Industry
Beneath the surface
Francois Rowell looks at current pressures between portfolio company creditors and their private equity owners
Latvia in focus
A grim macroeconomic outlook has dominated the headlines from the Baltics of late. Nordic unquote" invited Latvian Venture Capital Association chairman and BaltCap investment manager Astra Neimane to give her thoughts on private equity prospects in Latvia...
EUROPE - NB Private Equity lists on SFM
Euronext-listed NB Private Equity Partners (formerly Lehman Brothers Private Equity) has announced the admission of its class A ordinary shares to the Specialist Fund Market (SFM) of the London Stock Exchange, effective this morning.
UK - Sun Capital and TDR's Pearl acquired by Liberty
Sun Capital and TDR-backed British insurer Pearl Group is to be acquired by Euronext-listed Liberty Acquisitions, a Cayman-Islands based investment business, in exchange for a ТЃ510m equity injection.
BELGIUM - Candover to sell Ontex
Candover is reportedly looking to sell Ontex, a Belgium-based nappy producer valued at around EUR 950m.
PORTUGAL - Carlyle and Crimson form real estate joint venture
Reports suggest that Carlyle Group has established a joint venture with Iberian real estate investor Crimson Investment Management.
ITALY - Permira in negotiations over Valentino
It is understood that Permira-backed fashion Valentino house is close to signing a standstill agreement with its lending syndicate, led by Citigroup, UniCredit and Mediobanca, as it struggles to meet payments on its EUR 2.5bn debt pile.
UK - Doughty and Balderton to suffer huge losses on Setanta
Private equity firm Doughty Hanson has been forced to write off ТЃ85m against its investment in sports broadcaster Setanta, after the UK arm of the business was placed in administration last week.
UK - Permira seeks to takeover Just Retirement
Permira is reportedly considering a takeover of UK life insurer Just Retirement plc in a deal that could value the company at about ТЃ225m.
UK - Candover terminates takeover talks
Beleaguered buyout house Candover has announced that it has ceased all discussions relating to the takeover of its business, stating that the approaches received did not offer sufficient value to shareholders.
EUROPE - EVCA task force calls for EUR 1bn threshold
Two months on from the launch of the European Commission's proposed Alternative Investment Fund Manangers (AIFM) Directive, the EVCA Brussels Task Force has published its formal response, which calls for an increased in the minimum qualifying threshold...
SPAIN - PAI one of two contenders left for Cintra
According to reports, PAI Partners is one of only two contenders remaining in the race for Ferrovial's parking division, Cintra, in deal that could be worth between EUR 400-450m.
SPAIN - BCN Emprèn completes capital increase
BCN Emprèn has increased its capital base to EUR 15m, in a move that sees public corporation Enisa become a shareholder in the venture capital company.
FRANCE - Wendel restructures Materis' debt
Wendel has reached agreement with creditors of portfolio company Materis, a building materials business, on a restructuring that will see EUR 290m of amortization payments deferred until 2013.
GLOBAL - KKR to merge with KPE
Private equity giant KKR has announced that it will go through with a planned merger with its Amsterdam-listed fund KKR Private Equity (KPE), though a subsequent floatation on NYSE is still likely to be some way off.
UK - CVC and TPG resign from Debenham's board
Debenhams' private equity backers, CVC and TPG Capital, have reportedly both resigned from the UK retailer's board after refusing to take part in the company's ТЃ323m cash call.