UK / Ireland
Advent et al. exit Phyworks for $72.5m
Advent Ventures has sold fabless semiconductor company Phyworks Ltd for $72.5m to US-listed analog chip maker Maxim Integrated Products Inc.
Doughty Hanson acquires Equity Trust for €350m
Doughty Hanson has acquired UK-based Equity Trust in a €350m secondary buyout from Candover Partners and other institutional shareholders.
Higland Venture leads £1m investment in Ice Factor
Higland Venture, the Scottish Enterprise fund and founder Jamie Smith have injected £1m in Ice Factor, an ice-climbing wall operator based in Kinlochleven.
WL Ross joins bid for EBS
US distressed investments specialist WL Ross will join the Cardinal-led consortium in a bid for EBS Building Society, according to media reports.
Oxford Technology Management et al. invest £2.5m in Microvisk
A pool of institutional and angel investors has provided UK medical equipment company Microvisk with a £2.5m round of funding.
Balderton Capital et al. inject €3m into Socowave
Balderton Capital has led a €3m series-A funding round for Irish telecommunications specialist Socowave.
Eden Ventures in five early-stage investments
Eden Ventures has made five new investments in UK early-stage technology companies, with amounts ranging in size from £100,000 to £1m.
Matrix boosts placement team
The investment banking division of Matrix Group has hired Vincenzo Narciso as a partner in its London-based private funds group.
Palamon exits OmniBus via €36.4m trade sale
Palamon Capital Partners has continued its strong run of exits in 2010 with the sale of its broadcast software portfolio company OmniBus Systems Ltd to the listed Canadian firm Miranda Technologies Inc for €36.4m in cash.
Advent and No 8 Ventures invest £1m in OpenCloud
Advent Venture Partners and No 8 Ventures have invested £1m in software company OpenCloud, as part of a £5m funding round.
Pantheon appoints Kevin Albert as partner
Pantheon Ventures has hired industry veteran Kevin Albert as partner and global head of business development.
PineBridge appoints Lord Davies as non-executive chairman
PineBridge Investments has appointed E.Mervyn Davies as non-executive chairman.
Next Wave-backed Future Thinking merges with SPA
Next Wave Partners has backed the merger of its portfolio company Future Thinking (formerly known as TORA) with another market research company SPA.
New compromise suggested on AIFM Directive
As Europe’s politicians return from the summer recess, negotiations over the final shape of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers’ (AIFM) Directive have resumed. A revised compromise on the Directive, issued by the new Belgian presidency, will...
GE Corporate Finance appoints new president and CEO
GE Capital has hired James Fenner as president and CEO of its European leveraged finance business, GE Corporate Finance Bank.
Graphite Capital leads U-POL MBO
Graphite Capital has completed the £130m tertiary buyout of automotive care products U-POL from AAC Capital Partners.
UK mid-market moves on up
The UK mid-market stats are in for the first half of 2010 and bullish observers will note that overall activity levels and value totals for deals in the £5-150m range have seen a constant rise since the nadir in the first half last year.
Hawkpoint hires new managing director
Hawkpoint Partners has appointed Dan Clague as new managing director.
Bridges Ventures exits The Office Group
Bridges Ventures has sold office space provider The Office Group in a £43.3m management buy-back.
SEP et al. invest in Elonics
Scottish Equity Partners (SEP), Octopus Ventures and existing investors have injected £6.1m into fabless semiconductor company Elonics.
Great expectations
It’s always interesting to gauge the mood of private equity practitioners and their expectations after the summer break. Two years ago, when the financial markets were in disarray following the Lehman collapse, deal activity came to a standstill and...
Dunedin to sell OSS
Dunedin has put UK waste lubricant and oils recycler OSS up for sale after receiving a number of unsolicited approaches.
Private equity dines on restaurants
Burger King, one of the world’s biggest fast food brands, is set to become private equity owned yet again. The $4bn acquisition will be one of private equity’s biggest forays into the catering sector, but interest in restaurants has remained strong...