Benelux
NL - Forbion and Inventages invest EUR 2.5m in AM-Pharma
Forbion Capital Partners and Inventages Venture Capital have invested EUR 2.5m in their portfolio company AM-Pharma, a Dutch biopharmaceuticals business. The investment will be followed by a Series-C financing round, for which the company is in discussion...
BELGIUM - Axcel portfolio company Esko acquires Artwork Systems
Esko, a Belgian packaging pre-production company controlled by Danish private equity fund Axcel, has acquired a 76.69% stake in Artwork Systems from its founding shareholders. The shares were sold at for EUR 11.50 per share in cash, valuing the company...
NL - Gilde refinances portfolio company Heiploeg
Gilde Buy Out Partners has refinanced portfolio company Heiploeg. The EUR 246m refinancing was lead arranged by Rabobank. The financing structure includes borrowing base facilities, a revolving credit facility, senior term A and B loans and a second...
NL - Waterland and Prime Technology Ventures sell GlobalCollect to General Atlantic
Waterland Private Equity Investments and Prime Technology Ventures sold their stake in e-payment service provider GlobalCollect to General Atlantic, a US-based private equity firm. GlobalCollect's management continues to hold a substantial stake. Financial...
LUXEMBOURG - Oostvogels Pfister Roemers changes name to Oostvogels Pfister Feyten
Luxembourg-based business law firm Oostvogels Pfister Roemers has changed its name to Oostvogels Pfister Feyten . Frédéric Feyten , partner and the head of the Tax Department, will be represented in the firm's name. The name change follows the departure...
NL - Stirling Square sells Schoeller Arca Systems to One Equity Partners for EUR 428m
Stirling Square Partners has sold its controlling stake in Schoeller Arca Systems to One Equity Partners. At the time of the deal, the company had an enterprise value of EUR 428m. The founding family Schoeller and the management will keep their respective...
BELGIUM - Candover sells Bureu van Dijk Electronic Publishing to BC Partners
Candover has sold Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing(BvD EP), an electronic publisher of business information, to BC Partners. The deal is expected to complete in October 2007, subject to regulatory approval. The exit represents a return of 2.3x Candover's...
NL - Bain Capital's SigmaKalon receives EUR 2.2bn offer from trade buyer
Bain Capital portfolio company SigmaKalon Group has received a EUR 2.2bn offer from Pittsburgh-based paint company PPG Industries . Bain Capital carved out Dutch paint maker SigmaKalon from TotalFinaElf for approximately EUR 1bn in 2003. Bain Capital...
NL - Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics raises additional EUR 5.67m
Venture-backed Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics has raised an additional EUR 5.67m from the partial exercise of an over-allotment option. The company had launched an IPO of 5,000,000 new shares on Euronext Amsterdam for an offer price of EUR 10 per...
NL - KKR cancels EUR 1bn loan to refinance Maxeda LBO
It is widely reported that KKR has cancelled its plan to raise EUR 1bn of loans to refinance Dutch retailer Maxeda BV . The loss of investor confidence in high yield debt is attributed to losses in the US subprime mortgage market.
NL - Lehman Brothers FOF vehicle raises $500m in IPO
Lehman Brothers Private Equity Partners Limited, a closed-ended private equity FOF investment company, met its target of raising $500m through the IPO of its shares on Euronext Amsterdam. The company issued 50 million shares at $10 per share. Lehman...
BELGIUM - KBC Arkiv invests EUR 1m in Intek
KBC Arkiv has injected EUR 1m in Intek, a Flemish manufacturer of proprietary innovative electro-mechanical keys, which combine the benefits of traditional cylinder locks and badge access control systems.
BELGIUM – KBC Private Equity invests in Wever & Ducré
KBC Private Equity together with the current principal shareholder Frank Deceunick, has invested in Belgian lighting company Wever & Ducré. The new funding will be used to further grow the company organically and externally.
NL - Gilde acquires Dutch caramel waffles business Van der Breggen
Gilde is to acquire the Tilurg-based caramel waffles and caramel biscuits bakery Van der Breggen BV. Financial details of the transaction, which is yet complete, were not disclosed. The acquisition will result in a merger between Van der Breggen and Bakkersland...
EUROPE - Balderton Capital invests in TvTrip.com
Balderton Capital has invested EUR 3.5m in TVtrip.com alongside Partech International. Balderton Capital was formerly known as Benchmark Capital Europe.
EUROPE - EVCA defends private equity at European Parliament Forum
At the European Parliamentтs Financial Services Forum last night, EVCA secretary general, Javier Echarri, strongly defended the role and wider function of Private Equity. тThose who demonise Private Equity should consider the law of unintended consequences...
EUROPE - EVCA changes address
EVCA (the European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association) moves to the centre of Brussels, close to the Parliament and Commission offices, at the end of this week. EVCAтs new address will be: Bastion Tower Place du Champ de Mars, 5 1050 BRUSSELS....
EUROPE - H1 buyout deal volume up in UK and France, down in Germany
Buyout deal volume in France and the UK in H1 2007 was up on the figures for both 2005 and 2006, although German volume has slowed this year against 06. According to preliminary data from Unquote"/Private Equity Insight, 102 deals have been completed...
NL - Five enter the final bid for SigmaKalon auction
It is widely reported that BC Partners, PAI Partners, TPG and Warburg Pincus have made it through to the final round of Bain Capital’s $2.87bn auction for Dutch paint maker SigmaKalon. Sherwin Williams, a US-based paint company, will also enter the final...
EUROPE - No end in sight for large buyouts
тDeal sizes are increasing more quickly than fund sizes,т said John Barber, managing partner at Citi Private Equity at a luncheon today. Though more prevalent in the US than in Europe, the phenomenon should allow the record fundraisings to find suitable...
NL - Esprit Capital Partners leads EUR 2m round for semiconductor company
Esprit Capital Partners has invested a further EUR 900,000 in Xanadu Wireless BV in a EUR 2m funding round. The balance was provided by existing investors GIMB and Motorola Ventures.
NL - CVC makes EUR 1.52bn bid for Univar
Ulysses Luxembourg, a vehicle for funds managed and advised by CVC Capital Partners, has made a EUR 1.52bn offer to all the issued and outstanding shares of Univar, a Rotterdam-based chemicals distributor. The offer, worth EUR 53.50 per share, represented...
BELGIUM/SWEDEN - EQT sells deSter to Gate Gourmet
EQT, through its funds EQT I and EQT III, has agreed to sell deSter Holdings B.V. to Gate Gourmet, a provider of airline catering and provisioning services. EQT-owned Duni AB, headquartered in Sweden, acquired deSter in 1999 and since then has substantially...
GLOBAL - KKR to float
KKR is to follow in the steps of its rival Blackstone by floating on the New York Stock Exchange. KKR filed an initial public offering registration with the SEC on Tuesday and will seek to raise $1.25bn in new capital from the flotation. However, unlike...