC, Norrsken22, Norrsken Accelerator, Norrsken Launcher and Norrsken Africa Seed Fund. 

Norrsken was founded by Niklas Adalberth, co-founder of payment services unicorn Klarna. 

Read more from the source: https://latitude59.ee/the-largest-nordic-hub-for-tech-and-creativity-is-being-established-in-tallinn/

Throughout the summer and fall of 2025, The MICHELIN Guide announced nominees for the very first hotel awards. Chosen by its Inspectors, the nominees for each award — Architecture & Design, Wellness, Local Gateway, and Opening of the Year — represent the very best across four aspects of hospitality. On Oct. 8, 2025, at an event attended by hoteliers across the world in Paris where the latest hotel Keys were revealed, the winners of each inaugural award were finally announced. 

MICHELIN Opening of the Year Award: The Burman Hotel — Tallinn, Estonia

MICHELIN Architecture & Design Award: Atlantis the Royal — Dubai, UAE

MICHELIN Wellness Award: Bürgenstock Resort — Bürgenstock, Switzerland

MICHELIN Local Gateway Award: La Fiermontina Ocean — Larache, Morocco

Read more from the source: https://guide.michelin.com/en/article/travel/michelin-hotel-special-category-awards-2025

A consortium led by BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and the newly formed Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), which counts Nvidia, Microsoft and xAI among its strategic participants — has agreed to acquire Aligned Data Centers at an enterprise value of roughly $40 billion. The sellers and co-investment partners are Macquarie Asset Management.

The consortium plans to initially invest $30 billion in equity, with potential to scale up to $100 billion including debt, to support AI infrastructure growth.

The debt market must advance with financing commitments, while power announcements such as PPAs, grid-upgrade partnerships, and on-site generation projects will define near-term growth trajectories. 

Read more from the sources: https://www.datacenterfrontier.com/hyperscale/article/55323360/blackrock-led-consortium-to-acquire-aligned-data-centers-in-40-billion-ai-infrastructure-deal and https://dallasinnovates.com/north-texas-aligned-data-centers-to-be-acquired-for-40-billion-by-blackrock-nvidia-xai-microsoft-and-others/

Goldman Sachs has acquired venture capital firm Industry Ventures for nearly $1bn in a boost to its asset management unit.

The Wall Street investment bank, which has been bolstering its wealth and asset management business in recent years, has acquired the San Francisco-based firm, which has around $7bn in assets under management, it said in a statement.

Read more from the source: https://www.penews.com/articles/goldman-sachs-buys-industry-ventures-in-965m-deal-3d99dcdd

· One new pan-European legal entity

· One central EU-level registry

· Standardized investment documents

· Standardized EU-wide stock options

· Local taxes & employment

· For every founder

The EU–INC is a proposed pan-European company structure. It aims to streamline incorporation, management processes, and fundraising for innovative businesses across Europe.

Techcrunch: "Founders and VCs back a Pan-European C corp, but an ‘EU–INC’ has a rocky road ahead"

CNBC: "Stripe, Wise founders want a ‘tech renaissance’ in Europe to help region rival Silicon Valley"

Euractive: "Tech startups urge Commission for pan-European legal status to boost growth"

Sifted: "DeepL, Personio, Index, Seedcamp call for sweeping reform to pan-European business laws"

Read more from the source: https://www.eu-inc.org/

Warburg Pincus is set to acquire PSI Software, a German provider of software solutions for power and gas transmission grids and industrial automation, in a deal valuing the company at over €700m.

Warburg Pincus has already secured agreements covering approximately 28.5% of PSI’s equity from anchor shareholders, with one key investor set to partially reinvest alongside the firm. PSI’s largest shareholder, Norman Rentrop, holds a 23% stake, while German utility E.ON owns around 18% and will remain a strategic partner post-acquisition. 

Read more from the source: https://www.privateequitywire.co.uk/warburg-pincus-to-acquire-german-software-firm-psi-for-over-e700m/

US VC secondary transactions totaled $61.1 billion from June 2024 to June 2025, surpassing IPO exit value of $58.8 billion over the same period, according to PitchBook data. 

