UK / Ireland
After the freeze
Last week's snowstorm brought the country to a standstill. Public transport came to a halt; workers were snowed in at home or worse - made it in and then found themselves marooned at the office. Few things were moving; none were working well
UK - RBS rejects £5bn bid from BC and Apollo
RBS has decided to terminate the sales process for its UK insurance arm after rejecting a bid jointly put forward by BC Partners and Apollo Management, which valued the business at around £5bn.
UK - Administrations double in Q4
Further evidence of the growing impact of the economic downturn on businesses was provided today by new figures published by the Insolvency Service, which reveals that the number of administrations in Q4 2008 across England and Wales doubled in comparison...
UK - Quattro Partners hires d'Angelin
London-based advisory firm Quattro Partners has hired Benoit d'Angelin.
GLOBAL - TPG downsizes fund
TPG Capital is to cut its $6bn fund designed to invest in distressed financial companies by 25%, reports suggest.
UK - Permira and News Corp. complete NDS acquisition
Permira and News Corporation has today announced that the scheme of arrangement for the $3.6bn de-listing of digital set-top box manufacturer NDS Group has become fully effective.
UK - Accel-backed Mind Candy acquires Tutpup
Games developer Mind Candy, backed by Accel Partners, Index Ventures and Spark Ventures, has acquired Tutpup, a games web page for children, for an undisclosed sum.
UK - Matrix launches new VCT fundraising
Matrix Private Equity Partners has launched a further share offer for the Matrix Income & Growth 2 VCT (MIG 2).
UK - Eurotel makes acquisition
Inflexion Private Equity-backed Eurotel, a provider of telephony services to SMEs, has acquired the SME customer base from its broadband supplier Griffin.
UK - Index Ventures backs $15m Viagogo funding
Index Ventures has participated in a $15m funding round for secondary tickets marketplace Viagogo Ltd, reports suggest.
EUROPE - Dubai Int’l Cap replaces PE CEO
Dubai International Capital has appointed David Smoot as its new private equity chief executive, to be based in Dubai.
EUROPE - PEREP appoints three board members
Private equity data platform PEREP_Analytics has appointed Sergey Sheshuryak, Sophie Manigart and Peter Rosenhoom to its governing board.
EUROPE - Baugur to collapse
Baugur is set to go into administration after its main banker, Landsbanki, ended restructuring talks with the once-prolific Icelandic investor.
UK - Apax and GfK interested in Synovate
Apax Partners and German market research firm GfK are reported as being interested in Synovate, the market research arm of Aegis Group.
UK - Accel further supports Cambridge Broadband
Return backers Accel Partners, Adara, Amadeus Capital Partners and TVM have invested $7.5m into Cambridge Broadband.
GLOBAL - TPG sale talks collapse
US private equity house TPG Capital has, according to reports, broken off talks to sell a stake of the firm to investors.
UK - August-backed Enara completes dual acquisitions
August Equity-backed care home business Enara Group has completed the acquisition of Companions Care and Freshfold Homecare Ltd, two providers of home care services to the elderly .
UK - EV further supports Acal Energy and Medalytix
Enterprise Ventures (EV) has provided further funding to portfolio companies Acal Energy, a fuel cell business, and medical screening business Medalytix.
UK - M2M Management launches $400m fund
Shipping investment group M2M Management has launched Global Maritime Assets (GMA), a $400m private equity fund focusing on the acquisition of shipping vessels.
UK - PILOTpartners launches
PILOTpartners, a new advisory business specialising in turnaround situations, has been launched by James Wheeler and Michael Gebauer, who have spun out from exectuvie recruitment specialists Ashton Penney.
EUROPE - 3i appoints Hogg managing partner, Infrastructure
Following the announcement that Michael Queen will replace Philip Yea as CEO of listed private equity heavyweight 3i, the firm has appointed Cressida Hogg to replace him as managing partner of its infrastructure business.
UK - Lyceum exits SPI Group
Lyceum Capital has exited SPI Group, a building services company.
UK - Waterford Wedgwood receives bid
US investor Clarion Capital has made a bid for glassware and crockery group Waterford Wedgwood.