UK / Ireland
UK/GERMANY - Hawkpoint announces three new appointments
Corporate advisory firm Hawkpoint has announced three appointments, strengthening its team in the key areas of debt advisory, media advisory and its German activities.
UK - LSE leads £2m investment into Bac2
London Seed Capital (LSE) has led an investment of £2m into Bac2, a specialist developer of a conductive polymer for use in fuel cells, alongside a record investment by the London Business Angels (LBA) Network.
UK - Paul Hastings poach Kirkland partner
US law firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker has appointed Michelle English as a partner in its London private equity practice.
UK - BLP strengthens corporate team
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has announced the appointment of James Klein as a partner in its corporate finance team.
UK - YFM full exit from Cozart realises 4x
YFM Private Equity has announced the full exit from its investment in medical diagnostics business Cozart Plc. Over the course of its six year involvement in the company, YFM has seen returns of 4x. Cozart has been acquired by AIM-listed Concateno Plc...
UK - HgCapital and Montagu have Biffa in their sights
It has been confirmed that waste management company Biffa received an indicative approach from HgCapital and Montagu Private Equity in early September. The board subsequently rejected the bid, however, Biffa shares were up 25% on Friday upon news of a...
UK - Imperial portfolio company recieves £350,000 award
Imperial Innovations portfolio company PolyTherics Ltd, a biopharmaceutical spin-out from Imperial College London, has secured an award of £350,000 from the Technology Strategy Board (TSB).
UK - JC Flowers eclipsed by Virgin in battle for Rock
A consortium led by Virgin Group has been named as the frontrunner for Northern Rock. US private equity group JC Flowers expressed its interest in the beleaguered lender in late September and had been thought a favoured bidder after it revealed it had...
UK - The Capital Fund invests £250,000 to support Plasticell
The Capital Fund, managed by YFM Venture Finance Ltd, has made an investment of £250,000 into Plasticell, a company that is developing innovative stem cell and drug screening products.
UK - NSEI invests £1.4m in ASL
NorthStar Equity Investors (NSEI) has made an investment of £1.4m into Applied Superconductors Ltd (ASL).
UK - Candover and First Reserve compete for Abbot Group
Candover and First Reserve have been left to fight it out for oil services business Abbot Group. The listed-business was initially approached by 3i in early October with 3i indicating it was prepared to pay up to £870m for it. However, following disagreements...
UK - August portfolio company Imagine appoints new chairman
August Equity portfolio company Imagine Publishing has appointed Alastair Ramsay as non-executive chairman with immediate effect. August committed £7m to Imagine to enable it to make an acquisition in early 2006.
UK - Hotbed invests £2.1m in Mobiletrails
Hotbed, the UK’s leading private investor syndicate, has invested £2.1m of growth capital in Mobiletrails, an innovative mobile travel information and location based services company. Mobiletrails’ Travel Buddy product provides destination-specific...
UK - Terra Firma decides to hold Infinis
Terra Firma has decided to hold onto its renewable energy portfolio company Infinis after originally planning to float the business before the end of this year. The investor cited volatile market conditions as well as the management company of the business...
UK - Endless investment opens doors for STP Group
Endless has acquired STP Group Ltd, a manufacturer and distributor of timber doors and stairs. Endless invested £6.4m to support the management buyout of the Derbyshire-based business. Five Arrows Commercial Finance provided working capital facilities...
UK - Close Ventures supports Mi-Pay with £1.8m investment
Close Ventures has invested £1.8m into mobile payment service provider Mi-Pay Ltd, taking a minority stake in the business.
UK - LDC invests £40m for stake in GVA Grimley
LDC has invested £40m for a substantial minority stake in GVA Grimley, a commercial property consultancy. The deal was part of a financial restructuring that involves GVA Grimley converting from being a limited liability partnership (LLP) into a limited...
UK - Walker loophole revealed
The final guidelines announced yesterday by Sir David Walker include a potential loophole which could allow portfolio companies to avoid the disclosure requirements stipulated in the report. The guidelines require enhanced reporting from portfolio companies...
UK - Enterprise Ventures realises 50% IRR on sale of TC Wild
Enterprise Ventures has wholly exited its stake in TC Wild Ltd, a manufacturer of forged precision rings for the aerospace, oil, gas and power generation sectors, through a management buy-back deal. The exit generated a return of 2.3x the money invested...
UK - ACP leads first funding round for Golden Gekko
Active Capital Partners, a European early-stage investor based in Barcelona, has made an undisclosed investment in Golden Gekko, developers of a new mobile application platform.
UK - Howarth Clark Whitehall appoints new partner
Accountancy firm Howarth Clark Whitehall has announced the appointment of Geert Struyven as a corporate finance partner in its Kent office, taking the number of corporate finance partners based in the South East to four.
UK - Inflexion backs £44m buyout of telephony business
Inflexion Private Equity has led the £44m management buyout of Eurotel Holdings Ltd, a provider of telephony services to SMEs in the UK. Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets provided a debt package totalling £21.5m.
UK - Walker delivers final report
Sir David Walker today published the final draft of his review into disclosure and transparency in the UK private equity industry, amid criticisms that the guidelines had been diluted from the rules initially proposed in July.
UK - ICG appoints new head of CDO and institutional mandate team
Intermediate Capital Group Plc, a fund manager with £10bn funds under management, has appointed Dagmar Kent Kershaw to head its CDO and institutional mandate team.