Deals
NETHERLANDS - Van den Ende & Deitmers buys eyeworks
Van den Ende & Deitmers Crossmedia Fund has taken a 30% interest in television producer Eyeworks. The management retains the rest of the shares.
SWEDEN - 21 Grams raises SEK 20m from InnovationsKapital
21 Grams, a provider of postal management services, has announced that it has raised a SEK 20m round of financing from InnovationsKapital.
UK - Hermes acquires Mayfair Gaming
Hermes Private Equity has acquired Mayfair Gaming, a bingo operator with eight clubs across the UK, from Risk Capital Partners.
UK - Workplace health and safety innovator wins investment from The Capital Fund
Optima Diagnostics, the fast-growing supplier of user-friendly web-based health and safety management tools, has attracted £275,000 of funding, in a round led by The Capital Fund, a £50m venture capital fund that invests in fast-growth companies in...
ROMANIA - Advent sells Terapia for $324m
Advent International has sold its 96.7% stake in Terapia S.A., Romania’s leading generic pharmaceuticals manufacturer, to Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited for $324m.
SWEDEN - FSN Capital buys Alignment Systems
FSN Capital has agreed to buy Alignment Systems AB from 3i Group Plc and funds advised by Euroventures Management AB, including AP6.
PORTUGAL - Explorer Investments and MCH acquire Nutricafés
According to reports in the Spanish press, the Portuguese private equity firm Explorer Investments and the Spanish group MCH Private Equity have acquired 100% of Nutricafés. The group was purchased from Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Sumolis, which bought...
UK - CVM invests £3.5m in Blackbay Ltd
Close Venture Management Ltd has announced an investment of £3.5m in Blackbay Ltd. Blackbay provides real-time mobile worker solutions that enable business process improvements to Supply Chain and Field Service mission critical operations.
UK - Montagu Private Equity acquires Misys General Insurance for £182m
Montagu Private Equity has signed an agreement to acquire Misys General Insurance for £182m. MGI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Misys Plc, a global business providing specialised software applications to the healthcare and banking industries. Final...
SWITZERLAND - Capvis acquires stake in Stadler Rail Group
Capvis has acquired a 20% stake in railway machinery producer Stadler Rail Group. The current owner, CEO Peter Spuhler reached the decision to form a partnership with Capvis when looking for an equity partner to broaden the company's shareholder base.
UK - Bridges Community Ventures backs Smart Storage
Bridges Community Ventures has announced its investment in Smart Storage, a Wirral-based business providing self-storage facilities for a mix of domestic and commercial customers.
UK - HgCapital to acquire First Technology Safety & Analysis
HgCapital has entered into agreement with Honeywell to acquire First Technology Safety & Analysis. The deal will value the market leader in crash test dummies and associated services at £50m.
UK - Further investment for Imperial College spin-out deltaDOT
Imperial Innovations, the technology commercialisation company of Imperial College London, has completed a £1m investment in spin-out company, deltaDOT, a developer of innovative enabling technologies and products for bioscience research. The investment...
GERMANY - Dr Neuhaus Techno Nord exits EUTEX holding
Following the listing of EUTEX on the Entry Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in December 2005, Dr Neuhaus Techno Nord has exited its remaining stake in the company. The strategic investor is an undisclosed Russian company operating in the field...
FRANCE – Ventech and DN Capital back Babinet’s new venture
Eyeka has completed a EUR 4m series-A round of funding just months after being founded. Paris-based Ventech has injected EUR 2.56m, while London-based DN Capital has provided the remaining EUR 1.44m. Eyeka is a provider of mobile video and image service...
UK - Bank of Scotland backs £119.5m acquisition of Adare Group
Adare Group, a leading UK print management, mailing and packaging solutions company, has announced that a team of seven current directors, led by Robert Whiteside, has acquired the business with the backing of Bank of Scotland Corporate.
SWEDEN - 3i and L Capital-backed Gant in EUR 241m IPO
Gant, backed by 3i and L Capital, has today announced the EUR 241m flotation on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The IPO provides 3i and L Capital with partial exits at this stage generating EUR 44m and EUR 76m of proceeds respectively.
FRANCE - ABN AMRO Capital and Astorg acquire OFIC
ABN AMRO Capital France and Astorg Partners have acquired OFIC for an enterprise value of EUR 210m. The buyout houses have taken equal shareholdings in the company, alongside its management team headed by Jean-Louis Roques. The deal also involves members...
NORWAY - Telenor Venture sells OilCamp
OilCamp AS has been sold to the management team and Petroleum Networks Holding AS. Petroleum Networks Holding is owned by the private equity fund Energivekst, managed by HitecVision, and has been established as the fund’s investment platform within...
CZECH REPUBLIC - Warburg Pincus exits LSE and Prague-listed Zentiva
Warburg Pincus has exited its stake in generic pharmaceutical supplier Zentiva N.V. Globally-active pharmaceutical developer Sanofi-Aventis has acquired a 24.876% stake in the company consisting of the 19.634% stake held by Warburg Pincus, a 4.507% stake...
FRANCE - AXA PE acquires Skyrock
AXA Private Equity has just signed an acquisition agreement for an 80% stake in Skyrock Group. It has been signed in association with Pierre Bellanger, CEO of Group Skyrock and Tamago, the company held by Morgan Grenfell Private Equity and Goldman Sachs.
FRANCE – Cinven set for UPC France mega-deal
Cinven has signed a letter of agreement with US-based cable operator Liberty Global to purchase UPC France for EUR 1.25bn. The deal is still in its very early stage, but Cinven is expected to pay a full 11.4 times UPC France’s 2005 operating cashflow,...
FRANCE - IK recapitalises CEVA Santé Animale
Industri Kapital has completed a EUR 208m recapitalisation of CEVA Santé Animale, the international French based animal health care company. This is IK’s second recapitalisation in a week and follows the EUR 65m recapitalisation of Myresjöhus.
UK - Empower Interactive secures $18m private equity funding
Empower Interactive has secured $18m in a new round of funding headed by Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) and existing investors Argo Global Capital, Cazenove Private Equity, DN Capital and IDG Ventures Europe.