Region
Unquote has a long history of delivering in-depth coverage for each European market, from individual deals to fundraising and region-specific trend analysis. Click on the following links to access content for a specific region:
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UK - LDC reaps 78% IRR from PJH Group exit
LDC has exited kitchen and bathroom distributor PJH Group through a sale of the business to Globe Union, a Taiwanese-listed designer, manufacturer and supplier of kitchen and bathroom products. The deal has returned 2.8x LDC's investment equivalent to...
UK - Cinven, Macquarie and Blackstone interested in BUPA hospitals
BUPA is to put its 26 UK hospitals up for sale. It is reported that Cinven, Macquarie and Blackstone have all shown interest in the hospital assets. The news follows rumours that certain private equity groups have considered a bid for healthcare insurer...
UK - Smedvig appoints new chairman to portfolio company Streetcar
Smedvig Capital has appointed Sir Trevor Chinn as the new non-executive chairman of Streetcar, the UK’s largest pay-as-you-go car club and a recent addition to the Smedvig portfolio. Smedvig provided Streetcar with £6.4m of expansion funding in March...
UK - Sun European Partners acquires Moben, Dolphin, Sharps and Kitchens Direct
Sun European Partners has acquired the HomeForm Group, the owner of home retailers including Moben, Dolphin, Sharps and Kitchens Direct in a secondary buyout deal of undisclosed value. The deal represents an exit for Phildrew Ventures which delisted the...
UK - Terra Firma enters the fray for Boots
KKR's £10bn bid for Alliance Boots has been rocked over the weekend by reports that Terra Firma has teamed up with the Wellcome Trust to launch a rival offer. Terra Firma is reported to have asked the Boots board to allow it access to its books before...
UK - Apollo's £1bn bid for Countrywide likely to succeed
Apollo's £1bn bid for Countrywide is likely to succeed when it faces a shareholder vote on Friday. It is thought that the hedge fund Polygon, which holds a 25.5% stake in the listed-estate agency chain, will vote in favour of Apollo's 590p per share...
UK - Critical days for Sainsbury's bid
The likeliness of private equity acquiring Sainsbury's is in the balance today. With the Takeover Panel deadline set for this Friday, CVC is under pressure to up its latest 582p per share offer which is yet to be recommended by the company's board after...
FRANCE - Advent buys discount retailer Stokomani from Alpha Group
Advent International has backed the management of French discount retailer Stokomani in its buyout from Alpha Group. Stokomani is a major French end-of-line and big brand product stock clearance retailer, offering a range of 15,000-20,000 products in...
GERMANY– Odewald and Bain sell 2D to Quadriga
Following a three year holding period, Odewald and Bain Capital have sold their investment in German decorative papers printer 2D Holding to Quadriga Capital. 2D is a global printing and treating specialist for decorative paper for flooring and furniture...
UK - Richard Holway joins Regent as non-executive director
Regent Associates Ltd has announced that Richard Holway has joined the board of its parent company Regent Partners International Ltd as a non-executive director with effect from 2nd April 2007. RPI is a holding company within which Regent, a leading specialist...
UK - Gresham backs bottle manufacturer in £30m deal
Gresham Private Equity has provided a total funding package in excess of £30m to support the future growth of bottle manufacturer Esterform Packaging.
UK - Clearwater promotes Nick Jones to partner
Clearwater has marked the end of its fourth year with the promotion of Nick Jones to partner. Jones is Clearwater’s eleventh partner and is based in the London office.
UK - Linklaters appoints new partners in private equity team
Linklaters' London private equity funds team has been strengthened by the election of Nicola Hopkins and Edward Smith as partners. Hopkins and Smith each have significant experience in establishing and advising onshore and offshore private equity funds,...
SWEDEN - Segulah II LP complets re-capitalisation of Dacke PMC
Segulah III LP has completed a re-capitalisation of Dacke PMC, a provider of hydraulic equipment and engineering solution. Dacke has been able to repay a subordinated loan provided by Segulah III L.P at the time of acquisition in July 2005. The recapitalisation...
ESTONIA - Alta Capital Partners buys Polish Mieszko
Estonian Alta Capital Partners has acquired 66.18% of Mieszko, a Polish confectionary producer. The acquisition fits Alta Capital's strategy of building a portfolio of regional players in the dairy food processing and confectionary products. Alta Capital...
UK - Blackstone's Tragus out of La Tasca bidding
Blackstone portfolio company Tragus, the owner of the Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge restaurant chains has announced that it will not launch another bid for La Tasca. The AIM-listed 70-site strong Spanish restaurant chain has been the subject of a bidding...
UK - Bridgepoint set to acquire Leeds Bradford Airport
Bridgepoint has been chosen as the preferred bidder in the auction for Leeds Bradford Airport. The airport which handled 2.6 million passengers in 2005 was being sold by five councils. It is understood that Bridgepoint offered in the region of £130-£140m.
UK - Sainsbury's consortium under pressure to make formal bid
The CVC-led consortium considering a bid for the UK's third largest supermarket chain, Sainsbury's, is under pressure to announce a formal bid before the Easter weekend. Together CVC, KKR and TPG have been looking at the asset since February and have...
SPAIN - Nicola Zambón leaves Investindustrial
Following the recent wave of resignations in the private equity scene in Spain, Nicola Zambón has decided to leave buyout firm Investindustrial.
UK - Key Capital Partners launches in £1m-5m space
Key Capital Partners has been launched to fill the gap in the market for providing equity investments of between £1m and £5m. Key Capital Partners was established by partners Mike Fell, previously managing director at Granville Baird Capital Partners,...
UK - Hotbed leads buyout of Land Rover parts supplier
Hotbed has invested £5m alongside commitments from Grove Industries Ltd and Barclays Bank to support the institutional buyout of Bearmach Plc, a supplier of parts and accessories to the global aftermarket for Land Rover. Bearmach is headquartered in...
UK - Finance Cornwall backs waste handling company
Finance Cornwall has provided AP Waste Handling Ltd with an undisclosed sum of funding. The Penryn-based company was founded in 2005 and employs 5 staff. It designs and supplies waste handling and processing equipment and also distributes a bio-process...
UK - Kaupthing/Tchenguiz try to see off Tragus with £104.2m bid
The bidding war for Spanish-themed restaurant chain La Tasca escalated today as a consortium made up of Kaupthing and Robert Tchenguiz, the property entrepreneur raised its bid by 6% to £104.2m. This follows a series of bids and counter-bids between...
SWEDEN - SVCA reports 17% increase in Angel investments
In the Swedish Venture Capital Association (SVCA), Angel investments increased by 17% to SEK 101m in 2006. The SEK 101m were invested in 71 different businesses, with the average invested per business angel amounting to SEK 608,000. The number of angels...