DACH
IK closes Small Cap II Fund on €550m hard-cap
Including a GP commitment of €50m, the fund closed on its €550m hard-cap on 15 February
Agic, Capvis, Gilde, Nordic Capital in final Amann Girrbach round
Nordic Capital is reportedly the front-runner in the sale of the Austrian dental prosthetics company
Equistone sells E Winkemann to Cathay Capital
Equistone makes the divestment from its €1.5bn buyout fund Equistone Europe Partners IV
VC firms to sell Lendico to ING Diba
ING Diba has registered its intention to acquire Lendico with the competition authority
VC firms back $30m round for Relayr
Round is led by Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, a corporate venturing arm with $1bn in AUM
Capnamic promotes Knott to partner, hires two
Knott will be responsible for deal sourcing and execution, as well as portfolio management
TGFS, GPS invest €2m in software startup Naventik
Fresh capital will be used to strengthen global marketing efforts and HR development
Nordic Capital acquires dental group
New group includes three dentist chains and a dental technology laboratory operator
Private debt funds expand market share in Germany
Growing use of use of first-out, second-out unitranche leads to private debt funds more than doubling their share of German mid-market deals
Cerberus, JC Flowers to acquire HSH Nordbank
German daily reports that an informal agreement has been in place for several weeks
Egeria’s Clondalkin Group sells Cats-Haensel and Nimax to trade
Austrian packaging manufacturer Schur Flexibles buys the confectionery and tea packaging businesses
Hellman & Friedman makes final exit from Scout24
Shareholders sell 9.25 million shares at approximately €36.74 per share
Oaktree-backed NL Holding buys ProCrea, Archimed, Imer
GP-backed German reproductive medicine group NL Holding bolts-on three European competitors
Speedinvest in $14.5m series-B for Payworks
Corporate venturing arms of Commerzbank (CommerzVentures) and Visa led the round
European PE in 2017: Scaling new heights
Buyout activity and fundraising reached a new peak in 2017, with mega-buyouts and small-cap deals fueling dealflow and French funds popular among LPs
Golding to launch new FoF in H2
Golding announces new fund after a record year of fundraising across all strategies
Frog Capital leads €3m series-D for Sofatutor
Acton Capital Partners, JCMB Beteiligungs and IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft also take part
Ergon backs merger of SVT and Rolf Kuhn
Combined group will generate a turnover of €150m and employ 600 people in 60 countries
Bridgepoint acquires US-based Safety Technology Holdings
Industrial sensors and safety equipment group consists of two US companies and two European firms
Gilde Healthcare-backed Rad-x buys SMII
Gilde Healthcare began its buy-and-build strategy in this sector in January 2017
One Peak leads $22m funding round for Spryker
Existing investors, including Berlin-based Project A Ventures, also take part in the round
German tax act gives LPs exemption rate of 80%
New rules apply to German and international funds treated as corporate taxpayers
Q4 Barometer: Deal volume and aggregate value slide
Despite a boom in both dealflow and aggregate value across 2017 as a whole, the final quarter of the year saw a slowdown in activity
Vendis-backed Noppies buys Alvi
GP draws capital from its €180m buyout fund, Vendis Capital II, to support the transaction