UK / Ireland
Gresham buys Team Telecom Group for £32.8m
UK mid-market investor Gresham has backed the £32.8m management buyout of telecoms services provider Team Telecom Group (TTG) from Spice plc.
Blackstone and Wellcome Trust drop bid for RBS assets
Blackstone and UK medical research charity Wellcome Trust have dropped a bid for 318 branches of the Royal Bank of Scotland up for sale.
Uzumeri leaves Ontario Teachers'
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is looking for a new head of private equity after Erol Uzumeri announced he is to leave the Toronto-based pension fund manager on 14 May.
Yacht investments - private equity is back in the regatta
Private equity backers sunk a lot of money into yacht builder deals during the peak of the buyout boom, taking control of the biggest brands in the industry within just a few years. In many cases, the outcome has been disastrous. Now, a private equity...
unquote” 22 April 2010
The small-cap market has proved remarkably resilient to difficult market conditions. While other market segments saw little activity in the first quarter of 2010, almost 40 small deals were completed.
Bridgepoint secures exclusive talks on HobbyCraft acquisition
Bridgepoint Capital is on the verge of acquiring HobbyCraft, the UK's largest arts and craft retailer, for over £100m.
Portfolio management: Unlocking value potential
In a challenging exit market, private equity firms now need to focus more than ever on the operational value drivers of their portfolio companies. Market due diligence may hold the key. Mareen Goebel reports.
Advent wins £500m DFS auction
Advent International has succeeded with its £500m bid to acquire DFS, a home furniture retailer.
Yorkshire Bank's Kilpatrick takes on acquisition finance role
Yorkshire Bank has promoted Roddy Kilpatrick to area director within its Corporate & Structured Finance (CSF) team in the North West.
Octopus Capital invests £1.3m into Gymbox
Octopus Ventures has invested £1.3m into health club business Gymbox.
AXA buys BoA's $1.9bn private equity secondary interests
AXA Private Equity has acquired Bank of America's(BoA) $1.9bn portfolio of limited partnership interests in private equity funds, as the bank seeks to divest its non-core private equity investments.
Recovery fund: releasing the shackles of debt
ICG’s new recovery fund specifically supports companies chained down by over-leverage, rather than loss-making businesses that require a complete turnaround. Francinia Protti-Alvarez investigates
Private equity bidding for RBS' WorldPay
Recent press reports suggest that private equity parties will figure strongly in the second round of bidding for RBS’ payment processing business WorldPay.
MMC Ventures invests in Creativity Software
MMC Ventures has provided growth financing to mobile telecommunications software designer Creativity Software in return for a significant minority stake.
August-backed Enara pushes on build-up
August Equity LLP-backed home care provider Enara Group has completed the acquisition of six add-ons: Village Homecare Services (Wales), Somebody Cares, Community Careline Peacehaven, Care 4 Agency, Homelink Care Services and Capital Care.
West of England Trust buys back shares from 3i for £9m
West of England Trust Ltd has bought back its shares from 3i for £9m.
VCT fundraising picks up
New figures released today by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) show a spike in fundraising activity for VCTs in the 2009/10 tax year.
Maven invests £2m in Neolab
Maven Capital Partners has invested £2m in Neolab Limited to fund the company's growth.
WHEB Ventures achieves fourth closing on €114m
WHEB Ventures has reached the fourth closing of its second cleantech fund, WHEB Ventures Private Equity Fund 2 LP, on on €114m.
Fees: GPs surrender to LPs
After years of GPs and LPs operating under a standard relationship model, asset managers are beginning to balk under the LP pressure for increased transparency and fee reductions as institutional investors become more aggressive in cutting costs. Gail...
HarbourVest appoints Lund as EMEA head of sales
HarbourVest Partners has appointed Simon Lund as head of sales and marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
PE interested in Evershot
Media reports suggest that CVC Capital Partners and a consortium of Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, 3i Infrastructure and Star Capital have put forward bids in the £2bn auction of HSBC’s UK rail unit Evershot.
MCR appoints Sarah Bell as partner
Corporate insolvency and restructuring practice MCR has appointed Sarah Bell as partner. She will be based in the firm's Manchester office.
Throgmorton adds two to tax advisory unit
Throgmorton has boosted its tax advisory unit with the addition of Raminder Chowdhary as head of value added tax, and Stephen Smith, as tax manager.