Deals
FRANCE – Argos Soditic leads MBI of Groupe Mertz
Argos Soditic associated themselves with an external manager and current director Jérôme Begey to acquire Mertz SA and Mertz Conteneurs, collectively know as Groupe Mertz, in an MBI deal of undisclosed value.
UK - BOSIF invests £12m+ in Quartix
Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance has invested a combined debt and equity package in excess of ТЃ12m in Quartix Ltd, a supplier of vehicle tracking systems. As a result of the deal, BOSIF has taken a 20% stake in the business, the balance is held by...
UK - ISIS backs £20m buyout of software company
ISIS Equity Partners has completed the ТЃ20m management buyout of CSC, a structural engineering software company. Yorkshire Bank provided a debt package to support the deal.
CEE - Invest Equity buys Roltechnick
Invest Equity has acquired Roltechnick, a Czech sanitary company.
UK - SEB leads £6m series-C funding for ShoZu
SEB Venture Capital has led a ТЃ6m series-C funding round for mobile application developer ShoZu, alongside existing investors Atlas Ventures, Crescendo Ventures and TTP Ventures.
ITALY - Private Equity Partners acquire foundry Anselmi
Private Equity Partners has acquired foundry Anselmi in a management buyout deal.
UK - Zeus completes MBO of XLN Telecom
Zeus Private Equity (ZPE) has completed its fourth deal, backing the management buyout of telecommunications solutions provider, XLN Telecom Ltd. ZPE has invested ТЃ6.63m to acquire a majority stake in the business. Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander has...
UK - HgCapital sells Sanctuary Spa to PZ Cussons for £75m
HgCapital has sold The Sanctuary Spa Group to PZ Cussons, the consumer products group, for ТЃ75m. The Sanctuary Spa is a female body care brand in the UK. The company also operates The Sanctuary Spa in Covent Garden, which serves over 64,000 guests per...
UK - Imperial Innovations backs £11m Circassia funding
Imperial Innovations Group Plc has made a follow-on investment of ТЃ1.75m as part of an oversubscribed ТЃ11m second round of funding for biotechnology company Circassia Holdings Ltd, taking its stake in the business to 13%. New investors Goldman Sachs...
UK - MSIF supports Host Telecom with £100,000
The Merseyside Special Investment Fund's (MSIF) Liverpool Seed Fund has invested ТЃ100,000 to support Host Telecom, developers of a new mobile phone advertising application.
UK - 3i leads £53m investment in oil and gas services company TSMarine
3i and ABN AMRO Merchant Banking are between them investing ТЃ53m in Aberdeen-based TSMarine (Contracting) Ltd. TSMarine operates in the niche subsea rigless intervention and decommissioning market. ABN AMRO formerly provided a ТЃ130m debt facility to...
FRANCE – Wendel rumoured to seek Editis exit
Wendel Investissement is reported to be seeking to divest Editis, the second largest publishers in France. The company is valued at between EUR 750 and 950m.
UK - HgCapital looks for up to £150m from sale of Clarion Events
HgCapital portfolio company Clarion Events is on the block for a price of between ТЃ120-150m. The sale process for the events business which runs more than 50 events globally is being managed by Close Brothers Corporate Finance. It is understood that...
UK - Graphite, Advent and 3i gear up for Kurt Geiger
Graphite Capital, Advent International and 3i are reported to be amongst bidders in the final round of an auction to acquire Kurt Geiger. The designer shoe retailer is currently owned by Barclays Private Equity. Hawkpoint is running the process to divest...
SPAIN - Carlyle acquires petrochemical company MB Inspection
Carlyle-backed certification company Applus+ has acquired petrochemical company MB Inspection.
SPAIN - Quercus could speed up exit from air carrier Clickair
Quercus and building company ACS could speed up their exit from Iberia's budget airline Clickair.
SPAIN - Gala makes EUR 50m exit from energy player Cesa
Gala Capital has sold its 6.9% stake in renewable energy player Cesa Eólica for EUR 50m to Mercapital, Bridgepoint, and Basque businessman Juan Luis Arregui.
NORWAY - Index, Teknoinvest and NorthZone complete final exit from listed-Trolltech
Trolltech, a Norwegian cross-platform software developer, previously backed by Index Ventures, Teknoinvest and Northzone Ventures, has signed an agreement to be acquired by Nokia for NOK 843m, corresponding to NOK 16 per share.
UK - Montagu to work with GIP on Biffa
Montagu Private Equity is reported to have agreed to work with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) on a ТЃ1.2bn bid for waste services company Biffa. Montagu had formerly tabled an offer for the listed-business alongside HgCapital but it is understood...
FRANCE - Seventure takes 10% of Sidetrade
Seventure Partners has acquired a 10% stake in software firm Sidetrade. In 2007 Sidetrade recorded a turnover of EUR 7.34m, a 34% increase on the previous year. The company forecasts growth of 22% between 2007 and 2011.
FRANCE – Psilos Group lead Seventure in EUR 20m financing of Mauna Kea Tech
Psilos Group has led a EUR 20m financing round for Mauna Kea Technologies, which included contributions from Seventure and existing investor Creadev. Psilos invested EUR 14m while both Seventure and Creadev invested EUR 3m respectively. The new round...