Deals
UK - Bridges backs Birmingham-based School Stickers with £1.42m of funding
Bridges Community Ventures has invested £1.42m in School Stickers, a Birmingham-based manufacturer of customised motivational stickers and postcards for schools. This is Bridges 2nd investment from its new fund, Bridges Community Development Venture...
UK - Welsh biopharmaceutical company receives £1m investment
The Welsh Assembly Government has invested £1m through its SMARTCymru programme to Protherics Plc, a biopharmaceutical company which has its main manufacturing operations in Ceredigion. The grant will be used to support the manufacture of Protherics’...
UK - 3i and Esprit exit CPS for $35m
Cambridge Positioning Systems Ltd (CPS), a 3i and Esprit Capital portfolio company, has been sold to CSR Plc for a total consideration of $35m. 3i and Esprit, through the Prelude Trust, first invested in CPS via a £1.75m funding round in 1998. Two further...
UK - Extra time called in 3i's Countrywide bid
A vote which would have decided the fate of 3i's mooted £966m take-private offer for Countrywide was postponed yesterday. Sources reported that an unofficial vote saw less than the required 75% of shareholders accepting the offer and consequently the...
UK - North West Equtiy Fund invests £250,000 in medical communications company
North West Equity Fund has invested £250,000 into Cheshire-based CSF Medical Communications Limited (CSF).
SWITZERLAND - 4-Antibody raises CHF 17m series-A financing round
4-Antibody AG has received a CHF 17m series-A financing round led by new investor Advent Venture Partners, together with existing lead investors Life Sciences Partners (LSP) and BioMedinvest AG. All other existing investors Grazia Equity, Mulligan Biocapital...
FRANCE - ACE Management and 123Venture invest EUR 3m in Tetco
ACE Management and 123Venture have invested EUR 3m in the third round of funding for VoIP software developer Tetco. ACE Management invested on behalf of Advance Capital Europe, UFF Innovation III and Financière de Brienne.
GERMANY - BayBG invests in biotech company
Venture capital investor BayBG Bayerische Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH has invested an undisclosed amount in CANDOR Bioscience GmbH, a supplier and service provider for GLP laboratories and pharmaceutical industry. The company will use the new capital...
UK - Carlyle in another defence deal
Carlyle is reported to have teamed up with BAE to acquire the Devonport naval yard in Plymouth from the Ministry of Defence. The yard, at which nuclear submarines are serviced, is likely to benefit from a £25bn proposal to replace the current submarine...
UK - Barclays Ventures acquires Christy Group in £21m deal
Barclays Ventures has backed the £21m management buyout of Christy Group Ltd, a designer, importer and distributor of children’s dress-up costumes based in Barnsley. Christy supplies major retailers worldwide such as Walmart/ASDA, Tesco, Marks and...
FRANCE - Innovacom backs online data stocking software developer
Software developer Agematis has received its first round of funding from French investor Innovacom. The private equity investor injected EUR 2.5m in the company.
SWEDEN - AOL launches $900m offer for VC-backed TradeDoubler
AOL has made a cash tender offer to acquire online marketing solutions company TradeDoubler AB for SEK 215 per share. Funds managed by TowerBrook Capital Partners, Arctic Ventures, Prosper Capital and Four Seasons Venture (now called Verdane Capital)...
FRANCE - Argan Capital to back buyout of luggage maker Delsey
Mid-cap private equity firm Argan Capital has announced it has signed an agreement to back the buyout of the world's second largest travel luggage maker Delsey.
UK - Oak Hill to acquire United Utilities' outsourcing business
A private equity consortium headed up by Oak Hill, the US group, is to acquire the United Utilities' business outsourcing division, Vertex. The £220m deal follows United Utilities decision to sell Vertex due to falling profits within the division.
SWEDEN - 3i, InnovationsKapital and smac partners sell Nordnav for $75m
3i, InnovationsKapital and smac partners have sold Nordnav, a provider of GPS software solutions for mobile devices, to Camebridge Silicon Radio. The purchase price for all shares in the company is approximately $75m and InnovationsKapital has generated...
UK - Imperial Innovations invests in Equinox Pharma
Imperial Innovations Group plc has invested £250,000 in Equinox Pharma Limited, a company providing advanced software products to the pharma and biopharma industry. The investment in Equinox was part of a £500,000 seed funding round, which also included...
UK - Tate & Lyle Ventures makes first investment
Tate & Lyle Ventures, a fund launched with backing from the sugar refiner and ingredients producer to invest in next generation food ingredients, has completed its first deal. The fund has invested in food safety diagnostics company Lumora Ltd, a spin-out...
FRANCE - Novexel receives Europe's largest biotech fundraising in 12 months
Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners has led a EUR 50m series-B funding for Paris-based Novexel, a laboratory which researches and develops novel types of anti-infectives for the treatment of bacterial and fungal infections.
ESTONIA - Celecure receives EUR 1.6m from four Skype founders
Ambient Sound Investments (ASI) has agreed to invest EUR 1.6m in Estonian biotechnology drug developer Celecure to accelerate the international breakthrough of its projects.
BELGIUM - Barclays Private Equity France acquires Desmet Ballestra
Barclays Private Equity France has acquired a majority stake in Desmet Ballestra, operative in the fields of engineering and supply of plants and equipment for the edible oil industry, the detergent-surfactants and related chemical industry and the oleochemical...
UK - Barclays Ventures exits Ancyra in £22m deal
Barclays Ventures has realised its investment in Care Holdings Ltd, an operator of care homes for the elderly which trades as Ancyra Health Ltd. The investor made the exit via a trade sale to Aermid Health Care Ltd following a direct approach to the vendors....
FRANCE - XAnge Capital raises EUR 15m
XAnge Private Equity's evergreen investment vehicle XAnge Capital has completed its second fundraising. The vehicle, which was created in April 2003, gathered EUR 15m from its previous investors.
UK - The Capital Fund provides instant messaging provider with £250,000
The Capital Fund has provided secure instant messaging service provider, Presence Networks, with £250,000 of expansion capital. One of a series of significant investments in Presence Networks, The Capital Fund’s backing will help take the company’s...
UK - Finance Wales invests £600,000 in animation company
Wales’ largest independent animation studio is planning further international expansion after securing a £600,000 capital investment from Finance Wales which will see it take a minority stake in the company. BAFTA award-winning company, Calon, will...