UK / Ireland
UK - Richard Holway joins Regent as non-executive director
Regent Associates Ltd has announced that Richard Holway has joined the board of its parent company Regent Partners International Ltd as a non-executive director with effect from 2nd April 2007. RPI is a holding company within which Regent, a leading specialist...
UK - Gresham backs bottle manufacturer in £30m deal
Gresham Private Equity has provided a total funding package in excess of £30m to support the future growth of bottle manufacturer Esterform Packaging.
UK - Clearwater promotes Nick Jones to partner
Clearwater has marked the end of its fourth year with the promotion of Nick Jones to partner. Jones is Clearwater’s eleventh partner and is based in the London office.
UK - Linklaters appoints new partners in private equity team
Linklaters' London private equity funds team has been strengthened by the election of Nicola Hopkins and Edward Smith as partners. Hopkins and Smith each have significant experience in establishing and advising onshore and offshore private equity funds,...
UK - Blackstone's Tragus out of La Tasca bidding
Blackstone portfolio company Tragus, the owner of the Bella Italia and Cafe Rouge restaurant chains has announced that it will not launch another bid for La Tasca. The AIM-listed 70-site strong Spanish restaurant chain has been the subject of a bidding...
UK - Bridgepoint set to acquire Leeds Bradford Airport
Bridgepoint has been chosen as the preferred bidder in the auction for Leeds Bradford Airport. The airport which handled 2.6 million passengers in 2005 was being sold by five councils. It is understood that Bridgepoint offered in the region of £130-£140m.
UK - Sainsbury's consortium under pressure to make formal bid
The CVC-led consortium considering a bid for the UK's third largest supermarket chain, Sainsbury's, is under pressure to announce a formal bid before the Easter weekend. Together CVC, KKR and TPG have been looking at the asset since February and have...
UK - Key Capital Partners launches in £1m-5m space
Key Capital Partners has been launched to fill the gap in the market for providing equity investments of between £1m and £5m. Key Capital Partners was established by partners Mike Fell, previously managing director at Granville Baird Capital Partners,...
UK - Hotbed leads buyout of Land Rover parts supplier
Hotbed has invested £5m alongside commitments from Grove Industries Ltd and Barclays Bank to support the institutional buyout of Bearmach Plc, a supplier of parts and accessories to the global aftermarket for Land Rover. Bearmach is headquartered in...
UK - Finance Cornwall backs waste handling company
Finance Cornwall has provided AP Waste Handling Ltd with an undisclosed sum of funding. The Penryn-based company was founded in 2005 and employs 5 staff. It designs and supplies waste handling and processing equipment and also distributes a bio-process...
UK - Kaupthing/Tchenguiz try to see off Tragus with £104.2m bid
The bidding war for Spanish-themed restaurant chain La Tasca escalated today as a consortium made up of Kaupthing and Robert Tchenguiz, the property entrepreneur raised its bid by 6% to £104.2m. This follows a series of bids and counter-bids between...
UK - La Tasca at centre of bidding war
Spanish eatery chain La Tasca is at the centre of a bidding war after Tragus upped its bid in response to a competing approach from a Robert Tchenguiz and Kaupthing. Tragus, backed by Blackstone and the operator of the Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia restaurant...
UK - Livingstone Guarantee launches corporate finance boutique
Livingstone Guarantee has launched a lower mid-market corporate finance boutique to support smaller deals. The new business - Succession Corporate Finance - will be headed by Livingstone partner Gordon Blair.
UK - NBGI realises 4.3x on exit to Duke Street portfolio company
Duke Street Capital portfolio company Food Partners, a supplier of pre-packed sandwiches has acquired Brambles Foods, another sandwich producer in a £22m buyout from NBGI. The deal has realised a return of 4.3x the original cost of NBGI's investment...
UK - Sovereign makes 260% IRR on Claims Management exit
Sovereign Capital has reaped a 3.3x equivalent to an IRR of 260% on its exit from CMGL Group Ltd. The specialist provider of outsourced claims and insurance management services company has been acquired by The Capita Group Plc for £32m.
SPAIN/UK - Parques Reunidos buys parks in the UK
Candover-owned Parques Reunidos has wholly acquired the Lake District Coast Aquarium, The Blackpool Zoo and The Oceanarium Bournemouth for a total of EUR 15.3m (£ 10.4m).
UK - New entrant to begin battle for Boots?
Market sources suggest that German firm Celesio, a continental rival to the Alliance Boots pharmaceutical chain, has approached other buyout groups about the possibility of teaming up to launch a competing takeover bid for the listed UK retailer. Boots...
UK - Investment in UK enterprise hits new high
Investment in UK deals of sub-£1m has hit a new high of £63m over the 12 months to December 2006 according to research published by Venture Index. The £63m was comprised of 398 deals of which 136 were completed in the last three months of 2006. In...
UK - Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance appoints Paul Brooks as non-executive director
Bank of Scotland has appointed Paul Brooks to the management board of its Integrated Finance division as a non-executive director. Brooks will be working alongside Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance's senior management team to provide independent strategic...
UK - Baird generates 2.2x on exit from Specialist Heat Exchangers
Baird Capital Partners Europe has generated 2.2x its money on its exit from Specialist Heat Exchangers Ltd (SHE). The designer and manufacturer of cooling systems for the automotive and industrial sectors has been acquired for £9m by Dynamic Technologies...
UK - August Equity makes four internal promotions
August Equity has made four promotions. Sam Watkinson, who joined August Equity in August 2005, has been promoted to director. Watkinson is responsible for managing the deal origination activities across the four sectors which the firm focuses on –...
UK - Royal Bank of Scotland takes equity stake in £17.5m buyout of Monitor Audio
Royal Bank of Scotland has taken an equity stake in audio hi-fi and home cinema company Monitor Audio (Holdings) Ltd. The company, an existing customer of the bank has undergone a £17.5m management buyout to which RBS has supplied a complete equity,...
UK - KKR higher offer prompts opening of Boots' books
KKR has raised its bid for Alliance Boots prompting the UK chemist and retail chain to open its books. The US-private equity firm bidding in league with the deputy chairman of Boots has offered 1,040p per share, a 4% lift on the 1,000p takeover bid it...
UK - Goldman Sachs eyes Kingfisher
Goldman Sachs Private Equity is considering a bid for DIY retailer Kingfisher following the firms announcement that it had cut its debt and revalued its property assets. Its debt now stands at £1.29bn, down from £1.35bn last year, with its property...