UK / Ireland
UK - Bank of Ireland appoints new UK acquisition finance MD
Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking has appointed Peter Dunsby as UK managing director, Global Acquisition Finance. Dunsby joins Bank of Ireland from CIBC World Markets in London where he was executive director of its European leveraged finance business....
UK - Speculation surrounds 3i's bid for Foxtons
3i has reached the final stages of an auction to acquire estate agency chain Foxtons from its founder Jon Hunt. Foxtons is thought to fetch in excess of £400m via a process run by Credit Suisse. BC Partners is also in the running to acquire the asset....
UK - LDC bid for Tote blocked
The sale of state-owned horseracing bookmaker Tote to a consortium backed by LDC is reported to have been blocked by the government. Sources suggest that Gordon Brown was conscious of distancing himself from private equity in the run-up to the Labour...
UK - Barclays Ventures refinances Original Additions
Barclays Ventures has refinanced branded beauty products business Original Additions via a £13m debt package from RBS. The refinance which has repaid all of Barclays Ventures' original funding has also delivered a 31% IRR for the institution. Barclays...
UK - Law firm Stephenson Harwood strengthens team
Law firm Stephenson Harwood has strengthened its corporate group and India practice by appointing Pawan Sharma as a corporate partner, from Grundberg Mocatta Rakison. Sharma's expertise lies in a broad range of corporate finance work including AIM listings,...
UK - Bridgepoint portfolio publishing company makes acquisition
Bridgepoint contract publishing portfolio company John Brown Group has acquired Fingal Ltd, a London-based design and marketing communications agency. The deal represents the second acquisition for John Brown since Bridgepoint led the company's management...
UK - Countrywide shareholders vote in favour of Apollo offer
Apollo's offer for estate agency chain Countrywide has been approved by 98.1% of shareholders at a vote today. Apollo raised its per share offer for the listed-company by 27p yesterday in response to the arrival of a mystery third party rival bidder....
UK - Private equity eyes Virgin Radio
Reports suggest that a number of private equity groups are eyeing Virgin Radio after its present owner SMG announced it intended to sell the asset. The vendor is thought to favour an IPO process.
UK - Glitnir Integrated Finance appoints Natalie Eastham
Natalie Eastham, previously an associate director at Close Brothers Growth Capital, has joined Glitnir in the UK as a director. Her primary role is to grow Glitnir’s integrated finance presence in the UK market, reporting to Erlendur Magnússon, managing...
UK - Terra Firma/Wellcome Trust to access Boots books
It is reported that Terra Firma, working in association with Wellcome Trust, are inches away from making an indicative offer for Alliance Boots, and being granted access to its books. The UK chemist and retailer, formed by a £7bn merger in 2006, is the...
UK - Apollo raises Countrywide bid at last minute following rival approach
Apollo has raised its offer for Countrywide by 25p per share from 505p to 530p ahead of a shareholder vote tomorrow. The news comes following reports that a third party has launched a rival bid for the UK's largest estate agency chain.
UK - Glitnir backs BIMBO of TruckEast with integrated finance package
Glitnir has supported the BIMBO of Scania dealer TruckEast Ltd with an integrated finance package in a deal worth over £10m. Glitnir, a Nordic investment bank, offered a fully integrated finance solution providing both the debt and equity funding as...
UK - Duke Street refinances Accantia with £120m package
Duke Street Capital has completed the refinancing of portfolio company Accantia Health & Beauty Ltd in a package worth up to £120m. The recapitalisation of the company behind the Simple skincare brand comes just four months after DSC sold Lil-lets, the...
UK - Inflexion hires new assistant director
Inflexion Private Equity has appointed Anthony Bower to join its investment team as assistant director.
UK - CVC not going to try anything new today at Sainsbury's
CVC has announced that it is to bow out of the attempt to acquire the UK's third largest supermarket chain Sainsbury's. It represents the end of an 18-month planning period for the private equity group, which first expressed its intentions to bid for...
IRELAND - Permira seeks Jurys Inns business
Permira and Doughty Hanson are thought to be amongst the bidders in the final stages of the auction to buy Jurys Inns, the 20-strong budget hotel chain headquartered in Dublin. Merrill Lynch has been appointed by the Jurys Doyle Group to dispose of the...
UK - LDC appoints new investment director in Midlands
LDC's Birmingham office has strengthened its team with the appointment of Steve Aston as investment director.
UK - LDC reaps 78% IRR from PJH Group exit
LDC has exited kitchen and bathroom distributor PJH Group through a sale of the business to Globe Union, a Taiwanese-listed designer, manufacturer and supplier of kitchen and bathroom products. The deal has returned 2.8x LDC's investment equivalent to...
UK - Cinven, Macquarie and Blackstone interested in BUPA hospitals
BUPA is to put its 26 UK hospitals up for sale. It is reported that Cinven, Macquarie and Blackstone have all shown interest in the hospital assets. The news follows rumours that certain private equity groups have considered a bid for healthcare insurer...
UK - Smedvig appoints new chairman to portfolio company Streetcar
Smedvig Capital has appointed Sir Trevor Chinn as the new non-executive chairman of Streetcar, the UK’s largest pay-as-you-go car club and a recent addition to the Smedvig portfolio. Smedvig provided Streetcar with £6.4m of expansion funding in March...
UK - Sun European Partners acquires Moben, Dolphin, Sharps and Kitchens Direct
Sun European Partners has acquired the HomeForm Group, the owner of home retailers including Moben, Dolphin, Sharps and Kitchens Direct in a secondary buyout deal of undisclosed value. The deal represents an exit for Phildrew Ventures which delisted the...
UK - Terra Firma enters the fray for Boots
KKR's £10bn bid for Alliance Boots has been rocked over the weekend by reports that Terra Firma has teamed up with the Wellcome Trust to launch a rival offer. Terra Firma is reported to have asked the Boots board to allow it access to its books before...
UK - Apollo's £1bn bid for Countrywide likely to succeed
Apollo's £1bn bid for Countrywide is likely to succeed when it faces a shareholder vote on Friday. It is thought that the hedge fund Polygon, which holds a 25.5% stake in the listed-estate agency chain, will vote in favour of Apollo's 590p per share...
UK - Critical days for Sainsbury's bid
The likeliness of private equity acquiring Sainsbury's is in the balance today. With the Takeover Panel deadline set for this Friday, CVC is under pressure to up its latest 582p per share offer which is yet to be recommended by the company's board after...