Buyouts
UK - Hg completes acquisition of Paragon Healthcare Group
HgCapital has acquired Paragon Healthcare Group from Duke Street Capital in a ТЃ322m buyout.
FRANCE - Alpha's fifth fund acquires Mecatherm
Alpha Private Equity Fund 5 has announced its first investment since it closed on EUR 750m in February 2006. The fund has acquired Mecatherm from Astorg Partners, 21 Centrale Partners and Cogepa, alongside its management team. APEF 5 will hold a majority...
UK - Matrix backs MBO of VSI Ltd
VSI Ltd, a group specialising in developing and marketing 3D software, has been sold by its founder shareholders to the management team in a ТЃ6m MBO. Matrix Private Equity Partners invested ТЃ1.9m with the remaining funds comprising cash and roll-over...
SWEDEN - CapMan invests in Swedish fashion retail chain MQ
CapMan funds will acquire the majority holding in Swedish fashion retail chain MQ.
UK - Hermes acquires Mayfair Gaming
Hermes Private Equity has acquired Mayfair Gaming, a bingo operator with eight clubs across the UK, from Risk Capital Partners.
SWEDEN - FSN Capital buys Alignment Systems
FSN Capital has agreed to buy Alignment Systems AB from 3i Group Plc and funds advised by Euroventures Management AB, including AP6.
PORTUGAL - Explorer Investments and MCH acquire Nutricafés
According to reports in the Spanish press, the Portuguese private equity firm Explorer Investments and the Spanish group MCH Private Equity have acquired 100% of Nutricafés. The group was purchased from Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Sumolis, which bought...
UK - Montagu Private Equity acquires Misys General Insurance for £182m
Montagu Private Equity has signed an agreement to acquire Misys General Insurance for ТЃ182m. MGI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Misys Plc, a global business providing specialised software applications to the healthcare and banking industries. Final...
UK - HgCapital to acquire First Technology Safety & Analysis
HgCapital has entered into agreement with Honeywell to acquire First Technology Safety & Analysis. The deal will value the market leader in crash test dummies and associated services at ТЃ50m.
UK - Bank of Scotland backs £119.5m acquisition of Adare Group
Adare Group, a leading UK print management, mailing and packaging solutions company, has announced that a team of seven current directors, led by Robert Whiteside, has acquired the business with the backing of Bank of Scotland Corporate.
FRANCE - ABN AMRO Capital and Astorg acquire OFIC
ABN AMRO Capital France and Astorg Partners have acquired OFIC for an enterprise value of EUR 210m. The buyout houses have taken equal shareholdings in the company, alongside its management team headed by Jean-Louis Roques. The deal also involves members...
NORWAY - Telenor Venture sells OilCamp
OilCamp AS has been sold to the management team and Petroleum Networks Holding AS. Petroleum Networks Holding is owned by the private equity fund Energivekst, managed by HitecVision, and has been established as the fund’s investment platform within the...
FRANCE - AXA PE acquires Skyrock
AXA Private Equity has just signed an acquisition agreement for an 80% stake in Skyrock Group. It has been signed in association with Pierre Bellanger, CEO of Group Skyrock and Tamago, the company held by Morgan Grenfell Private Equity and Goldman Sachs....
FRANCE – Cinven set for UPC France mega-deal
Cinven has signed a letter of agreement with US-based cable operator Liberty Global to purchase UPC France for EUR 1.25bn. The deal is still in its very early stage, but Cinven is expected to pay a full 11.4 times UPC France’s 2005 operating cashflow,...
ITALY - Siparex Italia and Emerald invest in Vimec LBO
Siparex Italia has recently participated in the buyout of the world’s third-largest manufacturer of elevating equipment for the mobility impaired, alongside the fund Emerald. Siparex Italia has invested EUR 1.5m in a majority LBO that was completed on...
GERMANY - Commerzbank takes MLA role on Norma buyout
Commerzbank Corporates and Markets (CBCM) has announced today that it is acting as sole mandated lead arranger and underwriter of the senior and mezzanine debt facilities supporting the buyout of Norma Group by 3i. The financing documentation was signed...
GERMANY - Industri Kapital acquires Sport Group from ECM
Industri Kapital has signed an agreement with funds advised by ECM to acquire Sport Group, a leading European provider of outdoor sport and recreational surface systems.
GERMANY - 3i Europe takes over major automotive supplier
3i Europe has acquired a controlling stake in German industrial supplier Rasmussen GmbH / Norma Group via a management buyout. The transaction includes all shares held by the company managers.
BULGARIA - Mezzanine Management backs bottled water firm
Mezzanine Management, the independent mezzanine and private equity provider, has announced that its Central European fund, Accession Mezzanine Capital (AMC), has backed the institutional buyout of the Devin Group, the largest bottled water company in...
UK - Permira abandons HMV bid
Shares in HMV Group have fallen following the decision by Permira to pullout of talks to buy the firm. Last week HMV rejected the private equity house's 210p a share bid for the company, which valued it at ТЃ842.7m and followed an earlier bid of 190p....
UK - CVC gets green light for F1 deal
The European Commission has approved the acquisition of the Formula One Group by funds managed or advised by CVC Capital Partners Group.
FRANCE - PE to bid for Emap assets?
According to press reports, private equity firms are expected to be involved in the bidding for Emap France, which is has been put up for sale for around EUR 600m.
UK - No deal at House of Fraser
House of Fraser has formally announced that preliminary talks regarding a possible offer for the company have ceased.
UK - a2e and The Capital Fund back data management MBO
Quadrate, a leading data management software company and creator of innovative solutions that enable businesses to rapidly migrate data to and from SAP, facilitating efficient data management and reporting, has completed an MBO. Funding was raised from...