Deals
UK - Aberdeen divests childcare portfolio company
Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital has sold Tender Loving Childcare Ltd (TLC) to Busy Bees Group Ltd, for an undisclosed sum. Aberdeen invested £1.7m of development capital in TLC in October 2000 to fund the rollout of a chain of purpose built nursery...
GERMANY – Holtzbrinck Ventures and European Founders Fund invest in AdScale
Holtzbrinck Ventures and European Founders Fund invested a medium seven figure sum in AdScale in a second round of financing. The size of the first financing round – to which Oliver Jung and Lukasz Gadowski contributed – is undisclosed. AdScale is...
GERMANY/NETHERLANDS – Triangle invest EUR 4.1m in German/Dutch iOpener
Triangle Venture Capital Group has raised EUR 4.1m in seed financing for real-time game engine company iOpener. Its first product is based on innovations from the European Space Agency, which allow the efficient transmission of telemetric data from a...
UK - JC Flowers eyes up Friends Provident again
The US private equity firm JC Flowers is believed to have offered 175p per share, or £4.1bn, for UK insurer Friends Provident. JC Flowers had shown an interest in Northern Rock at the early-stages of the "auction" for the lender. Last week, JC Flowers...
UK - Infrastructure player crashes Biffa deal with £1.5bn offer
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is reported to be making a £1.5bn offer for waste services company Biffa. Last month, Biffa opened its books to HgCapital and Montagu Private Equity after they made a £1.2bn joint bid for the London-listed group.
GERMANY - High-Tech Gründerfonds invests in search tools company kinkaa.de
High-Tech Gründerfonds GmbH & Co. KG and other investors invested in kinkaa Search Tools GmbH. The company is based in Frankfurt and Palo Alta, Silicon Valley, and operates kinkaa.de, an Internet meta search engine specialised on travels. The search...
GERMANY – Gruenderfonds Bielfeld-Ostwestfalen closes first investment
e-Capital advised Gruenderfonds Bielefeld-Ostwestfalen has joined KfW and High-Tech Gruenderfonds in investing an undisclosed sum in Divolution – Digital Revolution Technology GmbH. Divolution, based in Detmold, offers web analysis, testing and targeting...
ITALY - Ergon acquires 50% stake in industrial manufacturer
Belgian Ergon Capital Partners has agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Nicotra-Gebhardt from Fondo Interbancario d'Investimento Azionario in a deal valued at approximately EUR 80m.
NETHERLANDS - Private Plus and Heicop acquire Lightweight Structures
Private Plus Fund and Heicop together with the management have acquired all shares in Lightweight Structures.
FRANCE - Argos Soditic exits Dorotennis after a second MBO
In a second MBO, BCBG Max Azria Group acquired Dorotennis in a deal which saw Argos Soditic exit the company. Financial details were not disclosed.
FRANCE – Demeter Partners invest EUR 1.2m in Panosol
Demeter Partners has led a series-A round of funding for start-up Panosol investing EUR 1.2m. The founders retained a majority of the capital.
BELGIUM - KBC NV invests EUR 8m in Lenaerts-Blommaert
KBC NV has invested EUR 8m in Lenaerts-Blommaert, a company that sells and leases mobile units, machinery and equipment for the building sector.
SWEDEN - Verdane acquires four companies from Brainhart Capital
Verdane Capital has acquired four unlisted companies from Brainhart Capital for an undisclosed sum.
SPAIN - Ahorro Coporación-backed Aurgi defaults on debt
Ahorro Corporación's portfolio automotive sector company Aurgi has reportedly defaulted on its debt repayments.
GERMANY - Business angels invest six figure sum in drug portal apomio.de
Business angels Lukasz Gadowski and Oliver Jung have invested a six figure sum in apomio GmbH, which runs an independent online portal for price comparisons of drugs, care and food products. The company is set to capitalise on changes in the legal framework...
UK - Matrix realises 3.3x from full BBI exit
Matrix Private Equity Partners has realised over 3.3x its original investment of £2.3m through the sale of its shareholding in AIM-listed BBI Holdings Plc. Matrix originally invested in BBI, a healthcare business that focuses on diagnostics and diabetes,...
FRANCE – Platina Finance exits Société Française d’Eoliennes
Platina Finance exited its 25% share in Société Française d’Eoliennes with the sale of the company to Sogernia. Lazard was appointed by Platina and other investors to organise the auction process which saw around 20 offers being placed for Société...
GERMANY/NETHERLANDS - Triangle Venture Capital Group leads EUR 4.1m funding for iOpener
Triangle Venture Capital Group has led a EUR 4.1m investment in iOpener. iOpener has developed a technology to map real-world competitions such as Formula 1 to an artificial world, allowing gamers to participate in the race virtually and in real time....
FRANCE – Astorg Partners exits Pizza Pino
Astorg Partners has sold its 76% share of restaurant chain Pizza Pino, valued at around EUR 32m, back to founder André Sfez and businessman Lucien Urano. The deal saw André Sfez use his veto to block an exclusive deal which had been set up between Astorg...
GERMANY - Heidelberg Innovation leads 4.6m series-c round for IonGate
Lead investor Heidelberg Innovation and KfW (Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau) have closed the third funding round for biotechnology company IonGate Biosciences GmbH which has raised a total of EUR 4.6m. Previous investments included a seed financing in...
UK - Catapult supports £500,000 FDTEK funding
Catapult Venture Managers has invested £330,000 as part of a £500,000 financing round for information technology company FDTEK Holdings Ltd.
UK - The Capital Fund backs £450,000 2sms financing
The Capital Fund has invested £250,000 as part of a £450,000 financing round for mobile phone messaging services provider 2sms. The balance of the equity has been supplied by Richard Goldstein, an experienced SME investor, who has joined the 2sms board.
SWEDEN - Sunstone leads SEK 40m round in CMC Contrast
Sunstone Capital has invested SEK 40m in CMC Contrast, a medical imaging company, together with existing investors øresund Healthcare Capital and Malmöhus Invest.
RUSSIA - Bessemer invests in Enforta
Bessemer Venture Partners has invested in Enforta, a Russian WIMAX network operator, in a $40m funding round.