UK / Ireland
UK - HgCapital sells Clarion Events to VSS for £120.5m
HgCapital has sold independent exhibition and events business Clarion Events Ltd to US private equity investor Veronis Suhler Stevenson for an enterprise value of £120.5m. The sale has generated an IRR of 34% for investors.
UK - Bridgepoint emerges as likeliest buyer for Prêt in £350m deal
According to reports, Bridgepoint is set to buy 200-strong sandwich chain Prêt A Manger from its consortium of vendors for £350m. Rothschilds was hired last year to run a sale process. A price tag of £400m was originally suggested but it is understood...
UK - Vision Capital-backed Portman acquires Fleet Street Travel
Vision Capital portfolio company Portman Travel, a business travel management company, has acquired Fleet Street Travel in a multi-million pound deal. Portman's turnover in 2008 is projected to exceed £400m compared with £296m in 2007. Fleet Street...
UK - Latham & Watkins appoints Daniel Maze to leveraged finance team
Latham & Watkins has announced that Daniel Maze will join the firm’s London office as a partner in the Finance Department, effective from 1 March. Maze specialises in acquisition finance, including senior finance, second lien and mezzanine facilities,...
UK - Close Brothers Corporate Finance opens Manchester office
Close Brothers Corporate Finance is opening an office in Manchester and has appointed a new managing director to head the office and its North West regional operations. Richard Pulford joins Close Brothers from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he has been...
UK - BP Marsh-backed Principal Investment Holdings sold for £42m
Private equity firm BP Marsh & Partners has realised its interest in Principal Investment Holdings. Sevenoaks-based Principal, a portfolio manager, has been acquired by Sanlam, the second largest insurer in South Africa, for £42m.
UK - Electra Quoted spins out to form Acuity Capital
Newly formed Acuity Capital LLP has been formed by the team behind the management of Electra Kingsway VCT 1, 2 & 3 funds. Accuity has acquired Electra Quoted Management Ltd, the asset management company specialising in smaller companies. The Managing...
UK - Shackleton takes minority stake in CIO Connect
Shackleton Ventures Ltd has acquired a 49.9% stake in IT networking organisation CIO Connect.
UK - ECI acquires bathroom manufacturer
ECI Partners has acquired specialist bathroom manufacturer DLP Ltd. Worcestershire-based DLP supplies adapted bathroom products for the elderly and disabled through the brand AKW MediCare.
UK - Balmoral has acquired yacht building company Oyster Marine
Balmoral Capital has acquired yacht building company Oyster Marine, one of the UK’s leading yacht builders. The value of the business, which had sales of more than £50m in its last financial year, is undisclosed. CIT Capital Finance (UK) Ltd has underwritten...
UK - Liverpool Seed Fund leads £470,000 round for ProKyma
ProKyma, a spinout from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory has received £470,000 in funding led by Merseyside Special Investment Fund’s Liverpool Seed Fund. The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), Rainbow Seed...
UK - GE Commercial Finance appoints Adam Johnson as managing director
GE Commercial Finance, Business Finance has appointed Adam Johnson as managing director, corporate structured finance, with responsibility for the leadership, direction and growth of the structured asset-based lending and cashflow business to UK and European...
UK - Blackstone & CVC would offer M&B shareholders stub equity
According to reports, Blackstone and CVC would offer current shareholders in quoted pub group Mitchells & Butler the opportunity to hold stub equity in the new company, should they succeed in delisting the business. M&B operates the Harvester and All...
GLOBAL - Bear Stearns acquires Macquarie arm
LSE-listed fund-of-funds Bear Stearns Private Equity (BSPEL) has offered A$115.5 for Macquarie Private Capital Group (MPCG), an ASX-listed private equity fund-of-funds.
UK - MVM provides further seed funding for Heptares
MVM Life Science Partners has provided drug discovery company Heptares Therapuetics with a further round of seed funding. MVM backed the establishment of Heptares, a spinout from the Medical Research Council, in 2007.
UK - 3i acquires Ultralase in £174.5m buyout
3i has signed an agreement to acquire Ultralase, a company which offers laser correction for vision, for £174.5m from Corporación Dermoestética, a Spain-based medical aesthetic business.
UK - NESTA leads £1.2m funding round in Camrivox
Camirox Ltd, a Cambridge-based developer of computer telephony integration, has raised £1.2m from a consortium of investors led by NESTA Investments.
UK - Impax invests £4m in New Earth
Impax Asset Management has invested £4m in biological waste treatment and resource recovery company New Earth Solutions.
UK - Matrix appoints new MD
Matrix Group has appointed Mark MacLean as managing director of Matrix Private Funds Group. He joins the existing team of Ray Coole, Edward Holdsworth and Charles Lemon.
UK - BVCA publishes economic impact study
The BVCA this morning released its annual economic impact report which confirmed private equity as a significant driver of the UK economy. The report, research for which was undertaken by IE Consulting, revealed that private equity-backed firms generated...
UK - BVCA announces membership of monitoring group
The BVCA has announced the membership of the new monitoring body set up in response to Sir David Walker’s recommendations on increasing transparency and disclosure by the private equity industry. Alan Thomson, former group finance director of Smiths...
UK - South West venture funds back Atlas Genetics with £2.1m
South West Ventures Fund and Finance South West Growth Fund have led a £2.1m further funding round in Bath-based company, Atlas Genetics.This latest round sees further funding being provided by existing investors, South West Ventures Fund, GEIF and private...
UK - NESTA invests £100,000 in start-up gaming business
The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) is investing £100,000 to help develop ‘Six to Start’, an innovative entertainment start-up company that creates immersive Alternate Reality Games.
UK - Infinity appoints John Hunt from BDO
Manchester-based Infinity Asset Management has bolstered its investment team with the appointment of John Hunt. Hunt joins Infinity from BDO Stoy Hayward, as a partner. He will be involved in generating and managing investment opportunities.