UK / Ireland
Better Capital acquires Spicers for £40m
Better Capital has invested £40m to acquire UK and Irish stationery and office product supplier Spicers.
Penta backs telecoms buy-and-build platform with £60m
Penta Capital has provided an initial £60m funding package to support a new company that will acquire service providers to the UK managed data sector.
3i hires investment banker to CIO role
3i has appointed Simon Borrows, a senior City banker, as chief investment officer, the firm revealed today.
RJD backs £30m MBO of Intrinsic Technology
RJD Partners backed the £30m MBO of UK provider of ICT and unified communications solutions Intrinsic Technology Limited.
Alcuin Capital Partners announces new addition
Adrian Lurie has joined Alcuin Capital Partners, a UK lower-mid market private equity firm, as a partner.
Blackstone buys confectionery manufacturer Tangerine
Blackstone Group has acquired Growth Capital Partners' (GCP) 40% stake in sugar, confectionery and popcorn manufacturer Tangerine in a deal worth more than £100m.
Lexington Partners raises $7bn secondaries fund
Lexington Partners has raised the world’s largest ever secondaries fund, reaching its $7bn cap.
Cairn Capital appoints Davies
Cairn Capital has appointed Simon Davies as a restructuring adviser. current managing director in the restructuring team at Blackstone Group.
AXA PE buys $740m portfolio from Barclays
AXA Private Equity has acquired a $740m portfolio of 22 limited partnership interests in private equity buyout funds and a number of stakes in co-investment vehicles from Barclays.
Balderton’s The Hut planning IPO
Balderton Capital-backed online retailer The Hut is preparing for a stock market listing, according to report.
LDC gets confidence vote from Lloyds
LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, has received a vote of confidence from its parent company.
Video: De-risking pension liabilities
Emanuel Eftimiu speaks to Kelvin Wilson, Associate Director, Grant Thornton about defined pension fund liabilities and what they mean for private equity buyers.
DFJ Esprit leads £8m round for Nuel
A consortium of investors led by DFJ Esprit have provided UK-based wireless technology company Nuel with £8m.
High street blues
Department stores chain TJ Hughes, acquired by turnaround investor Endless in March, is due to appoint administrators in the coming days. Endless managing partner Gary Wilson talks to Greg Gille about the difficulty of rescuing the business amidst a gloomy...
ISIS-backed Encore acquires West End Bookings
ISIS Equity Partners-owned Encore Tickets has acquired event tickets supplier West End Theatre Bookings from Holidaybreak for more than £10m.
Souillard to head LDC South
Yann Souillard has been appointed as managing director of the Southern region at LDC. He replaces Kevan Legget, who announced his retirement earlier this year.
UK & Ireland unquote” out now
The 27 June edition of UK & Ireland unquote" brings you up to date with all deal activity in the region in the past fortnight.
UK & Ireland unquote” 27 June 2011
The Carlyle Group has acquired motoring services provider RAC from insurance company Aviva for £1bn, making it the largest buyout in the UK so far this year.
CT Investment Partners adds investment manager
Mike Bakewell has been appointed as an investment manager at CT Investment Partners (CTIP), which manages the North West Fund for Energy and Environmental.
Corporate buyers: Stealing the deal?
Private equity funds have been sitting on significant dry powder recently, which has led to a recent surge in deal activity and a return of higher multiples. However, as corporates have emerged from the recession with strong balance sheets, GPs are facing...
VC-backed Shazam raises $32m
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) have led a further $32m funding round for UK-based mobile music discovery application Shazam.
Carlyle buys RAC for £1bn
The Carlyle Group has acquired motoring services provider RAC from insurance company Aviva for £1bn.
Q&A: The role of funds-of-funds
Emanuel Eftimiu talks to Tim Creed, executive director and head of Adveq’s European investment programme, about the relevance of fund-of-funds in today's market, the future of large-cap buyout funds and the impact of upcoming regulation.
Venture follows money on cleantech
Global investment into the cleantech sector reached a record high last year of nearly $250bn, but venture is losing market share as it shies away from early-stage funding.