Holiday deals round-up

Early-stage

-Albion Ventures has invested £2.6m in UK-based specialist pharmaceuticals company Proveca. The business re-engineers existing medicines to make them appropriate for use by children and young people. It was established in 2010 and will use the funding to take its new products through clinical development. The Proveca deal marks Albion's ninth investment in the healthcare sector.

Expansion

-Gimv has acquired a 49% share of Belgian Delcredere NV through its GIMV-XL fund, investing €36m. It acquired the shares from ONDD, Belgium's public credit insurer, following a competitive bidding process. Delcredere was established in 2004 and specialises in short-term credit insurance for European businesses to cover political and commercial risks in international trade.

-Business Growth Fund has pumped £2.5m into Manchester-based Boost Juice Bars UK. Boost, founded in the UK in 2007, is a 280-strong chain of retail stores globally specialising in the sale of freshly made smoothies and juices. The funding will be used to growth the number of UK sites from 10 at present to around 40 over the next three years.

-EQT has acquired 51% and operational leadership of E.ON Energy from Waste (EEW). E.ON will retain 49% of the shares. Funding came from EQT Infrastructure II. EEW produces electricity, district heat and steam in 18 waste incineration plants in Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Its 2011 turnover totalled €544m and it employs 1,350 people. More than half of planned sales for the coming five years are already contracted. Bernard Kemper and Ulf Berg of EQT will join the company following the closing of the transaction in Q1 2013.-IK Investment Partners' portfolio company TRIGO, a French provider of component quality inspection and conformity upgrade services, has acquired QUALITAIRE with support from IK. The acquisition is part of the company's strategy of sector diversification and extension of its service offerings. QUALITAIRE provides operational quality services to the aeronautics, space and defence sectors. The company has a turnover of €11m, which will add to the €100m turnover posted by TRIGO Group.

-Terra Firma's Italian solar power business Rete Rinnovabile has acquired a portfolio of 31 solar power plants from Acea, an Italian public utility company. The transaction, which has an enterprise value of around €103m, was funded through a combination of equity and a project finance facility provided by Mediocredito Italiano. The acquisition will add 32.5MWp to RTR's existing installed capacity, bringing it to a total of 297.5 MWp. This marked Terra Firma's fifth renewable energy acquisition of 2012. In total the businesses have a value of €584m.

-Fondo Italiano di Investimento has also completed a couple of deals. The state-backed fund injected €6.5m into aircrafts manufacturer Tecnam, securing a majority stake in the firm. Founded in 1986, Tecnam designs, develops and manufactures single-and twin-engine aircraft for aviation. It also invested €8m in rubber manufacturer Mesgo in exchange for a minority stake. The funding will support the company in its further development through international joint ventures and the acquisition of complementary companies in Italy and abroad.

Buyout

-NVM Private Equity has invested £7m in software provider Intuitive Limited. The investment supported the company's MBO from Lowcosttravel Group. Peter Hodson, director, led the deal on behalf of NVM.

-RCapital has bought cosmetic surgery specialist The Harley Medical Group in a management buyout. The company had suffered in the wake of the PIP breast implants scandal and did not have the financial resources to continue. The deal sees the firm become Aesthetic and Cosmetic Surgery Limited, though it will continue to operate as Harley Medical Group.

-Activa Capital has become the largest shareholder in French child care group La Maison Bleue. Alongside the company's management, Activa will drive further organic growth and acquisitions for the business. La Maison Bleue was founded in 2004 and manages 80 nurseries across France with 3,200 places and over 1,000 staff. It currently opens around 20 new nurseries each year.

-PAI partners has acquired European industrial supplies distribution company IPH Group from Investcorp. The group, headquartered in Lyon, has a turnover of €895m and employs 3,280 people in its regional operations in France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Romania. Morgan Stanley and Rothschild provided advice on the transaction.

-In Spain, Trilantic and Investindustrial have completed their buyout of Basque telco Euskaltel. The deal, which has had European Commission approval since early December, sees the two private equity firms hold a combined stake of 48.1%, with Kutxabank and Iberdrola holding the remainder. The transaction was announced in October and took place in two phases; firstly via a capital increase of €68m to purchase the fibre optic backbone the Basque Government had leased to the target. Secondly, existing shareholders (including the Basque Government) sold their stakes to the private equity firms.

-Triton has bought IK Investment Partners' Finnish neighbourhood store chain Suomen Lähikauppa Oy. The business has a turnover of about €1.4bn and a 7.8 % share of the of the Finnish grocery retail market. IK Investment Partners acquired 32% in the combined daily goods retail business of Tradeka Oy and Ruokamarkkinat Oy in August 2005.

Exits

-Permira and Private Equity Partners have sold Italian ceramics and tiling firm Marazzi Group for €1.17bn in a trade sale to Mohawk Industries. The GPs first backed the firm in 2004 as part of an all-equity buyout of a combined share of 33%. In 2006, they reduced their share through a part-flotation, before exiting entirely the following year. In 2008, they stepped back in as part of a buyout.

-LDC-backed Epi-V has sold its subsidiary, i-Tec Well Solutions to Canada-based trade player Trican. The deal is worth up to $107m in cash and shares. i-Tec provides oil and gas equipment services and operates in Norway and the US and Canada, where it already supports Trican's Completion Tool division.

-Antea Participations has sold its 75% stake in Pan-Oston Group BV, a Dutch retail equipment business, to its director Ralf Hovenga and other private shareholders. Antea had held the business since 2005 and the sale generated a 33.5% IRR and 10x money multiple. Pan-Oston specialises in providing supermarket checkout counters in the Netherlands.

-Mercapital has divested its 30% stake in Spanish fitness centres chain 02 Wellness Centre, which it first backed in 2002. The new owner Civis Corporation Holding now holds 80% of the firm, having acquired a stake formely held by real estate developer Harmonia, which retains 20% of the company.
The fitness chain counts 14 centres and 50.000 affiliates in Spain. Last year it reported revenues of €38.1m with a €6.5m EBITDA.

Funds

-Norvestor Equity has closed its sixth fund on NOK 3bn. Norvestor VI has reached its hard cap and was oversubscribed, with investments coming from both existing and new investors, including government agencies, SWFs, funds of funds, insurers, pension funds, family offices and other asset managers. It will target the Swedish and Norwegian mid-market, considering companies with NOK 150m-1.5bn EV. So far, the fund has completed three investments. Lars Grinde, managing partner, is managing the fund for Norvestor. Credit Suisse Asset Management acted as placement agent, while Kirkland & Ellis provided legal advice.

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