Buyouts
UK - KKR secures Boots in Europe's largest ever buyout worth £12.2bn
KKR has won the takeover battle for Alliance Boots. The ТЃ11.39 per share offer gives Boots an enterprise value of ТЃ12.2bn and was enough to see off a rival bid by a consortium led by Terra Firma.
UK - Exponent reaches second round of bidding for Trinity Mirror's Midlands titles
Exponent Private Equity is one of three private equity bidders known to have reached the second round of an auction for Trinity Mirror's newspaper titles in the Midlands. The Birmingham Post and Coventry Evening Telegraph are amongst those being sold...
SPAIN - Minerva leads acquisition of inductive components player
Premo Group, a company active in the development, manufacture and sale of products and solutions in the inductive component business, was wholly acquired by Minerva Capital alongside a group of institutional investors and management. Spanish press reports...
UK - Mezzanine Management acquires minority stake in Regard from Bowmark
Bowmark Capital has sold Regard, a UK residential care provider for people with learning difficulties. The exit yielded returns of 3.4x and an IRR of 77%. Mezzanine Management has invested ТЃ18m in the newco to take a minority stake in a deal which is...
NL - Gilde to acquire Bakkersland Banket
Gilde Equity Management Benelux looks set to acquire Bakkersland Banket BV, a confectioner, from Bakkersland Groep BV. Bakkersland Banket provides pastry products for the Dutch food retail and foodservice markets, as well as for the exportmarket and is...
UK - Advent to acquire Lloyds TSB Registrars
It is understood that Advent International is to acquire share registration company Lloyds TSB Registrars in a ТЃ550m deal. Advent is thought to have beaten competition from Australian company Link Market Services, backed by Bain Capital, and Doughty...
UK - KKR consortium controls quarter of Boots shares
KKR looks to be a step closer to securing the Boots deal today. After recent share purchases the KKR consortium now controls around a quarter of the share capital of Alliance Boots, the FTSE 100 chemist and retailer. Previously KKR's bid was supported...
SPAIN - Investindustrial and Gala Capital buy Panda Software
After over a year of negotiations, buyout firms Investindustrial and Gala Capital have purchased a majority stake of 75% in antivirus developer Panda Software. The remaining stake will be held by founder Mikel Urizarbarrena.
SPAIN - ACS to receive offers for Continental today
Five prospective buyers for Continental Auto are understood to be presenting their offers for the transport group today.
NL - Aletra to acquire DA Retailgroep
Aletra Capital Partners has reportedly agreed to acquire DA, a retailer of cosmetics and beauty products.
FRANCE - Turenne backs online lottery business Mediastay
Turenne Capital Partenaires has invested in the owner buyout of Mediastay via its listed fund Turenne Investissement and its FIP Hexagone Croissance I.
SPAIN/PORTUGAL- Private equity crowd hits the audiovisual arena
The Iberian audiovisual sector has experienced a noteworthy level of private equity activity this week.
UK - FF&P Private Equity backs MBO of insurance broker
FF&P Private Equity has backed the management buyout of RFIB Group Ltd, the international Lloyd's insurance and reinsurance broker from its retired shareholders. The value of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory and other approvals, was not...
UK - Boots bidding war on
A bidding war has broken out for Alliance Boots, the FTSE 100 retail and pharmaceutical group. After KKR upped its offer for Alliance Boots to ТЃ10.90 per share in an attempt to see off a rival ТЃ10.85 per share bid from Terra Firma, Terra Firma trumpted...
UK - Macquarie strengthens grip on UK communications sector with £1.9bn Airwave purchase
Macquarie is to acquire Airwave, the telecom network used by UK emergency services, from O2 in a ТЃ1.9bn deal. O2 is a subsidiary of Spanish telecom group Telefonica. The purchase by Macquarie was made through its Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund...
UK - Aberdeen zooms in on CCTV investment
Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital has backed the BIMBO of Camwatch Ltd, a CCTV monitoring company. Aberdeen and the management team provided equity funding as part of a ТЃ6.8m investment package involving debt supplied by Barclays and Royal Bank...
SPAIN - Pan-European houses to race for Codere
The deadline for offers for the 49.9% stake of Codere is tomorrow. Reportedly, pretty much every pan-European house based in Spain has demonstrated interest in the gambling business. Permira, Apax, Texas Pacific Group, Carlyle and BC Partners are all...
NL - Permira-owned Nutrilux acquires Provimi from CVC and PAI Partners
Following the announcement in January that Permira was to acquire animal feed producer Provimi from CVC Capital Partners and PAI Partners, clearance has now been received.
NL - Doughty Hanson to acquire Norit from Gilde Buy Out Partners
Doughty Hanson has announced that it is likely to reach a final agreement with Gilde Buy Out Partners regarding the sale of Norit. Gilde currently owns a 70% stake in the firm and is understood to have acquired the firm in 2003 for around EUR 150m. No...
FRANCE - Diana Ingrédients to be sold by Cognetas
European private equity firm Cognetas (formerly known as Electra Partners) has mandated both Hawkpoint and BNP Paribas to run the sale of Diana Ingrédients, according to French press reports.
FRANCE - DeA Capital invests in Générale de Santé
DeA Capital, De Agostini's listed investment holding, will take at least 35% of Santé Sarl, a holding which indirectly owns 59.8% of French listed private healthcare group Générale de Santé.
UK - LDC bid for Tote blocked
The sale of state-owned horseracing bookmaker Tote to a consortium backed by LDC is reported to have been blocked by the government. Sources suggest that Gordon Brown was conscious of distancing himself from private equity in the run-up to the Labour...
UK - Speculation surrounds 3i's bid for Foxtons
3i has reached the final stages of an auction to acquire estate agency chain Foxtons from its founder Jon Hunt. Foxtons is thought to fetch in excess of ТЃ400m via a process run by Credit Suisse. BC Partners is also in the running to acquire the asset....
ITALY - Bidders to present offers for Alitalia today
By the end of this afternoon, prospective buyers of Alitalia will present their offers for a stake of up to 39.9% in the airline. The offers should be presented by 5pm CET, along with preliminary business plans until 2012, shareholding to be purchased...