Exits
UK - Barclays Ventures exits ChipsAway in £20m deal
Barclays Ventures has achieved a 3x return from the disposal of Edwin Investments Ltd. The business, which trades as ChipsAway Group, is an automotive services franchise group. It has been acquired by Myhome in a deal worth up to £20m. The exit generated...
NETHERLANDS - Shell Technology Ventures partially exits At Balance
Shell Technology Ventures has sold a minority stake in At Balance, a Dutch company that provides technology for drilling oil and gas wells. The transaction will give At Balance access to pressure equipment and services supplied by Smith, a supplier of...
UK - YFM full exit from Cozart realises 4x
YFM Private Equity has announced the full exit from its investment in medical diagnostics business Cozart Plc. Over the course of its six year involvement in the company, YFM has seen returns of 4x. Cozart has been acquired by AIM-listed Concateno Plc...
FINLAND - 3i and Profita sell Empower to AAC Capital Partners
3i and Profita Fund II Ky have sold Empower, a Finnish service provider for the energy and telecommunications sector, to AAC Capital Partners (previously ABN AMRO Capital). No financial information has been revealed. 3i first invested in the business...
FINLAND - Bridgepoint completes recapitalisation of A-Katsastus Group Oy
Bridgepoint has completed a refinancing of A-Katsastus, the Finnish vehicle distributor. The debt facility is structured as a EUR 75m term loan A; EUR 75m term loan B; EUR 75m term loan C and EUR 10m revolving credit facility. On top of this, there is...
UK - Enterprise Ventures realises 50% IRR on sale of TC Wild
Enterprise Ventures has wholly exited its stake in TC Wild Ltd, a manufacturer of forged precision rings for the aerospace, oil, gas and power generation sectors, through a management buy-back deal. The exit generated a return of 2.3x the money invested...
UK - NVM achieves 6x return from sale of Barony
NVM Private Equity has wholly exited its stake in aerosol products manufacturer Barony Universal Products in a trade sale to Questbridge, the Russia-based owners of JSE Arnest, for an undisclosed sum. The sale generated a 6x return on the money invested...
UK - Graphite realises 7.6x returns from sale of Huntress to Nomura
Graphite Capital has sold recruitment specialist Huntress Group to Nomura in a secondary management buyout. Graphite achieved total returns of 7.6x the money invested, representing an IRR of 38.5%. The value of the deal was understood to be in the region...
FRANCE - LFPI exits recycling business
La Financière Patrimoniale d'Investissement (LFPI) has sold its stake in Bartin Recycling Group, a company which collects, treats and recycles industrial waste, to larger competitor Veolia Propreté.
UK - ECI sells Bounty for £70m
ECI Partners has agreed to sell Bounty, the UK’s largest parenting club for £70m. The acquirer is Kaboose, the largest independent family-focused online media company in North America. Since funding the management buyout of Bounty in December 2004,...
UK - Phoenix-backed Gaucho scraps IPO
Phoenix Equity Partners portfolio company Gaucho has abandoned its plan to float on the London Stock Exchange. The restaurant chain has been owned by Phoenix since August 2006 when it bought it as part of a £55m secondary buyout from Barclays Private...
GERMANY – Strategic Value Partners to exit Vestolit
According to the German press, US Strategic Value Partners plans to exit Vestolit, a Marl-based producer of PVC. Strategic Value Partners bought the company from a Candover-led consortium last year.
SWEDEN - EQT lists Duni for EUR 250m
EQT-backed Duni Holding AB, the Swedish catering supplier, has been listed on OMX Nordic Exchange. The listing comprises 28,200,00 shares at SEK 50 per share representing a market-capitalisation of EUR 250m. The IPO was approximately twice oversubscribed...
UK - Promethean-backed traded endowment policy business to float
Promthean Investments portfolio company T.I.S. Group has announced its intention to seek a listing on AIM. T.I.S is a UK market leader in traded endowment policies and distributor of institutional funds. As part of the IPO, the group intends to raise...
UK - SEGF achieves 27% IRR from Hockway exit
The South East Growth Fund (SEGF) has wholly exited its stake in Hockway Ltd, a supplier of cathodic protection equipment, in a secondary management buyout for an undisclosed sum, realising an IRR of 27%.
SWITZERLAND – Argos Soditic to reap 12x return with Maillefer
unquote” has learned that Argos Soditic will announce its exit from Swiss company Maillefer next week.
BELGIUM - Gilde portfolio company Ablynx raises EUR 75m in Euronext Brussels
Gilde portfolio company Ablynx has raised EUR 75m in the largest biotech IPO on Euronext Brussels. The IPO was priced at EUR 7 per share. Pursuant to the offering, 10,714,285 new shares, equivalent to EUR 75m will be issued by Ablynx, and additionally,...
PORTUGAL - Change Partners reaps 20% IRR from Acacia sale
Change Partners, ISQ Capital and PME-FSCR have agreed to sell their entire stakes in Acacia Semiconductor to Irish electronics firm S3.
SWEDEN - EQT Sells Duni shares to Melby Gård
Melby Gård has entered an agreement with EQT to acquire between 20.01-29.99% of shares in Duni AB in connection with the IPO of Duni, at the same price as other investors in the IPO. The IPO of Duni is expected to be announced on 14 November 2007.
GERMANY – Earlybird sells AbaXX Technology AG
Earlybird portfolio company, AbaXX Technology AG has been acquired by Dutch software company, Cordys. Earlybird and 3i provided the company with early-stage funding in 2000. Three further rounds of funding followed in which BayTech also participated.
GERMANY – Earlybird sells remaining stake in Tipp24 AG
Earlybird sold its remaining shares in Tipp24 AG, an internet business listed on the Prime Standard in Frankfurt. Its flotation in October 2005 was 15x oversubscribed. Earlybird provided early-stage financing to Tipp24 in 1999 and led the second round...
UK - Virgin Active to float next year
Health and fitness group Virgin Active is due to float next year. Bridgepoint and Permira are both minority shareholders in Virgin Active, the UK's second-largest chain of gyms, following Virgin's acquisition of Holmes Place. Bridgepoint and Permira together...
UK - Sovereign reaps 5.7x return from Complete sale
Sovereign Capital has wholly exited its stake in homecare services provider Complete Group in a £33m trade sale to Claimer Care Group Plc, generating returns of 5.7x the money invested and an IRR of 51%.
SWEDEN - 3i sells Coor Service Management Group to Cinven for EUR 540m
3i has sold its stake in Coor Service Management Group AB, a service management sector, to Cinven for approximately EUR 540m.