Deals
UK - Hermes backs Mayfair Gaming to acquire Beacon Bingo
Hermes Private Equity, together with Mayfair Gaming, has acquired Thomas Estates, the owner of three large Beacon Bingo clubs, and 24 Showboat adult gaming centres (AGCs), from the Thomas family. Deloitte and Linklaters advised Hermes Private Equity and...
CZECH REPUBLIC - Mid Europa sells cable company
Central and Eastern European investor Mid Europa Partners (MEP) has sold its 82% stake in Czech cable company Karneval Media to UPC, the Czech Republic’s number one player. The EUR 322.5m deal saw the bankers of UPC (Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan) take control...
UK - NBGI Private Equity acquires recruitment business for £11.2m
NBGI Private Equity has acquired hotgroupтs traditional recruitment consultancy business for ТЃ11.2m from Trinity Mirror plc, the UKтs largest newspaper publisher. The business has been renamed тOchre Houseт.
GERMANY - Baird Capital Partners Europe acquires Prettl
Baird Capital Partners Europe has acquired a majority stake in Prettl Appliance Systems Group. The company, which is being sold by its family owners, specialises in the development and production of control panels for white goods.
FINLAND - Sentica buys cleaning solutions business
A fund managed by Sentica Partners has acquired the entire share capital of Finnish industrial cleaning technology supplier Finnsonic Ltd.
SPAIN - 3i sells its stake in TCB
Private equity firm 3i has sold its 30% stake in logistics operator Group TCB (Terminal de Contenidors de Barcelona), to the family Pérez Maura, owner of shipping management group Pérez y Cía. The deal value has not been disclosed.
GERMANY - BayBG and S-Partner finance StarMedTech spin-out
BayBG and S-Partner Kapital AG have together financed the management buyout of the urological laser unit of WaveLight AG. Based in Starnberg, the new company will henceforth go by the name StarMedTec GmbH. The company will continue its activities as a...
UK - Lion Capital acquires Kettle chips with KP Snacks in sight
Lion Capital made the first step on its bid to become the second largest company in the UK snacks market, behind market-leader PepsiCo. It acquired Kettle foods, the maker of Kettle Chips in a deal which values the US-headquartered company at approximately...
ITALY - Carlyle and Finmeccanica sell Avio to Cinven for EUR 2.57bn
The Italian defence group Finmeccanica, and private equity giant Carlyle Group have sold aerospace engine maker Avio to Cinven. The enterprise value of the deal is EUR 2.57bn. Finmeccanica's stake of 30% will be sold for EUR 430m. At the same time, the...
UK - Beringea sells Mergermarket to Financial Times Group
Beringea has agreed to sell portfolio company Mergermarket to the Financial Times Group, a subsidiary of Pearson Plc, the global media company. The sale is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in Q3 2006 and will generate a total...
UK - Morgan Crucible to be next private equity target?
According to a report in the Financial Times today, the industrial ceramics and defence materials maker Morgan Crucible has disclosed that it has received a takeover approach.
SWEDEN - Altor buys 80% of Dustin
Altor is to acquire 80% of the shares in Dustin, a company trading computers and computer equipment via the internet and by mail order. The remaining shares will be retained by the founders and the current owners.
SWEDEN - SciBase secures SEK 100m in growth funding
SciBase AB, a Swedish medical technology company, has secured a SEK 100m investment. The investors include Investor Growth Capital, SEB Företagsinvest and CapMan. Following the transaction, the three venture capital groups control 80% of the company....
UK - Ingenious backs Travis album
Ingenious has announced that its Music VCT funds have made their latest investment by backing Travisт fifth album, currently scheduled for release later this year. Travis has been working on their forthcoming album with producer Nigel Godrich who has...
UK - CBPE backs MBO of Rosemont Pharmaceuticals for £93m
Close Brothers Private Equity (CBPE) has announced that it has backed the management buyout of Rosemont Pharmaceuticals, a leading developer and manufacturer of oral liquid medicines. The purchase from previous owners, Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc, a NASDAQ-quoted...
UK - Ventus invests in Craig Wind Farm Ltd
The Ventus group of funds have invested ТЃ2.7m in Craig Wind Farm Ltd. The proceeds of the investment will be used to construct a 10 megawatt wind farm on Craig Farm, an active sheep farm in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Electricity generated from the site...
UK - Summit sells shareholding in Global Address
The Summit Group, the independent venture capital business specialising in seed and development capital, and its 41.5% owned investment company, Summit Alpha, announce the sale of their investment in Global Address (formerly Optima Database Management...
UK - Quester realises investment in Sibelius
Quester has announced the realisation by Quester VCT Plc of its investment in Sibelius Software Ltd, the leading music applications software company, through its acquisition by Avid Technology Inc, a NASDAQ-listed technology company.
UK - Possible Macquarie bid for Thames Water to be strengthened
Terra Firma's bid for Thames Water faces intensified competition as the Sunday Times reports that Macquarie may be teaming up with Alinta, the Australian infrastructure group to make a bid for RWE-held Thames Water.
UK - Further activity in the gym industry
The Sunday Times reports that there is to be further consolidation in the gym industry as the owners of both Esporta and Cannons look to sell their businesses. Esporta is held by Duke Street Capital which is expected to be able to sell the company for...
UK - Candover to bid for Trinity Mirror's newspapers
According to a report in the Observer, Candover is expected to emerge as a bidder for Trinity Mirror's newspapers that include the Daily Mirror, the Liverpool Echo and the Sunday Mirror. The announcement last week that the group was to conduct a strategic...
NL- KKR, Silver Lake and AlpInvest to acquire Philips' chip division
Royal Philips Electronics has announced that it has signed an agreement with KKR, Silver Lake Partners and AlpInvest Partners NV regarding the sale of an 80.1% stake in Philips' Semiconductors business. Philips will retain a 19.9% stake in the business....
UK - Signet Group eyed by Apax and KKR
Apax and KKR are reported to be considering a bid for Signet Group Plc, the company which owns the H Samuel and Ernest Jones shops in the UK and Kay Jewelers in the US.
UK - Qatar and UBS enter race for Thames Water
According to the Financial Times today a new competitor has entered the running to acquire Thames Water. Qatar's state-owned investment fund is reported to have teamed up with UBS's Global Infrastructure fund to make a bid for the company which could...