Deals

UK - Dunedin leads MBO of WFEL Ltd

Dunedin Capital Partners has led the £48m management buyout of WFEL Ltd, a designer and manufacturer of mobile bridging systems and related products. Dunedin provided £21m of equity, for a majority stake, alongside a debt package of £27.5m provided...

FRANCE - Seventure invests in online insurance broker

Seventure, formerly known as Spef Venture, has invested EUR 3m in a EUR 4.2m first round of institutional funding in online insurance broker AssurOne. The remainder was provided by business angels, including Hubert Saltiel, former CEO of Saltiel Assurances...

UK - Gresham sells Busy Bees for £71m

Gresham Private Equity has agreed to sell childcare provider Busy Bees to Australian company ABC Learning Centres Ltd in a deal worth £71m. The exit generated a 3.6x return on Gresham's investment. Gresham first backed Busy Bees in February 2000 with...

UK - Alchemy bids for Floors-2-Go Plc

Alchemy Partners has tabled a £52.4m bid for AIM-listed real wood and laminate flooring specialist Floors-2-Go Plc. The offer of 40p per share through a bid vehicle advised by Close Brothers Corporate Finance represents a 53.8% premium to the closing...

GERMANY – PPM Capital acquires orizon AG

PPM Capital has acquired the German temporary employment agency orizon AG for approximately EUR 200m from its main shareholder GL Aktiengesellschaft, Hamburg, and other private investors. The transaction is subject to approval by the antitrust authorities.

SWEDEN - CapMan invests EUR 1.4m in QuickCool

Funds managed by CapMan will invest EUR 1.4m in Swedish medtech company QuickCool AB, a developer of a new method to prevent brain damage by cooling of the brain. CapMan Life Science IV Fund will have a 25% stake in the company. The majority of the remaining...

GERMANY - Advent to acquire the Oxo Group

Advent International has agreed to acquire Celanese Corporation’s “oxo” products and derivatives businesses for EUR 480m. The acquisition comprises the oxo chemicals and derivatives activities of Celanese and the European Oxo GmbH joint venture...

SWEDEN - Segulah buys Isaberg Rapid

Segulah has acquired Isaberg Rapid, a wholly owned subsidiary of the listed investment company Industrivärden. Isaberg Rapid focuses on the manufacturing and marketing of staplers and staples, under the brand name Rapid. In 2005, it recorded revenues...

GERMANY – NORD Holding acquires Shipbuilding Division

Hannover-based NORD Holding Unternehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaft mbH has announced it is to acquire a 70% stake in R & M Ship Technologies Group from the Bilfinger Berger Group. The management team led by CEO Joachim Buttke will hold the balance.

AUSTRIA – KKR exits remaining stake in Zumtobel

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co has sold its remaining shares in Austrian lighting company Zumtobel Group. The financial investor held a 5.5% stake in Zumtobel after the company’s IPO on the Vienna Stock Exchange (ATX) on 12 May 2006. The transaction was...

SPAIN - Primmera acquires Recycling Hispania

Private equity firm Primmera Inversiones en Desarrollo has acquired 100% of Recycling Hispania for approximately EUR 6m. The company, with headquarters in Madrid, carries out glass cleaning and collection services and it is one of the main players in...

SPAIN - Doughty Hanson and Apax in competition for Avanza

Reports in the Spanish press suggest that the final dispute for Avanza is between Apax Partners and Doughty Hanson. The firms are said to have submitted the most attractive bids to acquire the majority of the shares in the transport group from its founders....

ITALY - Lay Line Genomics attracts private equity interest

Biopharmaceutical company Lay Line Genomics has reached an exclusive licensing agreement with Dutch biotech group PanGenetics for the development of the antibody Hu-alphaD11, a product with similar analgesic properties to those of morphine but less agressive...

UK - Cineworld calls off talks with VUE

It is understood that Cineworld has called off talks with VUE about a possible merger between the two private equity-backed companies in favour of an IPO. Cineworld, backed by Blackstone since 2005, has twice called off a flotation in the last year citing...