Deals
ITALY - Mobango secures backing from Doughty Hanson
Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures has invested EUR 2m in Mobango, an online and mobile services developer.
UK - Activist shareholders put pressure on 3i's Countrywide offer
It has emerged that investment group Artisan Partners and hedge fund Boussard & Gavaudan have been joined by another Countrywide shareholder, Standard Life, in opposing 3i's 490p per share offer for the estate agency chain. The three investors argue that...
UK - ISIS backs £33m buyout of AITCL
ISIS Equity Partners has backed the £33m management buyout of Anglo Irish Trust Company Ltd (AITCL). The investor provided £13m from its ISIS III fund to acquire a significant minority stake in the Isle of Man-based offshore trust and company administration...
GERMANY - Buchanan Capital Partners acquires stake in time:matters
Funds advised by Buchanan Capital Partners have acquired a majority stake in time:matters GmbH, the Neu-Isenburg-based specialist logistics company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa Cargo AG.
UK - Wellington Partners leads EUR 18m investment in Truphone
Wellington Partners has led an EUR 18m series-A funding round for London-based mobile VoIP start-up Truphone. Also participating in financing Truphone are existing investors Eden Ventures and a number of business angels, as well as Independent News and...
UK - Bank of Scotland backs MBO of Willis & Gambier
Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance has funded the £55m management buyout of Willis & Gambier Ltd, taking a minority stake in the company.
UK - Bank of Scotland backs demerger of components division from Nylacast
Nylacast has agreed a demerger of its components division with backing from Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance in a deal worth over £30m. The components division of Nylacast supplies names such as Delphi, JCB, Caterpillar and GSK with highly engineered...
UK - More bad news for Countrywide deal
Sources report that UK hedge fund Boussard & Gavaudan has amassed a 5% stake in Countrywide and intends to oppose 3i's recommended 490p per share offer.
HUNGARY - GMT and Mid Europa sell Invitel for EUR 470m
GMT Communications Partners and Mid Europa Partners have announced that they have agreed to sell Hungary’s second largest fixed line telecoms operator Invitel Távközlési ZRt. to Hungarian Telephone & Cable Corp for EUR 470m. The two financial investors...
GERMANY - ANYCOM floats successfully
The producer of wireless communication accessories based on bluetooth technology has floated 690,000 new shares on the Entry Standard in Frankfurt above the issue price of EUR 8. ANYCOM receives gross proceeds of around EUR 5.5m from the IPO, and will...
ITALY - Private equity firms court Fastweb
Reports in the Italian press suggest that three international private equity firms may be interested in buying Fastweb, Italy's second-largest fixed-line telephone company.
SWEDEN - 3i makes 10x its money on Nordic Modular
3i, together with the management of Nordic Modular, has signed an agreement to sell all the shares in Nordic Modular to Kungsleden AB, a Stockholm-listed real estate company. The sale price is approximately EUR 100m and includes the subsidiaries Flexator,...
GERMANY - The Riverside Company acquires AIS Group
The Riverside Company has acquired Advanced Information Systems Group (AIS Group), a technology solutions provider to the automotive, aerospace and steel industries. Nord LB provided financing for the deal.
BELGIUM - Movetis raises EUR 49m
Drug development company Movetis NV has secured EUR 49m in a series-A round of financing led by Sofinnova Partners and Life Sciences Partners and including Sofinnova Ventures, KBC, GIMV, Quest for Growth and BIP Investment Partners.
UK - LDC backs MBO of Cable Management Group
LDC has backed the management buyout of Cable Management Group (CMG). The investment will support new product development, expansion of export markets and future acquisitions. Headquartered in Coleshill, Birmingham, CMG is the UK market leader in the...
UK - West Coast Capital and Bank of Scotland Corporate to raise bid for house builder
West Coast Capital, the private equity vehicle of Scottish entrepenuer Tom Hunter, and Bank of Scotland Corporate may raise their offer for housebuilding company Crest Nicholson this week. The consortium placed a 585p per share offer for the company in...
UK - 3i's bid for Countrywide prompts disagreement
3i's recommended £940m delisting of Countrywide is the subject of shareholder and board wrangling. Last week, Artisan Partners contacted investors arguing that the 490p per share offer, which includes 0.165 shares in property website Rightmove, did not...
UK - Advent Venture Partners leads $10m investment in Open Cloud
OpenCloud Ltd, a leading supplier of next generation application servers to the telecommunications industry, has received its first institutional funding in a round led by Advent Venture Partners. The round, totalling $10.25m, includes investment from...
DENMARK - Hymite secures EUR 9m in funding
Technology company Hymite A/S has raised a series preferred B financing round totaling EUR 9m. The investors include TVM Capital, InnovationsKapital, Dansk Kapitalanlaeg, Vaekstfonden and IVS.
FINLAND - MB Funds buys VC-backed Forchem
MB Funds has signed an agreement to buy Forchem from shareholders including Bio Fund, Profita, OKO Venture Capital, Finnish Industry Investment and the management.
SPAIN - Apax divests stake in LaNetro Zed
According to reports in the Spanish press, Apax Partners is reported to have sold its 32% stake in LaNetro Zed, a content developer for the mobile and internet industries.
NL - Prosensa secures EUR 13.5m in funding
Biotechnology compnay Prosensa has secured EUR 13.5m in a series-A round led by Life Science Partners (LSP) and co-led by Abingworth. MedSciences Capital, an existing shareholder, also participated in the round. Prosensa is a Netherlands-based biotechnology...
UK - Sovereign Capital begins 2007 with three deals
Sovereign Capital has begun 2007 by announcing the completion of three platform investments, two of which are support services businesses. The first was the £10m BIMBO of London Property Maintenance Ltd, a Kent-based provider of contract cleaning, security...
UK - Matrix completes two buyouts in matter of weeks
Matrix Private Equity backed two management buyouts before the close of 2006, to bring its 2006 tally to eight new investments with an aggregate enterprise value of £65m. The first was the £14m management buyout of Pinewood, the leading UK manufacturer...