Spates of high-profile tender offers in 2025 have bumped up secondary transaction volumes. Entrenched and growing startups like Ramp have begun routinely offering employees, and some investors, liquidity avenues via tender offers. 

Special purpose vehicles have also contributed. Once-niche secondary SPVs jumped 545% in count over the last two years, while total value raised grew 1,000% over the same period.

Read more from the source: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/us-vc-secondaries-sales-leapfrog-ipo-exit-value 

Private equity giant Hellman & Friedman has scored one of Europe's biggest liquidity events of the year after portfolio company Verisure, a Swiss-based provider of monitored alarm systems, was valued at €13.7bn in its highly anticipated Stockholm IPO. 

Originally part of Sweden’s Securitas, Verisure was spun off in 2006 as Securitas Direct before being acquired by Hellman & Friedman. Under private equity ownership, the business expanded aggressively across Europe and Latin America, capitalising on rising demand for connected home and business security services.

The flotation provides Hellman & Friedman with a partial liquidity event while maintaining a strategic position in Verisure. 

Read more from the source: https://www.privateequitywire.co.uk/hellman-friedman-backed-verisure-hits-16bn-valuation-in-stockholm-ipo/

As banks continue their push into private markets, a landmark partnership struck by Deutsche Bank last month could be the first of many.

Deutsche’s wealthy clients will be able to invest in unlisted assets as part of a fund launched with in-house asset management arm DWS.

Read more from the source: https://www.penews.com/articles/why-deutsche-banks-door-is-open-to-more-private-markets-partners-69e1a9c7

Apollo Global Management has launched a dedicated sports investing platform, Apollo Sports Capital, appointing Al Tylis as chief executive officer to lead the firm’s push into the rapidly expanding sports finance sector, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The strategy will target credit and hybrid investment opportunities across sports franchises, venues, and events, leveraging structured lending and minority or majority stakes in teams. Sam Porter joins as chief strategy officer, while Apollo partners Rob Givone and Lee Solomon will serve as co-portfolio managers.

Read more from the source: https://www.privateequitywire.co.uk/apollo-launches-5bn-sports-investing-platform/ 

The Swiss bank has upped its investment banking ambitions and European M&A work remains key despite a US push. 

European dealmaking is set to bounce back in the second half after lagging other key investment banking markets in 2025, according to UBS’s head of M&A in the region. 

Read more from the source: https://www.penews.com/articles/ubs-m-a-boss-beck-european-deals-will-catch-up-with-us-and-asia-7ea74393

OpenAI plans to launch Stargate Norway, its first AI data center in Europe, in partnership with British AI cloud infrastructure provider Nscale and Norwegian energy infrastructure firm Aker.

Nscale will design and build the site, and it will be a 50/50 joint venture between the two companies. OpenAI will be an “off-taker” in the project, buying capacity from the data center.

The site will be located near Narvik, a small town in northern Norway. OpenAI said in a blog post the region is notable for its access to hydropower, a cool climate, and a “mature industrial base.”

Earlier this week, EU unveiled details of its multibillion-dollar investment into AI infrastructure, including €10 billion ($11.8 billion) to set up 13 AI factories and €20 billion as an initial investment in the factories. 

Read more from the source: https://techcrunch.com/2025/07/31/openai-to-launch-ai-data-center-in-norway-its-first-in-europe/

Regina Donato Dahlström, managing director for the Nordics at Equinix, said: “There is no doubt AI is front of mind for businesses across Europe; and the Nordics is a great place to host AI infrastructure. With its sustainable energy policies, free cooling and reliable power grid, Finland is a standout choice for hosting this new capacity. Combining Groq’s cutting-edge technology with Equinix’s global infrastructure and vendor-neutral connectivity solutions enables efficient AI inference at scale. Our customers at Equinix will be able to securely tap into GroqCloud and lead on innovation within their enterprise.” 

Read more from the source: https://www.rcrwireless.com/20250714/ai-infrastructure/groq-data-center