The Blackstone Group has appointed Kemal Kaya as a senior adviser in the firm's Turkish office.

Public market investor Adamant Biomedical Investments has set up a venture capital business, to be called Adamant Ventures.

Piper Private Equity has taken a “large minority stake” in husband-and-wife business the Rug Company for an undisclosed sum.

Risk Capital Partners has entered the market for “passive safety structures” with the purchase of SignPost Solutions by its portfolio company APT Controls Group.

Zeus Private Equity's Hallmark Hotel Group has acquired four new premises for £25m  (€31m).

UK-based Truphone, a voice over internet protocol provider for mobile phones, has received £16.5m (€21m) in a second round of funding led by a number of private investors.

Advent International has closed its fourth Central and Eastern European fund with €1bn of commitments.

Candover has made a bid of £1.61bn (€1.9bn) for oil field services provider Expro International.

A proposal from the government to allow the UK pensions regulator to fine the owners of pension plans that fall into deficit has come in for harsh criticism from the BVCA.

The acquisition of Amazon Europe’s DVD rental business by Balderton, DFJ Esprit and Index portfolio company Lovefilm has been cleared for completion by the financial authorities.