Buyouts
UK - BC Partners snaps up Foxtons
BC Partners has acquired London-focused estate agency chain Foxtons in a deal believed to weigh in at approximately ТЃ400m. The private vendor appointed Credit Suisse to run a process to dispose of the asset. TA Associates and 3i were thought to have...
UK - EMI agrees to Terra Firma's £3.2bn offer
EMI's board has agreed to a 265p per share offer from Terra Firma. The bid represents an enterprise value of ТЃ3.2bn for the music publishing giant. Terra Firma's agreed offer with London-listed EMI follows a year of speculation about the ownership of...
WORLD - Blackstone in $3bn Chinese coup
When Blackstone announced it was to list on the NYSE, it provoked much discussion, but few mused over its potential impact on Chinese-US relations. Unsuprisingly, no one foresaw China's announcement that it will invest $3bn of its $1.2 trillion foreign...
UK - Advent acquires Lloyds TSB Registrars
Advent International has acquired the share registration business of Lloyds TSB plc, Lloyds TSB Registrars, for ТЃ550m. Advent is backing the existing management team led by Managing Director David Winton. The business is headquartered in Worthing...
FRANCE - Argos Soditic pilots the BIMBO of ejection device manufacturer
Argos Soditic has acquired Alkan from MBDA France.
BULGARIA - Arco acquires CableTEL for €41m
Arco Capital Corporation (ACC) has announced the €41m acquisition of CableTEL, a Bulgaria-based telecommunications company which also has operations in Macedonia. ACC is a holding company that engages in lending and acquisition activities primarily...
GERMANY - Carlyle acquires real estate portfolio from Concordia
The Carlyle Group has acquired a portfolio of 19 properties from insurance group Concordia. The portfolio consists of assets distributed throughout Germany, with a total area of approximately 42,400 m2 which can be rented.
UK - Baird invests £13m in recruitment company Aston Carter
Baird Capital Partners Europe has invested ТЃ13m for a majority stake in Aston Carter, a UK recruitment consultancy specialising in the placement of IT professionals into the financial services sector in the UK and internationally.
UK - Cognis Capital backs BIMBO of waste services company
Cognis Capital Partners has backed the BIMBO of waste serivces company Sancerre. The deal has enabled Sancerre to purchase the high temperature incinerator and waste-to-energy plats in Fawley, Hampshire from Veolia ES (UK) Ltd. The company expects to...
FRANCE - PAI wins exclusivity for 50.01% of Kaufman et Broad
PAI partners has been granted a period of exclusivity for the acquisition of a controlling stake in Euronext-listed house builder Kaufman et Broad.
SWITZERLAND - BVgroup acquires Lonstroff Holding AG
BVgroup has backed a management buyout of Lonstroff Holding AG from 3i. The transaction value has not been disclosed, but BVgroup will take an 80% stake in the company with management holding the balance.
ITALY - Permira buys stake in Valentino for EUR 783m
Permira has acquired a 29.6% stake in fashion house Valentino for EUR 782.6m.
UK - Beringea backs MBO of Eagle Rock from HgCapital
Beringea has backed the buyout of TV and DVD producer and publisher Eagle Rock Group Ltd from HgCapital. The company's catalogue properties include live concert performances from artists such as The Who and Nirvana. Beringea supported Hamburg-based edel...
UK - Charterhouse acquires TSL from Exponent
Charterhouse Capital Partners has acquired educational publisher TSL Education from Exponent Private Equity for an undisclosed sum.
UK - LDC backs £52m buyout of Emprise
LDC has backed the ТЃ52m management buyout of Emprise, a national provider of outsourced facilities services. Royal Bank of Scotland provided debt to support the deal, which represents a partial exit for RJD Partners, formerly Royal London Private Equity....
NL - Endemol snapped up by Mediaset
Endemol, the Amsterdam-listed production company is understood to have been acquired by Italian media company Mediaset. The deal values Endemol at EUR 3bn. Spanish company Telefonica announced its intention to sell its 75% stake in the company earlier...
SWITZERLAND - Allianz acquires vending machine company Selecta
Allianz Capital Partners has beaten competition from Terra Firma to acquire vending machine business Selecta for £772.5m. The operator of 150,000 vending machines in 22 countries, Zug-based Selecta became part of London-listed food service company Compass...
UK - Permira eyes Britvic again
Permira has resumed its interest in listed soft drinks company Britvic. Reports emerged that Permira was looking at the company, which suffered several profit warnings last year, in mid-2006. In December 2006, Permira acquired an 11% stake in the public...
GERMANY - Chrysler sold to Cerberus for EUR 5.5bn
DaimlerChrysler has agreed to sell its Chrysler division to US private equity firm Cerberus for EUR 5.5bn. Cerberus will take an 80.1% stake with Daimler retaining 19.9%. The transaction has been supported by American unions. In 1998 Daimler paid $35bn...
FRANCE - Alliance Entreprendre and Avenir Entreprises invest in Lewinger
Small- to mid-cap investors Alliance Entreprendre and Avenir Entreprises have backed the owner buyout of Roanne-based pret-a-porter specialist Lewinger.
UK - ISIS backs £11.5m MBO of CableCom
ISIS Equity Partners, investing funds from the Baronsmead VCTs, has completed the ТЃ11.5m management buyout of IT company CableCom. Based in Clevedon, near Bristol, CableCom operates in the growing market of IT and communication managed services to multi-tenanted...
FRANCE - PAI makes EUR 1.2bn bid for Kaufman et Broad
PAI partners has made an offer for 49% of house builder Kaufman et Broad, according to French press reports. The EUR 53.13 per share bid values the business at around EUR 1.2bn.
ITALY - Fashion house Valentino attracts private equity interest
The president of Valentino, Antonio Favrin, has reportedly said that the haute couture group has been approached by a handful of private equity firms. However, it is not yet clear if the stake for sale corresponds to a minority portion or a controlling...
FRANCE - Atos Origin snubs its suitors
Computer services business Atos Origin has decided to pursue its growth strategy on a stand-alone basis, ending speculation about a possible LBO.