Interest in lower end market deals in Europe by foreign investors had been seen growing, according to the latest data released by Mergermarket. Almost a third of the 169 deals involving foreign investors seen last year were made in the UK, with Germany and Spain a distant second and third.
Europe
European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia nears end of term with landmark decisions lingering with Google and Gazprom
Joaquin Almunia, the Competition Commissioner of the EU, still has to make a decision on allegations that Google abused its market dominance and the price discrimination claims made of Russia's Gazprom before his term ends, Reuters reported.
Foreign direct investment in Seoul reaches five-year record high
Based on data gathered by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, foreign direct investment (FDI) poured into Seoul, South Korea, reached $6 billion in 2013, an all-time high since the global financial crisis hit in 2008.
Fortumo Founder and CEO Rain Rannu says offering local payment options could help Android apps make more money
Rain Rannu, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fortumo, said in his guest post at VentureBeat that more Android app users would pay if local payment options and not just credit cards would be offered.
To ease their dependents on banks, Ireland's agri-food firms encouraged to seek funding from private venture sources
AgriFood Business Partners Finance Director Cathal Fitzgerald urged Ireland's food processors and dairy cooperatives to seek capital from private venture sources, the Irish Examiner reported.
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Munich, Germany-based secondhand clothes marketplace Vinted landed $27 million in a Series B funding round led by Insight Venture Partners and Accel Partners for its expansion to the US.
The UK government is now listing down charities, educational, and other random websites wrongly blocked by Internet service providers when web filters designed to block porn came into full effect.
European real estate asset manager SEB Asset Management bought ten-storey office and commercial structure Primegate, which is valued at JPY 5.5 billion (around €39 million).
Starting February 27, London-based co-working space Rainmaking Loft will be opening 80 desks within a 1,000-square-meter office space in Berlin to provide startups with links between the Berlin and London tech markets.
Dublin, Ireland-based firm Top Level Domain Holdings bagged $33 million in funding from its investors to beef up its bidding power in the upcoming private auctions of new Internet domains.
Inq Mobile, the London-based company which is among the first to make a Facebook phone, announced via its website that it has shutdown, but the company has not elaborated on the exact reason.
London-based Zopa, the largest peer-to-peer lending company in Europe, raised $25 million in funding from Arrowgrass Capital Partners. Proceeds will be used to continue the lending firm's growth.
Three banking sources told Reuters that Greece's National Bank has plans to divest its London-based private equity arm NBGI in order to increase its capital.
Ireland-based food and agribusiness group Origin Enterprises completed the purchase of a 60% stake in Ukraine-based firm Agroscope in a deal valued at $17.6 million (€12.7 million).
