Buyouts
NL - Wessanen and Rabo Capital to merge frozen snack business
Royal Wessanen and Rabo Capital have come to an agreement with the intention to set up a new company that merges the activities of Habek Snacks and Wessanen in ragout rolls ('kroketten'), hamburgers, meat rolls (‘frikandellen’) and halal snacks. Wessanen...
UK - Countrywide shareholders vote in favour of Apollo offer
Apollo's offer for estate agency chain Countrywide has been approved by 98.1% of shareholders at a vote today. Apollo raised its per share offer for the listed-company by 27p yesterday in response to the arrival of a mystery third party rival bidder....
UK - Private equity eyes Virgin Radio
Reports suggest that a number of private equity groups are eyeing Virgin Radio after its present owner SMG announced it intended to sell the asset. The vendor is thought to favour an IPO process.
NORWAY - Ferd Private Euity Ferd PE II acquires European Furniture Group AB
FPEF II has aquired 100% of the shares in Swedish office furniture producer EFG from the bbe Krook family (majority shareholder), Siem Industrikapital AB, 4AP-Fonden, a Swedish National Pension Fund, and a number of other minority shareholders.
UK - Terra Firma/Wellcome Trust to access Boots books
It is reported that Terra Firma, working in association with Wellcome Trust, are inches away from making an indicative offer for Alliance Boots, and being granted access to its books. The UK chemist and retailer, formed by a ТЃ7bn merger in 2006, is the...
UK - Apollo raises Countrywide bid at last minute following rival approach
Apollo has raised its offer for Countrywide by 25p per share from 505p to 530p ahead of a shareholder vote tomorrow. The news comes following reports that a third party has launched a rival bid for the UK's largest estate agency chain.
SWEDEN - Ratos plans to invest SEK 300m for 60% of MCC
Ratos is to acquire 60% of the heating and air conditionings systems (HVAC) company Mobile Climate Control (MCC) from its founder Gunnar Mannerheim for approximately SEK 300m. The company’s senior executives will remain in their present positions. The...
UK - Glitnir backs BIMBO of TruckEast with integrated finance package
Glitnir has supported the BIMBO of Scania dealer TruckEast Ltd with an integrated finance package in a deal worth over ТЃ10m. Glitnir, a Nordic investment bank, offered a fully integrated finance solution providing both the debt and equity funding as...
GERMANY - Arques buys van Netten
Arques Industries AG has acquired confectionery firm van Netten GmbH from Zuckerfabrik Jülich AG. Within the context of the transaction, Arques acquires, among other things, an almost 100,000 square meters large property on which storage and production...
SLOVAKIA - Penta acquires Slovak Privatbanka
Slovak private equity group Penta Investments has acquired a 73% stake in Slovak Privatbanka from Austria’s Meinl Bank. The transaction value has not been disclosed but the financial investor has indicated to acquire the remaining stake by end of 2007....
GERMANY - DZ Equity Partner invests in Zarges Tubesca
DZ Equity Partner has announced it has acquired a minority stake in European manufacturer of aluminium-based platform and elevator systems Zarges Tubesca Group from Granville Baird Capital Partners. Granville Baird had recently acquired the company from...
ITALY – Tirrenia set to attract private equity interest
Maritime transport group Tirrenia is likely to attract offers from private equity players when it officially launches its privatisation process in the next few weeks.
UK - CVC not going to try anything new today at Sainsbury's
CVC has announced that it is to bow out of the attempt to acquire the UK's third largest supermarket chain Sainsbury's. It represents the end of an 18-month planning period for the private equity group, which first expressed its intentions to bid for...
IRELAND - Permira seeks Jurys Inns business
Permira and Doughty Hanson are thought to be amongst the bidders in the final stages of the auction to buy Jurys Inns, the 20-strong budget hotel chain headquartered in Dublin. Merrill Lynch has been appointed by the Jurys Doyle Group to dispose of the...
UK - Cinven, Macquarie and Blackstone interested in BUPA hospitals
BUPA is to put its 26 UK hospitals up for sale. It is reported that Cinven, Macquarie and Blackstone have all shown interest in the hospital assets. The news follows rumours that certain private equity groups have considered a bid for healthcare insurer...
UK - Sun European Partners acquires Moben, Dolphin, Sharps and Kitchens Direct
Sun European Partners has acquired the HomeForm Group, the owner of home retailers including Moben, Dolphin, Sharps and Kitchens Direct in a secondary buyout deal of undisclosed value. The deal represents an exit for Phildrew Ventures which delisted the...
UK - Terra Firma enters the fray for Boots
KKR's ТЃ10bn bid for Alliance Boots has been rocked over the weekend by reports that Terra Firma has teamed up with the Wellcome Trust to launch a rival offer. Terra Firma is reported to have asked the Boots board to allow it access to its books before...
UK - Apollo's £1bn bid for Countrywide likely to succeed
Apollo's ТЃ1bn bid for Countrywide is likely to succeed when it faces a shareholder vote on Friday. It is thought that the hedge fund Polygon, which holds a 25.5% stake in the listed-estate agency chain, will vote in favour of Apollo's 590p per share...
UK - Critical days for Sainsbury's bid
The likeliness of private equity acquiring Sainsbury's is in the balance today. With the Takeover Panel deadline set for this Friday, CVC is under pressure to up its latest 582p per share offer which is yet to be recommended by the company's board after...
FRANCE - Advent buys discount retailer Stokomani from Alpha Group
Advent International has backed the management of French discount retailer Stokomani in its buyout from Alpha Group. Stokomani is a major French end-of-line and big brand product stock clearance retailer, offering a range of 15,000-20,000 products in...
ESTONIA - Alta Capital Partners buys Polish Mieszko
Estonian Alta Capital Partners has acquired 66.18% of Mieszko, a Polish confectionary producer. The acquisition fits Alta Capital's strategy of building a portfolio of regional players in the dairy food processing and confectionary products. Alta Capital...
UK - Blackstone's Tragus out of La Tasca bidding
Blackstone portfolio company Tragus, the owner of the Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge restaurant chains has announced that it will not launch another bid for La Tasca. The AIM-listed 70-site strong Spanish restaurant chain has been the subject of a bidding...
UK - Bridgepoint set to acquire Leeds Bradford Airport
Bridgepoint has been chosen as the preferred bidder in the auction for Leeds Bradford Airport. The airport which handled 2.6 million passengers in 2005 was being sold by five councils. It is understood that Bridgepoint offered in the region of ТЃ130-ТЃ140m....
UK - Sainsbury's consortium under pressure to make formal bid
The CVC-led consortium considering a bid for the UK's third largest supermarket chain, Sainsbury's, is under pressure to announce a formal bid before the Easter weekend. Together CVC, KKR and TPG have been looking at the asset since February and have...