Deals
Darwin merges Plum Baby with Plum Organics
Darwin Private Equity has sold portfolio company Plum Baby, a baby food producer, to Plum Organics.
GMG shelves Trader Media Group deal
Guardian Media Group (GMG) has ended talks to sell its stake in car classifieds business Trader Media Group (TMG) – a deal that could have seen Apax Partners take full control of the company – according to reports.
Gresham exits 7city Learning
Gresham Private Equity has sold British financial training business 7city Learning to Fitch Group.
Mountain Cleantech backs Gruenspar
Mountain Cleantech has invested in Gruenspar, a German distributor of resource- and energy-efficient products.
Ace Management et al. inject €5m into Kalray
Previous backers Ace Management, InoCap, Expansinvest and Rhône-Dauphiné Développement have invested a further €5m in French fabless semiconductor company Kalray.
Indufin takes 40% stake in SecureLink
Indufin has acquired a 40% stake in Belgian IT networking and security solutions provider SecureLink.
European Capital provides acquisition finance to Flexitallic
European Capital has invested $7m in unitranche bonds to provide financing for The Flexitallic Group's acquisition of US-based Custom Rubber Products.
Unilever and FF&P exit BAC BV
Unilever Ventures and FF&P Private Equity have sold BAC BV, which specialises in affinity purification of biological materials, to Life Technologies Corporation.
Caledonia makes 3.5x on Celerant Consulting exit
Caledonia Investments has reaped a 3.5x money multiple on its exit from UK-based management consultancy business Celerant Consulting.
Pentech Ventures in £3m round for Musimetric
Pentech Ventures and Imperial Innovations Group have invested £3m in data analytics company Semetric Ltd, trading under the name Musimetric.
Midven in second round for Fertility Focus
Midven has joined angel investors in a seven-figure funding round for fertility diagnosis and treatment firm Fertility Focus.
Midi Capital injects €1.5m into Medtech
Midi Capital has invested €1.5m in French medical robots designer Medtech as part of a €4m funding round for the firm.
Mega-buyouts bolster Q4 activity figures
The €11.6bn overall enterprise value of Q4’s large-cap deals is the largest total since the third quarter of 2010, which itself was by some margin ahead of every quarter since Q3 2007 (see chart).
PE and venture houses converging on growth
Buyout houses and venture capitalists are increasingly moving into the growth capital space due to pressure in their normal market segments, according to Taylor Wessing.
Alliance Entreprendre takes majority stake in Marline
Alliance Entreprendre is believed to have taken a majority stake in the SBO of French motor fuel producer Marline from Initiative & Finance.
Mitsui invests in Globalturk-backed Tempo
Japanese investment company Mitsui has taken a minority stake in Turkey-based Tempo Call Center Company.
Iris and Midi inject €1.7m into BuyBox
Iris Capital and Midi Capital have injected €1.7m into BuyBox, a French software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider for the e-commerce market.
CDC Entreprises et al. in €3m round for Geolid
CDC Entreprises, A Plus Finance and investment holding Hi Inov have provided French online advertisement solution Geolid with €3m of funding, according to local reports.
bmp backs TestObject
bmp has invested in a seven-figure round for TestObject, a German developer of mobile apps optimisation solutions.
unquote" Private Equity Barometer - Q3 2012
Private equity dealflow has remained subdued over the three months to September, with the number of transactions completed plummeting 35% to 182 deals while the aggregated value dipped 14% to €11.7bn.
PineBridge invests €26m in Work Service
PineBridge Investments has acquired a 20.02% stake in listed Polish staffing and personnel business Work Service for €26m.
Q4 Barometer: European deal value up 82%
Q4 Barometer
Iris Capital leads €10m round for AppGratis
Iris Capital has led a €10m funding round for AppGratis, a Paris-based applications platform for smartphones and tablets.
Ballpark Ventures et al. invest in LoopMe
Ballpark Ventures has led a VC- and angel investors-backed funding round for UK mobile ads company LoopMe.