Birmingham law firm Wragge & Co’s banking and finance team has advised HSBC Bank on its involvement in a private equity-led buyout of a number of healthcare businesses. A team led by partner Chris Brierley acted for the bank on its provision of a £20m acquisition finance facility to Active Assistance Finance. The loan funded Active Assistance Finance’s acquisition of First Call Care Services and homecare agency Everyday Angels Special Needs Care from domiciliary care provider Enara. It has also financed its acquisition of healthcare business Active Assistance. Both Active Assistance and Enara are funded by independent private-equity provider August Equity. For Insider comment, click here.

Redditch’s Visual Foods has received a £4.75m working capital facility from GE Capital. The finance comprises a £3.5m invoice discounting facility and £1.25m inventory facility. It enables the management team to acquire the business from administration. Visual, which has two trading subsidiaries in Visual Foods and Dragon Delight Foodservice (formerly Vision Seafoods and Oriental Delight Foodservice), was part of the British Seafoods Group, which entered administration in February this year. The facilities GE Capital provided will enable Visual and its subsidiaries to continue trading under its new name, ensuring the future of the firm’s employees.

A West Midlands online business that helps charities raise money is the latest to be backed by Midven’s Early Advantage Fund. Everyclick, which was founded in Gloucestershire in 2005 but which plans to relocate to Warwickshire, has developed an online search engine that pays a percentage of the sponsored search fees to charities. Users can raise money for charities by conducting free searches for information. Midven is investing £125,000 from the Early Advantage Fund as part of a funding round of £480,000. The £8m Early Advantage Fund is backed by Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund.

Birmingham insurance company Wesleyan has acquired Key Business Professions, a specialist provider of short-term loans for legal professionals. The move will strengthen Wesleyan’s position in the legal market. It already provides specialist financial advice, products and services to lawyers, doctors, dentists and teachers. Craig Errington, Wesleyan’s chief executive, said: “Key Business offers a great synergy with the Wesleyan for Lawyers brand, which we are currently rolling out across the UK. The team at Key Business have developed strong relationships with a large number of lawyers and law firms nationwide through the provision of specialist, short-term loans.”

American title insurer First American Corporation will pay approximately $314m to buy Nottingham information services company Experian’s stake in a real estate joint venture. Experian currently owns 20 per cent of First American Real Estate Solutions (FARES); the proceeds of the disposal are payable by 31 December 2010. After taxes and other expenses, Experian will net a cash inflow of approximately $370m from its interest in FARES.

Politicians have been warned not to turn their backs on the West Midlands once the general election is over. James Watkins, executive director of lobbying organisation Business Voice WM, said the region’s companies would deliver, as long as they got some encouragement from Westminster. He hit out in a speech to the Black Country Diners Club held at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton. Watkins said: “This general election must lead to further help for hard-pressed West Midlands businesses. It is they who are Britain’s industrial bedrock, and that is why measures need to be put in place to help our economy grow and create jobs for local people.”

Two Derby firms of independent financial advisers are planning to merge to launch a high-street financial services company. Sarah Fullaway and Lee Mortimer from Pride Financial Services and Matt Simpson from GM Financial, who between them have more than 35 years’ industry experience, have joined forces to form Avisa, a mortgage and independent financial services company. The team has acquired a 1,396 sq ft premises on Queen Street, in the heart of the Cathedral Quarter. The building, formerly the Tregoning Gallery, is currently undergoing refurbishment and will officially open as Avisa in May.

Marketing Birmingham has been shortlisted in the best operations team category at the Conference Awards 2010 for its work on the Rotary International Convention. The convention was the biggest of its kind to be held in the UK for two decades. It took place in Birmingham in June 2009 and was seen as a success for both Rotary International and the city, achieving more than £24m in economic impact. The Conference Awards recognise and reward excellence, showcase innovation and provide a quality benchmark for individuals, teams and companies in the conference industry. The awards will be held in London on 25 June.

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Derbyshire contracting and engineering company Bowmer & Kirkland has reported a 33.3 per cent drop in pre-tax profits to £28.8m for the year to 31 August 2009. Turnover reduced by 2.3 per cent to £874m. However, the group remains cash positive, with balances increasing from £182.3m to £220.3m. During the period, Bowmer acquired stakes in both Modus Green Acres and Terrace Hill to add to its investment property portfolio. A dividend of £193,600 will be paid for the period.

Leicestershire PR consultancy Word Association has appointed two more staff to its team in the shape of new designer Rosie Priestley and copywriter Tom Jeavons. Priestley has worked for clients such as Slimming World, Yamaha, Bupa and Mars. Jeavons brings experience of working for large public-sector organisations. He began his career as a PR officer for the leading provider of supported housing within central England, the Bromford Group, and then moved on to work as a copywriter for Birmingham City University.