Buyouts
UK - Terra Firma enters the fray for Boots
KKR's £10bn 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 £1bn 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 £130-£140m.
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...
UK - Hotbed leads buyout of Land Rover parts supplier
Hotbed has invested £5m alongside commitments from Grove Industries Ltd and Barclays Bank to support the institutional buyout of Bearmach Plc, a supplier of parts and accessories to the global aftermarket for Land Rover. Bearmach is headquartered in...
UK - Kaupthing/Tchenguiz try to see off Tragus with £104.2m bid
The bidding war for Spanish-themed restaurant chain La Tasca escalated today as a consortium made up of Kaupthing and Robert Tchenguiz, the property entrepreneur raised its bid by 6% to £104.2m. This follows a series of bids and counter-bids between...
GERMANY - Flex Group changes hands
AXA Private Equity has acquired German manufacturer of hand-held power tools from New York based investment advisor GSO Capital Partners. The management team led by Jörg Kempfing and Dr Josef Kring also invested and will holds a minority stake in the...
UK - La Tasca at centre of bidding war
Spanish eatery chain La Tasca is at the centre of a bidding war after Tragus upped its bid in response to a competing approach from a Robert Tchenguiz and Kaupthing. Tragus, backed by Blackstone and the operator of the Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia restaurant...
NL - Iris Capital and GIMV acquire majority share in Human Inference
Iris Capital and GIMV have acquired a majority stake in Human Inference, European market leader in the field of data quality solutions.
UK - New entrant to begin battle for Boots?
Market sources suggest that German firm Celesio, a continental rival to the Alliance Boots pharmaceutical chain, has approached other buyout groups about the possibility of teaming up to launch a competing takeover bid for the listed UK retailer. Boots...
GERMANY - Essmann Group changes hands
Quadriga Capital has acquired the Essmann Group for EUR 110m from Taros Capital. Quadriga Capital will take a majority stake in the company, with management that also invested holding the balance. Taros Capital had acquired Essmann in 2000.
UK - Royal Bank of Scotland takes equity stake in £17.5m buyout of Monitor Audio
Royal Bank of Scotland has taken an equity stake in audio hi-fi and home cinema company Monitor Audio (Holdings) Ltd. The company, an existing customer of the bank has undergone a £17.5m management buyout to which RBS has supplied a complete equity,...
UK - KKR higher offer prompts opening of Boots' books
KKR has raised its bid for Alliance Boots prompting the UK chemist and retail chain to open its books. The US-private equity firm bidding in league with the deputy chairman of Boots has offered 1,040p per share, a 4% lift on the 1,000p takeover bid it...
UK - Kaupthing/Tchenguiz trump Blackstone La Tasca offer
Kaupthing Pricipal Investments has teamed up with Robert Tchenguiz to launch a rival bid for AIM-listed restaurant chain La Tasca. Earlier this week, Blackstone through its Tragus portfolio company offered £96m for La Tasca. Tragus is the name behind...
UK - Blackstone's Tragus in £96m bid for La Tasca
Restaurant Group Tragus, owned by Blackstone, has launched a £96m cash offer for AIM-listed La Tasca, the owner of 70 Spanish themed restuarants in the UK.
ITALY - Aletti acquires furniture business from Absolute
Aletti Private Equity has acquired a 70% shareholding in furniture business Arketipo from Absolute Ventures in a SBO worth around EUR 20m.
GERMANY - Odewald & Compagnie acquires IWKA Packaging
The board of the IWKA group has decided by seven votes to five, to sell its packaging division to Odewald & compagnie for EUR 255m. The outcome had been expected although the worker’s union had preferred Italian strategic investors Coesia.
SPAIN - TPG to offer EUR 4bn for Iberia
Texas Pacific Group (TPG) is said to be considering a EUR 4bn bid for Spanish carrier Iberia. However, if the offer goes ahead TPG may face competition from exisiting shareholders Lufthansa and British Airways; the latter is said to be preparing for a...
UK - NVM acquires Promanex from Sovereign
NVM Private Equity (NVM) has invested £5m in the secondary management buyout of Midlands-based Promanex Group. The deal represents an exit for Sovereign Capital, which backed the company's first buyout in 1999.
UK - Investcorp Technology Partners undertakes EUR 105m buyout of Moneybookers
Investcorp Technology Partners has undertaken the EUR 105m buyout of Moneybookers Ltd, a leading European online payment provider and the UK’s first FSA-licensed e-money issuer. As part of the transaction, Moneybookers’ existing shareholders will...