Deals
UK - Barclays Ventures supports £30m management buy-in
Barclays Ventures has backed a simultaneous £30m management buy-in of Amwell Systems and Twyford Bushboard. The combined businesses create the UK’s leading independent designer, manufacturer, supplier and installer of both traditional washroom systems...
UK - Amec rejects £1.5bn bid from TPG and First Reserve
A takeover bid by Texas Pacific Group and First Reserve for engineering services group Amec has been rejected by its board. It was reported that the offer, at £1.5bn, was rebuffed on the grounds that it did not value the company highly enough. Analysts...
GERMANY - Symrise to float by the end of 2006
The German flavours and fragrances company Symrise has announced that it intends to float shares worth EUR 650m in an initial public offering by the end of this year.
GERMANY - Permira exits Premiere
Permira is selling its stake in German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere. The transaction, which involves Permira's remaining 8.44% stake, is valued at approximately EUR 88m.
SWEDEN - Nordic Capital buys TietoEnator's stake in Personec
Nordic Capital Fund V has agreed to acquire TietoEnator’s shareholding as well as outstanding shareholder loans in Stockholm-headquartered Personec. After the transaction, Nordic Capital will control 100% of the company together with the management...
ITALY - Permira to sell Grandi Navi Veloci to private equity consortium
According to press reports, Permira is said to have reached an agreement with a consortium including buyout house Investitori Associati, Charme and De Agostini to sell its portfolio company Grandi Navi Veloci for over EUR 750m. Two years ago, Permira...
FRANCE - Cerenis receives EUR 42.1m in a second round of financing
Cerenis Therapeutics has gathered EUR 42.1m in its second round of institutional funding. TVM Capital and OrbiMed of the US join the existing investors, all of which renewed their commitments.
ITALY/GERMANY - Mediaset leaves competition for ProSiebenSat
Mediaset, the broadcasting giant owned by ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, is no longer in the competitive process for German television network ProSiebenSat.1 Media.
SWEDEN - TranSiC secures SEK 4m in funding
Energy business TranSiC AB has raised SEK 4m in a first round of funding from Volvo Technology Transfer AB and Midroc New Technology AB. Founded in 2005, TranSiC is a Stockholm Innovation & Growth incubator company. It aims to bring silicon carbide power...
ITALY - SG Capital Europe acquires majority stake in Modo & Modo
SG Capital Europe has acquired a 75% stake in Modo & Modo SpA, a manufacturer of paper stationery products under the Moleskine brand. The value has not been disclosed.
PORTUGAL - The Riverside Company acquires ONI
The Riverside Company has agreed to acquire ONI SGPS SA, the wire-line telecom unit of Portuguese utility Energias de Portugal. The deal is valued at EUR 160m, and is expected to close early next year.
UK - Investment management company moves to Liverpool
A specialist multi manager investment firm with over £100m of assets under management is expanding into Liverpool with backing from Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF). Mercater Capital Management has opened offices in Liverpool after receiving...
GERMANY - IPO for Quest for Growth portfolio company Wilex AG
Quest for Growth has announced that Wilex AG, its portfolio company, has successfully placed new shares in its IPO on the Frankfurt exchange. Wilex is a biopharmaceutical company based in Munich, which was founded in 1997 by a team of physicians and oncologists...
SWEDEN - Nordic Capital sells fitness club chain SATS
Nordic Capital Fund IV has entered into a binding agreement to divest fitness club chain SATS to Tryg i Danmark smba. Tryg i Danmark smba invests in companies within the healthcare and security sector. The completion of the transaction is subject to approval...
UK - Inflexion sells ACIS to The Carlyle Group
Inflexion Private Equity has sold its entire stake in Advanced Communications and Information Systems Ltd (ACIS) in a secondary buyout to The Carlyle Group. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
UK - Enterprise receives approach from unknown private equity company
A company which provides outsourced planned and reactive maintenance services to utility companies and local authorities, Enterprise, has received a takeover approach from an unknown private equity company.
FRANCE - Natexis and Crédit Agricole back buyout of luxury bottle maker
Natexis Industrie, Natexis Investissement and Crédit Agricole Private Equity have backed the buyout of Saverglass, a designer, manufacturer and distributor of luxury glass bottles and decanters.
UK - Alchemy in takeover bid for Cathedral Capital
Alchemy Partners is set to acquire insurance and reinsurance group Cathedral Capital after 80% of the unlisted public company's shareholders recommended the offer.
BELGIUM - Clear2Pay raises additional EUR 2m from Iris Capital
Clear2Pay,a Belgian software vendor of next generation payment solutions for financial institutions, has received a EUR 2m capital increase from Iris Capital. In addition, the telco and media venture capitalist has purchased existing equity for the value...
UK - Permira, TDR and Apollo bid for Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe, the chain of 121 restaurants, four hotels and two casinos owned by UK leisure group Rank is being sold. Bidders include Permira, TDR Capital and US-based Apollo Management as well as trade interest from Seminole Hard Rock Hotels and Casinos,...
FINLAND/UK - BioFund exits Ark Therapeutics
BioFund Management Oy has sold all shares of Ark Therapeutics Group Plc, a biopharmaceutical company based in Finland and the UK. Bio Fund Ventures II LP invested in Ark in 2000 and Ark was listed on the London Stock Exchange main list in March 2004.
ITALY/GERMANY - Berlusconi and private equity funds to compete for media giant
According to reports in the Italian press, Silvio Berlusconi's broadcasting empire Mediaset is planning to launch a bid for 50.5% of German television network ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It is understood that a decision will be made next Tuesday, when the group's...
FRANCE - 21 Centrale Partners plans to delist Apem
21 Centrale Partners has entered negotiations to take-private Apem, a manufacturer of miniature switches for electronic applications notably.
UK - Whitbread rumours intensify as Starwood appoints former Whitbread director
Rumours surrounding the leisure group Whitbread and its possible delisting by Starwood Capital have intensified this morning as it emerged that Starwood had appointed Desmond Taljaard, formerly property director at the group.