Deals
SPAIN – La Caixa backs pharmaceutical company Omnia Molecular
Caixa Capital Semilla, the venture capital branch of La Caixa has closed an initial EUR 600,000 round of financing for antibiotics firm Omnia Molecular.
GERMANY - CGS Management buys Rieter Automatik GmbH
CGS Management has acquired the pelletizing machinery business Rieter Automatik GmbH from Rieter Holding AG with retroactive effect as of January 1, 2008 for an undisclosed amount.
SWITZERLAND - Zurmont Madison Private Equity acquires SMB SA
Zurmont Madison Private Equity L.P. has acquired the metallurgy specialist SMB SA as part of a succession solution for an undisclosed sum. In the course of the change of ownership, Raymond-Jean Lacoste will join the company as of mid-March as the new...
FRANCE – Sofinnova becomes shareholder in PC30
Sofinnova Partners has taken a shareholder participation in Paris Stock Exchange-listed IT solutions company PC30.
UK - H.I.G. backs £25m facilities management deal
HIG Europe, the European affiliate of HIG Capital has invested in Europa Facility Holdings (Europa), a facilities management company, as part of the first step in a buy-and-build strategy. The overall value of the transaction was ТЃ25m. As part of this...
UK - Montagu bid for Biffa safe after Terra Firma and Suez pull out
Montagu Private Equity's recommended offer for Biffa, the waste disposal group, is to go ahead uncontested after Terra Firma, which was thought to be preparing a counterbid alongside French utility group Suez, backed away from the deal. The Montagu-consortium...
GERMANY – Index Ventures & Wellington Partners invest $80m in Adconion
Index Ventures led a series-C round of funding for online advertising networks business Adconion Media Group, and was joined by existing investor Wellington Partners, with the total sum amounting to $80m.
AUSTRIA/FRANCE - 21 Centrale Partners and Quadriga inject capital into Palmers
21 Centrale Partners and Quadriga are backing Austrian women's underwear manufacturer Palmers Textil AG to acquire French company Lejaby SAS, for EUR 32.5m in cash, from US-based The Warnaco Group. A further interest-free note of EUR 12.5m is due by the...
UK - Charterhouse to acquire Giles from Gresham for £185m
Insurance broker Giles is to be acquired by Charterhouse in a ТЃ185m secondary buyout from Gresham Private Equity. Gresham bought Giles in July 2006 in a ТЃ45m deal.
UK - Close Ventures invests £1.5m in Opta Sportsdata
Close Ventures has invested ТЃ1.5m into Opta Sportsdata Ltd (trading as Opta), a European provider of sports data and analysis to media companies. The investment will be used to help grow sales in the existing business in the UK and the rest of Europe....
UK - Graphite acquires Kurt Geiger from BPE for £95m
Graphite Capital has acquired shoe retailer Kurt Geiger from Barclays Private Equity (BPE) for ТЃ95m. BPE had owned Kurt Geiger since Summer 2005 when it paid ТЃ46m for the business. Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland provided a debt package to support...
DENMARK - Sunstone and Creandum lead $10m investment in IPtronics
Sunstone Capital and Creandum have together led a $10.25m series-B round in IPtronics, a Danish semiconductor business.
FRANCE – Innovacom invests EUR 2m in Dimelo
Innovacom has invested EUR 2m in Dimelo through its fund Innovacom for a minority share of the company.
UK - Terra Firma and Suez to challenge Montagu takeover of Biffa?
Terra Firma and trade player Suez could mount a last minute takeover bid for waste disposal business Biffa. London-listed Biffa's board recommended a 350p per share offer from Montagu Private Equity and Global Infrastructure Partners earlier this month....
UK - Finance Wales invests £500,000 funding round in pharmaceuticals business
Finance Wales has backed a ТЃ500,000 fundraising round for Dee Pharmaceuticals. Dee, based in Wrexham, North Wales, specialises in the sale and marketing of branded prescription pharmaceuticals with particular focus on the misuse of substances of abuse...
UK - Bridgepoint eats up Prêt for £345m and divests Concentric
Bridgepoint has confirmed that it has acquired sandwich chain PrУЊt A Manger in a deal reported to weigh in at ТЃ345m. The investor has also announced that it has sold Concentric, an engineering company it has owned for ten years. Concentric has been...
SWITZERLAND - Lion Capital acquires 32% stake in Hiestand
Lion Capital has agreed to acquire a 32% stake in Hiestand Holding AG, a publicly-traded company listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange. The Hiestand Group is an international service provider of convenience deep-frozen bakery products, in Switzerland, Germany,...
UK - Graphite portfolio company AMS buys Capital Consulting
Graphite Capital-backed Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS) is buying Capital Consulting, consolidating AMSт leading position in the European market for recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). AMS is the largest independent provider of RPO solutions to blue-chip...
UK - HgCapital sells Clarion Events to VSS for £120.5m
HgCapital has sold independent exhibition and events business Clarion Events Ltd to US private equity investor Veronis Suhler Stevenson for an enterprise value of ТЃ120.5m. The sale has generated an IRR of 34% for investors.
UK - Bridgepoint emerges as likeliest buyer for Prêt in £350m deal
According to reports, Bridgepoint is set to buy 200-strong sandwich chain PrУЊt A Manger from its consortium of vendors for ТЃ350m. Rothschilds was hired last year to run a sale process. A price tag of ТЃ400m was originally suggested but it is understood...
UK - Vision Capital-backed Portman acquires Fleet Street Travel
Vision Capital portfolio company Portman Travel, a business travel management company, has acquired Fleet Street Travel in a multi-million pound deal. Portman's turnover in 2008 is projected to exceed ТЃ400m compared with ТЃ296m in 2007. Fleet Street...
BALTIC - BaltCap acquires Interinfo Group for EUR 20-30m
BaltCap has acquired 100% of the Interinfo Group in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, for EUR 20-30m.
FRANCE – Atria backs MBO of Abcd
Atria Capital Partenaires has backed the MBO of Abcd from Affine. Atria will become the majority shareholder in the new holding vehicle Abcdgroup with the management team led, by founders Patrick Canac and Francis Robert, taking a minority stake.