Deals
Ventizz Capital Partners backs CardFactory AG
Ventizz Capital Fund II LP, advised by Ventizz Capital Partners, has acquired a minority stake in CardFactory AG. The stake was acquired from a consortium of business angels led by Dr Cornelius Boersch and Friedrich von Diest.
ISIS sells Language Line for £25m
ISIS Equity Partners has announced the sale of Language Line to Language Line Inc for ТЃ25m. Language Line is a UK provider of telephone interpretation services. ISIS invested in Language Line in August 2003 leading a ТЃ15m secondary buyout from ECI....
Charterhouse to exit Lucite
Charterhouse intends to exit its investment in Lucite. The private equity house recently mandated Deutsche Bank to handle the sale after receiving unsolicited approaches from trade buyers. The possible value of a sale has been estimated at ТЃ1.4bn, with...
MPS Venture acquires 40% of Eulip
MPS Venture SGR SpA has acquired a 40% stake in the specialist oil producer Eulip Srl for an undisclosed amount. Other private investors hold the remaining 60%.
Permira in $765m US deal
Permira has announced that a new holding company advised by Permira funds has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aearo Technologies Inc., one of the world’s leading designers, manufacturers and marketers of a broad range of personal protective products...
Granville Baird backs buyout of Paddock Fabrications
Granville Baird Capital Partners (GBCP) has backed the management buyout of Paddock Fabrications Ltd from private vendors. The ТЃ8.9m investment is the second UK transaction from GBCPтs 7th Fund and was supported by a debt package provided by Royal Bank...
DxO Labs receives EUR 10.6m from VC syndicate
DxO Labs, a French software company developing advanced image processing technologies for the mobile imaging industry and other digital consumer imaging markets, has announced the closing of a EUR 10.6m round of funding. Apax Partners France led the new...
Clave Mayor completes MBI of Beal Trading
Funds managed by the Spanish private equity firm Clave Mayor have acquired a 70% majority stake in Beal Trading. The total value of the transaction has not been disclosed.
Vienna-based Nabriva receives EUR 42m in early-stage funding
A syndicate of investors led by Nomura, including Global Life Science Ventures, HBM Bioventures, Novartis Bioventures and Wellcome has provided EUR 42m in financing to antibiotic research concern Nabriva GmbH. GLSV committed EUR 6m in the series A financing...
Mega-deals boost technology M&A, says PwC report
The battle for top line growth and new customers drove the global value of technology mergers and acquisitions (M&A) up by almost 90% in 2005, with the top three deals accounting for over EUR 25bn alone. Despite an increase in deal numbers of just 2%...
Matrix backs buyout of Vectair Systems
Vectair Systems Ltd, a leading provider of air care and sanitary washroom products, has been sold by private investors, including its co-founder to its management team in a £3.5m management buyout. Matrix Private Equity Partners invested £1.1m with the...
3i invests in fashion retailer Défimode
3i has announced that it is investing approximately EUR 20m in the French retail chain Défimode. The directors Bernard Montel, Dominique Montel and Bernard Vaissade are retaining the majority of the capital. Boosted by these increased financial resources,...
Tile maker IPO for Permira
Marazzi, the Italian tile maker, is expected to IPO in February with a market value of up to EUR 1.25bn. The company is owned by the Marazzi family and Permira, which holds a 33% interest in the firm. The family is expected to hold around 50% of the company’s...
Red-M secures £5.4m further funding
Close Venture Management (CVM) has invested ТЃ750,000 in Red-M Group, a leading provider of services and products for managed wireless infrastructures. The investment was part of a ТЃ5.4m funding round, led by Pi Capital and including in addition to Close,...
CVM supports RFI with £2m funding round
Close Venture Management has invested £2m in RFI Global Services Ltd. Close is the sole investor in RFI, which provides third party testing of sophisticated electronic and wireless devices and sub systems. The investment was made across a number of Close’s...
EQT sells Findus to Capvest portfolio firm
EQT II has signed an agreement with FoodVest, a holding company controlled by private equity firm CapVest Equity Partners, to sell Findus AB. EQT acquired Findus from Nestlé SA in January 2000 and since then has substantially restructured and reshaped...
Capital Fund invests in TXT4
A company that provides automated mobile response systems for advertising and recruitment campaigns has raised ТЃ250,000 from The Capital Fund, a ТЃ50m venture capital fund that invests in fast-growth companies in Greater London. TXT4 was advised by GP...
Terra Firma in $2.5bn aircraft leasing buyout
Terra Firma, the private equity group, has announced the acquisition of AWAS Aviation Holdings LLC (AWAS) for $2.5bn from Morgan Stanley. The acquisition is being funded by a mixture of equity and debt underwritten by JP Morgan, which also acted as financial...
STAR Capital in German double
STAR Capital Partners, the European investment fund focused on investing in capital intensive businesses, has announced the completion on 30th December 2005 of two new deals in Germany: Abellio GmbH and GSES GmbH. The combined equity investment (including...
Initiative & Finance and Carvest acquire M&A Santé Beauté
Initiative & Finance has recently released details of the buyout of M&A Santé Beauté alongside the firm's management led by Bernard and Philippe Chevilliat. The investor provided a total of EUR 2.2m; Carvest also made an undisclosed equity investment....
HMV shares up on possible buyout rumours
According to a report in The Sunday Times, music and book retailer HMV is being lined up for an approach from a private equity firm. The speculation centres on plans by Permira to acquire the company for around ТЃ800m.
3i sells Witwood Food stake to management
3i has sold its minority shareholding in Witwood Food Products, a manufacturer of specialist food coatings for the frozen and chilled food industry.
Kennet invests $8m in Adviva Media
Kennet Venture Partners has invested $8m in Adviva Media, the UK-based online advertising network for brand advertisers.
Granville Baird leads Paddock MBO
Granville Baird Capital Partners, the international mid-market private equity firm, has today invested ТЃ8.9m in Paddock Holdings Ltd, the UK market leader in the design and manufacture of high quality, multi point door locks. The funding from Granville...