Deals
UK - 3i sells 6% stake in Travelex to majority owners Apax and Standard Chartered
Funds advised by Apax Partners together with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) have entered into a series of agreements with funds advised by 3i to purchase 3i's remaining 6% stake in Travelex. The transaction is due to complete within the next 5 months.
UK - Aberdeen Asset Managers sells interest in Bond Aviation Solutions
Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital has sold Bond Aviation Solutions Ltd to Alpha Aviation Group. Aberdeen originally led the £4m management buyout of Bond from Astraeus Ltd, another Aberdeen Asset Managers-backed company, in November 2005. The sale...
UK - Bowmark Capital generates 6.7x return on Medscreen exit
Bowmark Capital has sold its majority interest in drug and alcohol testing services provider Medscreen Holdings Ltd to Concateno Plc, an AIM-listed company. The exit has generated an IRR of 52% and a return of 6.7x for Bowmark Capital.
UK - Private equity rumours continue to engulf Whitbread
Whitbread, the listed leisure group that owns Premier Travel Inn, Costa, David Lloyd Leisure and T.G.I. Fridays is again the subject of private equity speculation after market sources report that Starwood Capital has built up a 3% stake in the company.
GERMANY - KKR and Goldman Sachs acquire Kion forklift unit
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs Group's private-equity unit have signed an agreement to acquire the Kion forklift unit of Wiesbaden-based Linde Group, the world's largest maker of industrial gases, for EUR 4bn. The sale is subject to regulatory...
UK - Langholm Capital portfolio company Just Retirement seeks AIM flotation
Just Retirement, a Surrey-based life assurance group focusing on the provision of financial services to those at or in retirement, has announced its intention to apply for admission to AIM. Just Retirement is seeking to raise approximately £50m through...
UK - Warburg Pincus pharmaceutical company makes acquisition
Archimedes Pharma Ltd, a speciality pharmaceutical company based in Reading has acquired Link Holdings Ltd. Link is a Sussex-based pharmaceuticals group focusing on sales and marketing of speciality pharmaceuticals with commercial operations in the UK,...
UK - Hutton Collins backs James Hull Group
Hutton Collins & Co Ltd has acquired James Hull Group, a specialist dental corporate operating in both the public and private markets.
FRANCE - BNP Paribas Développement leads the buyout of Dufieux Industrie
BNP Paribas Développement has backed the buyout of Dufieux Industrie, a Grenoble-based industrial supplier for the aeronautical sector.
NORWAY - Reiten & Co purchases Ellipse-Klinikken
Reiten & Co has acquired a controlling ownership stake in Ellipse-Klinikken, the Nordic region’s largest non-invasive beauty clinic chain. Ellipse-Klinikken offers non-surgical treatments and has 9 locations in Scandinavia and 1 in the UK. In 2005,...
SWITZERLAND - EonTech backs EUR 4m first round for Astron-Fiamm
Early stage VC investor EonTech Ventures has teamed up with Generali Group to invest EUR 4m in a first round of funding for Astron-Fiamm Safety, a Lugano, Switzerland-based company that makes safety lighting products for the automotive industry. Trade...
FRANCE - Innate Pharma goes public
Innate Pharma has completed a EUR 33.7m capital increase on Euronext Paris' compartment C. The instiutional tranche was reportedly 2.5x over-subscribed. Bryan Garnier was joint lead manager and joint bookrunner on this transaction alongside Société...
UK - Styles & Wood to float
Aberdeen Asset Managers Private Equity portfolio company Styles & Wood will raise £72m when it lists next week. The 150p per share IPO will give the shopfitter and retail property services provider a market capitalisation of £96.7m. Investec has been...
ITALY - MPS Venture and Consilium exit M.F.U
Mps Venture SGR and Consilium SGR have announced the divestment of M.F.U. SpA. The value of the exit proceeds is undisclosed. M.F.U specialises in the supply of integrated logistic solutions. The purchaser is the Anixter Group, a multinational leader...
NL-Newion Investments realises investment in Wisdom Group
Newion Investments has realised its investment in Wisdom Group, comprising Wisdom TMLC and The Missing Link, via a trade sale to Ordina. No financial details have been disclosed, but the acquisition price is in the range of 0.8 - 1.5x the company's turnover.
SPAIN - Nazca backs MBO of law information business
Private equity firm Nazca Capital has completed the acquisition of 100% of Corporación Empresarial El Derecho SA alongside its management. The deal value has not been disclosed.
SWEDEN - Opica's offer becomes unconditional
Opica AB, a company jointly owned by Apax Europe VI, Nordic Capital Fund VI and Apax France, has announced that all conditions to the offer for Swedish healthcare group Capio have been satisfied and that the offer therefore has become unconditional.
ITALY - SanPaolo IMI Fondi Chiusi has closed another deal
SanPaolo IMI Fondi Chiusi, the private equity arm of the homonymous bank, has recently closed a new expansion deal in the specialty chemicals sector.
NL- Fortis Private Equity acquires Innovative Medical Solutions BV
Fortis Private Equity has acquired all shares in Innovative Medical Solutions BV (IMS) alongside the company's management.
UK - Aberdeen Asset Managers sells interest in Mining Communications
Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital has sold its interests in Mining Communications Ltd to a consortium of investors including Aspermont, an Australian publisher, and other existing executives and shareholders in Mining Communications. The sale has...
NORWAY - Reiten & Co completes two new investments
Reiten & Co has announced two new investments in Norwegian Malthus and Airlift. It will aquire 75% of the shares in Malthus, a Stavanger-based supplier of modular structures to industry.
SWITZERLAND – IMI raises EUR 15m
Global Life Science Ventures and Abingworth Management have led a second financing round for Swiss-based IMI Intelligent Medical Implants AG. Existing investors PolyTechnos and Quantum Technology Partners also participated in the EUR 15m round.
DENMARK - EQT Opportunity acquires Bodilsen
EQT’s special situations fund, EQT Opportunity Fund, has acquired 100% of the Danish furniture manufacturer Bodilsen from Bodilsen Holding A/S, a company listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. EQT Opportunity Fund will pay DKK 1m for the shares of...
UK - Barclays Ventures backs youtravel.com
Barclays Ventures has invested a significant minority stake in youtravel.com, a new internet travel business. The investment forms part of a deal valued at over £15m. youtravel.com, which launched this week, is targeted primarily at travel agents, offering...