CEE
GLOBAL - SJBerwin loses three partners to Kirkland & Ellis
SJ Berwin LLP has announced that three private equity partners, Mark Mifsud, Richard Watkins and Justin Dolling, will move to rival law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s fund formation team.
HUNGARY - GMT and Mid Europa sell Invitel for EUR 470m
GMT Communications Partners and Mid Europa Partners have announced that they have agreed to sell Hungary’s second largest fixed line telecoms operator Invitel Távközlési ZRt. to Hungarian Telephone & Cable Corp for EUR 470m. The two financial investors...
ESTONIA - Mid Europa's Baltic Rail Services sells stake in Estonian Railways
Mid Europa Partners-backed Baltic Rail Services (BRS) has completed the sale of 66% of the share capital of Estonian Railways (EVR) to the Republic of Estonia for EUR 150m. Mid Europa Partners owns 33.33% of BRS. Following the completion of the sale and...
EUROPE - IPES appoints Brennan as COO
IPES, a private equity fund administrator and outsourcing provider, has announced that Kevin Brennan is to take on the newly created role of chief operating officer. Brennan will be responsible for the design and delivery of the organisational structure...
CZECH REPUBLIC - AMC backs acquisition of ERA
Accession Mezzanine Capital has financed the acquisition of ERA by Rannoch Inc with a EUR 6.25m mezzanine facility. ERA, an aircraft surveillance technology company based in Pardubice, Czech Republic, was acquired by Rannoch Inc for an undisclosed amount...
POLAND – Enterprise Investors exits Opoczno
Funds managed by Enterprise Investors have sold their 46% stake in Poland’s leading ceramic tiles manufacturer Opoczno to Cersanit, a Polish ceramic sanitaryware producer. The full exit yielded gross proceeds of PLN 252m representing a 2.4x investment...
ESTONIA - MartinsonTrigon invests EUR 1m in social networking operator
MartinsonTrigon has agreed to invest EUR 1m in Rate Solutions, a Baltic social networking operator. Rate Solutions was behind Rate.ee, a social networking site with 25% of the 1.4 million population of Estonia as its users.
POLAND – ARGUS acquires GTX Hanex Plastic
ARGUS Capital Partners have acquired a majority stake in Polish manufacturer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) performs, bottles and film, GTX Hanex Plastic, for an undisclosed sum from Montluc Holdings. Following the buyout the financial investor intends...
EUROPE - EVCA publishes 2006 benchmarking study
EVCA has published its third annual benchmarking study, a piece of research which compares the tax and legal environments for private equity and venture capital across 25 European countries.
EUROPE – Kenneth Leet to lead European Investment Team of Cerberus
Cerberus Capital Management has announced that Kenneth H M Leet has joined Cerberus European Capital Advisors as president. Leet’s previous positions include an 18-year tenure as partner in the investment banking division at Goldman Sachs.
ESTONIA - BaltCap generates 50% IRR on Ecometal investment
BaltCap has sold its significant minority position in lead battery recycling company AS Ecometal to DeltaCom Holding Ltd for an undisclosed amount. BaltCap has generated an IRR exceeding 50% on this investment.
HUNGARY – New office for Salans in Budapest
International law firm Salans has announced the opening of an office in the Hungarian capital. The office employs 12 lawyers and is led by the two partners: Tamás Tercsák and Judit Kövári.
CZECH REPUBLIC – Consortium announces largest ever Central European buyout
A consortium comprising Abu Dhabi-based Al-Bateen Investment Company, Lehman Brothers Private Equity and Mid Europa Partners has acquired Radiokomunikace and a 39.23% stake in T-Mobile Czech Republic from Altima for EUR 1.2bn. ING Bank NV provided a EUR...
POLAND - Enterprise Investors exit PEP on the Warsaw Stock Exchange
Enterprise Investors have sold their remaining stake in Polish Energy Partners (PEP) on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. This sale completes the exit of the financial investor from PEP after taking it private in 2005.
TURKEY – Advent International and Turkven acquire Roma Plastik
Financial Investors Advent International and Turkven Private Equity have acquired Turkish company Roma Plastik in a management buyout for EUR 56m. The company is currently one of the world’s top five manufacturers of edge bands for furniture and Turkey’s...
ROMANIA – GED sells its stake in Continental Hotels
Spanish private equity management company GED has sold its 20.11% equity stake in Romanian hotel chain Continental Hotels to the current management, RED Group.
POLAND – Advent International acquires the ULTIMO Group
Private equity investor Advent International has acquired the polish debt purchase and debt collection business ULTIMO Group from the company’s founders and funds managed by AIG Capital Partners Inc. The value of the transaction is undisclosed.
HUNGARY - Mid Europa and GMT to cash in on Invitel
Central and Eastern European investors Mid Europa Partners and GMT Communications Partners are to raise €118m through the partial sale of Hungarian telco Invitel back to management. The investors will each sell 14.2% of the company, leaving Mid Europa...
CZECH REPUBLIC - Advent sells CCS to FleetCor Inc
Advent International has concluded an agreement to sell its portfolio company CCS Èeská spoleènost pro platební karty a.s. to FleetCor Inc. The deal is structured as a cash and share transaction and will enable Advent to return funds to its investors...
BULGARIA - DLA Piper opens Sofia office
DLA Piper has announced the opening of a new office in Sofia to strengthen the presence of its 11 other offices in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth Independent States. The Sofia office will initially advise clients with a team of seven...
LATVIA - Darby Overseas Investments backs dairy
Darby Overseas Investments has made an EUR 8m investment in Rigas Piensaimniekes, a Latvian dairy products producer. The investment was made via Darby Converging Europe Mezzanine Fund (DCEMF) and is its first investment since it closed on 1 November 2005.
HUNGARY - Permira to acquire BorsodChem Nyrt
Permira has made a public purchase offer for all registered shares in BorsodChem Nyrt, which values Borsod's equity at approximately EUR 850m. The offer price per share is HUF 3,000 and is being made by First Chemical Holding Vagyonkezelö Kft, a holding...
ESTONIA - Estonia's development agency to hire more representatives abroad
Enterprise Estonia, Estonia's economic development agency, will recruit new employees to take up positions at its new field offices abroad. New staff will set up and run international offices in San Francisco Bay Area and in Kiev.
TURKEY - Turkish exit for Advent International
Advent International and its Turkish investment partner, Turkven Private Equity, have sold their 50% holding in Turkish packaged bread producer, Unmas, to the shareholders of their strategic partner, Doruk, for $18 million.