DACH
GERMANY - BayBG invests in Manfred Jacob Kunsstofftechnik
BayBG Bayerische Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH has announced it has invested an undisclosed amount in automotive supplier Manfred Jacob Kunsstofftechnik GmbH. The investment is structured as a ‘stille Beteiligung’ and will support the company’s expansion...
GERMANY - Steadfast Capital buys Kautex Maschinenbau
Steadfast Capital has wholly acquired German blow molding machines manufacturer Kautex Maschinenbau in a management buyout from Adcuram AG. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.
EUROPE - Covenant-lite loans stoke heavy fears
Reports of banks accepting “covenant-lite” loans to win deals has worried industry professionals. “It is due to an oversupply of capital and a very clear sign of an overheated market,” one banker said. “It is a bad structure and will come unstuck...
AUSTRIA - CVC Capital Partners eyes up Böhler Uddeholm
CVC Capital Partners has confirmed that it is considering a takeover of the listed Austrian steel group Böhler Uddeholm. Rumours suggested that the financial investor was already in negotiations to purchase the near 21 per cent strategic holding owned...
GERMANY - Equita acquires Stromag group
Equita Management GmbH has acquired the Stromag Group in a management buyout for an undisclosed amount. This represents the fifth investment for the Equita Fonds 3 that closed in November 2005.
SWITZERLAND - LSP and BiomedInvest lead EUR 7.2m financing round
In a first round of funding, Life Sciences Partners III, BiomedInvest AG and Novartis Venture Fund have invested EUR 7.2m in Okairos AG. The financing will enable the company to demonstrate proof of concept of its adenovirus-based technology in several...
GERMANY - SAP founders say no to private equity
According to German press reports, the founders of German-listed business solutions provider SAP have no intention of selling their stakes to private equity investors. The comment comes on the back of speculations that US investor Silver Lake is looking...
GERMANY - HgCapital invests in German Biogas
HgCapital has invested more than EUR 50m in German company Aufwind Schmack GmbH Neue Energien. The financing will allow Aufwind Schmack to accelerate its project development activities and finance its biogas and wind project construction and operation....
GERMANY - Emerald Technology Ventures makes two exits
Emerald Technology Ventures, formerly SAM Private Equity, has exited two separate investments in German clean technology companies. The financial investor recently divested its remaining holding in Schmack Biogas, nine months after the company’s IPO...
GERMANY - Vita 34 to float end of March
SHS Gesellschaft für Beteiligungsmanagement mbH, has announced it will float its portfolio company Vita 34 International AG on the Prime Standard in Frankfurt on 27 March. Concord Effekten has been appointed as lead manager and Deutsche Apotheker –...
SWITZERLAND - NEXThink received CHF 6m
Auriga Partners alongside Venture Incubator have invested CHF 6m in Swiss software developer NEXThink.
GERMANY - Cogentas portfolio company acquires gkk DialogGroup
Scholz & Friends Group, a Cognetas portfolio company, has acquired Frankfurt-based gkk DialogGroup (gkk), a provider of communication services. Scholz & Friends, an advertising and marketing group, established a joint venture with gkk in early 2005 called...
EUROPE - No overhang, but concerns regarding returns say LPs
'There is no capital overhang,' according to Urs Wietlisbach at Partners Group, speaking at the EVCA Investors' Forum in Geneva on Wednesday. As Thomson revealed that nearly EUR 90bn was raised for investment last year, panelists were quick to point out...
GLOBAL - S&P launches industry index
In a move that underlines the increasing significance of private equity, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has launched a new index to track the industry’s performance. The tracker will follow the 25 most liquid private equity firms around the globe.
GERMANY - HSH N Kapital acquires Siemens division
HSH N Kapital GmbH has announced the acquisition of Siemens Building Technologies electronic GmbH from Siemens Building Technologies for an undisclosed amount. Mühlhausen-based Siemens Building Technologies electronic GmbH, develops and produces energy...
GERMANY - 3i strengthens Frankfurt buyout team
3i announced the appointment of Dr Thorsten Grenz verstärkt as operating partner to its pan-European buyout team in Frankfurt. Together with fellow partners Tim Harrison and Iain McRitchie in London, Jerome Girzsyn in Paris and Frederik Roth in Frankfurt,...
GERMANY - Veronis Suhler Stevenson sells Berliner Verlag
US private equity house Veronis Suhler Stevenson has sold its stake in Berliner Verlag to minority shareholder Mecom Group plc for reportedly EUR 320m. The financial investor had acquired majority holding alongside Mecom in October 2005 from the Stuttgart-based...
GERMANY - ALNO AG receives new equity from GermanCapital
German kitchen manufacturer ALNO AG has increased its capital stock by 1,047,463 new shares at an issue price of EUR 7.78. Küchen Holding GmbH, a company advised by GermanCapital has subscribed to all newly issued shares for a total value of approximately...
GERMANY - Triton acquires SMS businesses
Triton has acquired a portfolio of companies supplying plastics processing machinery in the field of pipe and profile extrusion as well as film and sheet extrusion technology from SMS Kunststofftechnik. The companies comprise Battenfeld Extrusiontechnik,...
GERMANY - Carlyle looking at Merck generics unit
The Carlyle Group is rumoured to be considering a bid for the generics business of German Chemical-pharmaceutical company Merck. The sale of the division is expected to attract further private equity firms, with Bain Capital, Apax Partners, KKR and Warburg...
GERMANY - EUR 3.5m funding for Exit Games
Media group Bertelsmann, and private equity firms Neuhaus Partners and smac partners have made an investment in Hamburg-based Exit Games.
GERMANY - Silver Lake interested in SAP
According to speculation in the German press, US financial investor Silver Lake is looking to acquire a stake in German listed business solutions provider SAP. Reports suggest that JP Morgan has been mandated to advise the private equity house. Silver...
GERMANY - Bridgepoint acquires Dragenopharm
Bridgepoint has acquired a majority stake in generic drugs contract manufacturer Dragenopharm Apotheker Püschl GmbH for an undisclosed amount.
GERMANY/FRANCE - Germany and France to become top destinations for PE funds
According to a study published on Monday by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Germany and France are shaping up as the top destination for private equity funds over the next five years. Out of 98 mainly European fund managers based outside Germany, 39% indicated...