Small caps round-up: BP Marsh, Media Corp, Dee Valley

B.P. Marsh & Partners, the venture capital firm, has increased its stake in Besso Insurance Group through the acquisition of the stake held by Michael Wade, who is stepping down as Chairman of Besso now that the restructuring of the group has been completed. Coln Bird, currently the Chief Executive of Besso, will replace Wade as Chairman.Marsh increased its shareholding by 6.71% for a cash consideration of £0.78m. The group's equity interest in Besso has therefore increased from 30% to 36.71% (with economic rights over 36.48%).Board changes are also afoot at Dee Valley Group, where David Strahan has been announced as the replacement for David Guest, who is set to retire as Finance Director of the water utility at the end of the year. Strahan was Managing Director of Phoenix Supply for 5½ years prior to accepting the Dee Valley job.Digital advertising network and online gaming group Media Corporation has raised £0.6m (gross) through the sale of 300m shares at 0.2p each. The shares were bought by institutional and other investors, including directors of the company. The proceeds from the share issue will be used to help fund the launch of Intabet, the company's online gaming platform, and to provide general working capital for the company. JH