Buyouts
UK - NGBI Private Equity backs £14m MBO of Change Recruitment Group
NBGI Private Equity (NBGI PE) has backed the £14m management buyout of Change Recruitment Group, an independent, Scotland-based recruitment consultancy.
UK - Inflexion Private Equity backs £13m buyout of Autocruise
Inflexion Private Equity has led the £13m buyout of Autocruise, a leading manufacturer of motorhomes in the UK. Inflexion-managed funds invested £5.9m to take a majority stake in the company. Royal Bank of Scotland also provided £8.5m of debt facilities...
GERMANY/FRANCE – Lafarge roofing unit sells for EUR 2.4bn
PAI Partners have acquired the roofing business of French cement giant Lafarge SA for EUR 2.4bn. The enterprise value for the acquisition consists of EUR 1.96bn of net equity and EUR 420m of debt and pension liabilities. JP Morgan and Rothschild co-arranged...
SWEDEN - EQT Oppportunity buys Melka Tenson and Five Seasons
The EQT Opportunity Fund has acquired sportswear companies M/T Owner (Melka Tenson) from Jacques Vert Plc, and Five Seasons from Five Seasons Inköps AB. The majority owner of Five Seasons, Gunnar Johansson, will together with management become co-owner...
SWEDEN - Industri Kapital to acquire Attendo
Industri Kapital has agreed to buy care company Attendo Group AB from the owners Bridgepoint, Mexab and Säki.
ITALY - Synergo and Change Capital Partners acquire Unopiù
Private equity firm Synergo SGR has acquired 50% of Unopiù in a club deal with Change Capital Partners. The deal value has not been disclosed.
ITALY - Advent acquires Venere.com
Advent International has acquired a majority stake in Venere.com, an online hotel reservations company, in partnership with its founders. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.
UK - August Equity supports £40.9m take-private of Planit
August Equity has invested £14.2m in Planit Holdings Plc, to support the £40.9m management buyout of the AIM-listed company which will herald the first public-to-private deal in August Equity’s portfolio. The public-to-private scheme is expected to...
UK - The Carlyle Group to acquire Bigmouthmedia to merge with Global Media
The Carlyle Group has acquired Bigmouthmedia, the digital marketing agency headquartered in Edinburgh and will merge the company with its existing portfolio company, Global Media GmbH, the web marketing company headquartered in Munich. As a result, Carlyle...
UK - KKR and Goldman Sachs to bid for EMI
EMI, the London Stock Exchange-listed music company behind Robbie Williams and Coldplay is reported to have received an approach which may lead to a take-over bid. KKR and Goldman Sachs are believed to be among the potential bidders.
FRANCE – Gilde acquires Groupe Novasep
Gilde Buy Out Partners and Banexi Capital Partenaires have acquired Group Novasep for EUR 425m from Rockwood Holding. The financial investors take a 72% stake with management holding the balance. The transaction is subject to approvals by relevant competition...
UK - Audax Group backs MBO of Nicholl Food Packaging
Audax Group, a Boston based mid-market private equity house, has backed the management buyout of Nicholl Food Packaging from its private shareholders. The transaction was supported by debt facilities arranged by Barclays Leveraged Finance in the Midlands...
FRANCE - MBO Partenaires invests in real estate intermediary
MBO Partenaires has taken a 40% stake in Le Partenaire Européen, a company which acts as a contact point between buyers and sellers of real-estate.
FRANCE - Unither's secondary buyout generates 4.25x money multiple for SG Capital Europe
SG Capital Europe has achieved a money multiple in excess of 4x and an IRR of almost 26% on the sale of dose vials manufacturer Unither to ING Parcom.
GERMANY – GermanCapital buys into ALNO AG
GermanCapital has acquired a minority stake in German kitchen manufacturer, ALNO AG via its bidding company Küchen Holding. The strategic investor acquired its 20.6% stake from Commerzbank AG and has now made a voluntary public takeover bid of EUR 7.20...
SPAIN - Potential SOS Cuetara takeover
According to reports in the Spanish press, shares in rice and oil group SOS Cuetara were up 4.28% this week, making the company a possible target of a hostile takeover bid.
FRANCE - Chevrillon and IDI buy insurer from Barclays PE and AXA
Chevrillon & Associés and IDI have each acquired 40% of insurer Albingia, while management retained a 20% stake. The vendors, Baclays Private Equity (Barclays PE) and insurance group AXA, have sold their entire stake after a Rothschild-run auction which...
PORTUGAL - Portugal Telecom's saga continues
Portuguese news reports suggest that telecoms regulatory body Anacom does still not approve the revised recommendations from the antitrust authority on Soneacom's EUR 13.9bn takeover bid for Portugal Telecom.
UK - Close Brothers Private Equity backs buyout of Alex Stewart
Close Brothers Private Equity (CBPE) has backed the management buyout of Alex Stewart(Assayers) Ltd, part of the Alex Stewart Group, for an undisclosed sum. The business focuses on providing metals and minerals inspection and testing services. Debt was...
GERMANY - HC Starck sells for EUR 1.2bn
Financial investors Advent International and Carlyle Group have acquired H C Starck from German chemicals and pharmaceuticals group Bayer for EUR 1.2bn. Swiss bank UBS ran the limited auction process, which had attracted trade as well as financial buyers....
CZECH REPUBLIC – Consortium announces largest ever Central European buyout
A consortium comprising Abu Dhabi-based Al-Bateen Investment Company, Lehman Brothers Private Equity and Mid Europa Partners has acquired Radiokomunikace and a 39.23% stake in T-Mobile Czech Republic from Altima for EUR 1.2bn. ING Bank NV provided a EUR...
ITALY - Blackstone eyes Italian industrial giants
Reports in the Italian press suggest that US firm Blackstone is ready to invest in Telecom Italia and its TIM mobile unit, as well as assets belonging to electricity provider Enel SpA. Rumour has it that Blackstone's president Tony James will partner...
FRANCE - Doughty Hanson acquires French concrete specialist
In its second deal in France, Doughty Hanson has backed the secondary buyout of KP1, an Avignon-based manufacturer of concrete products for the construction industry.
GERMANY – BC Partners bids for Techem
BC Partners has made an offer of EUR 52 per share for the German utility billing specialist Techem AG. The financial investor offers EUR 8 more per share than Macquarie Bank that had announced its bid of EUR 44 per share on 23 October. BC Partners’...