UK / Ireland
UK - Kaupthing/Tchenguiz trump Blackstone La Tasca offer
Kaupthing Pricipal Investments has teamed up with Robert Tchenguiz to launch a rival bid for AIM-listed restaurant chain La Tasca. Earlier this week, Blackstone through its Tragus portfolio company offered £96m for La Tasca. Tragus is the name behind...
UK - 3i shareholders benefit from £800m pay out
3i plans to return £800m to its shareholders. The latest pay out will bring the amount of money returned to shareholders over the last three years to £2bn.
UK - C Squared Holdings receives £250,000 from The Capital Fund
Dynamic communications agency C Squared Holdings Ltd has received £250,000 from The Capital Fund. Alongside its investment, The Capital Fund has nominated Simon Marguis, who completed due diligence on its behalf, as non-executive director to the board...
UK - AIM sees worst quarter for three years
AIM's blistering pace in attracting new admissions and in achieving record fund-raising levels took a major pause for breath during the first quarter of this year, according to research by Grant Thornton Corporate Finance. In the first three months of...
UK - Blackstone's Tragus in £96m bid for La Tasca
Restaurant Group Tragus, owned by Blackstone, has launched a £96m cash offer for AIM-listed La Tasca, the owner of 70 Spanish themed restuarants in the UK.
UK - Newly launched Mercia Technology Seed Fund completes first deal
The Mercia Technology Seed Fund, launched last week, has completed its first investment. Intelligent Orthopaedics, a medical engineering company has received just under £250,000 of syndicate funding from Mercia, SMIF and private investors. This second...
UK - Advantage Capital invests in Butters Group
Advantage Capital has just completed an investment in Butters Group, a supplier of house and garden plants retailers in the UK.
UK - Just Retirement share sale nets £82.6m for Langholm
Langholm Capital has sold an additional 30 million shares in UK life assurance group Just Retirement, netting the investor £82.6m The 275p price per share represents a significant premium on the initial placement of shares at 148p in November last year.
UK - NVM acquires Promanex from Sovereign
NVM Private Equity (NVM) has invested £5m in the secondary management buyout of Midlands-based Promanex Group. The deal represents an exit for Sovereign Capital, which backed the company's first buyout in 1999.
UK - Investcorp Technology Partners undertakes EUR 105m buyout of Moneybookers
Investcorp Technology Partners has undertaken the EUR 105m buyout of Moneybookers Ltd, a leading European online payment provider and the UK’s first FSA-licensed e-money issuer. As part of the transaction, Moneybookers’ existing shareholders will...
UK - Next target for private equity
Retailer Next saw it shares jump 77p to an all-time high of £23.05 following chatter of a possible private equity bid. The company's results last week revealed a business in rude health, prompting the speculation. However, the lack of freehold property...
UK - Foresight Venture Partners invests £1.5m in BIMBO of TFC Europe
Foresight Venture Partners has invested £1.5m in the BIMBO of TFC Europe. The Heathfield-based business is a supplier and designer of injection-moulded technical fasteners and ring and spring products for the aerospace, automotive, hydraulics and petrochemical...
UK - Matrix expands its team with appointment of Guy Blackburn
Matrix Private Equity Partners has appointed Guy Blackburn as investment manager. He joins the new deals team, and will work on origination and establishing and building contacts for the firm.
UK - Lime Rock backs $90m MBO of C&M Group
Lime Rock Partners has backed the management buyout of marine engineering company C&M Group and its subsequent acquisition of Ice Maiden, a Russian ice-breaker ship. The $90m deal included a debt package provided by Royal Bank of Scotland worth $60m.
UK - Finance Wales leads £600,000 funding round for opto-electronics company
Finance Wales has led a £600,000 funding round for opto-electronics company Trace Technologies Ltd. Trace Technology's new software Photonic Interconnect System Designer (PISD) will enable the time taken to fit fibre optic cabling into aircraft to be...
UK - MSIF backs MBO of watch service business with £1.1m
Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF) has invested over £1.1m to support the management buyout of a Southport-based watch service business In Time Watch Services Ltd. The funding, which totalled £1.75m, will finance the acquisition and expansion...
UK - Apollo's Countrywide bid faces further challenge
Apollo's £1bn offer for Countrywide is expected to encounter difficulty next month when it faces a shareholder vote at an extraordinary meeting on the news that hedge fund Polygon Investment Partners has increased its stake in the UK estate agency chain...
UK - More Sainsbury's share movements
Robert Tchenguiz has raised his stake in Sainsbury's from 4.04% to 4.15%. It is thought the property tycoon is interested in working with the board of the UK supermarket giant to help it realise some of the value of its property. Tchenguiz has previous...
UK - Aberdeen leads ID Support Services buyout
Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital has led the management buyout of ID Support Services Ltd (IDSS), a group providing electronic security systems and climate control solutions. IDSS has two divisions, ID Technology Group specialises in the provision...
UK - Hermes portfolio company AMG makes acquisition
Hermes Private Equity portfolio claims management company AMG (formerly known as Ashworth Mairs Group) has acquired specialist commercial property claims adjuster Carr Greenwood Smith.
UK - Esprit Capital Partners invests $15m in Tribold
Esprit Capital Partners has led a $15m series B funding round for Tribold, a provider of product management enterprise software developed for communication service providers. Esprit joins previous investor Eden Ventures which also participated in this...
UK - Iceni Capital completes second transaction
Iceni Capital has supported the buyout of Pell & Bales, a not-for-profit specialist marketing services company. Led by the CEO of Pell & Bales, the buyout allows the founder to retire from the company and gives the management team the capital resources...
UK - Bridgepoint acquires Fat Face for £360m
Bridgepoint has acquired clothing retailer Fat Face from Advent International in a transaction totalling £360m. The company has a turnover of £111m and a run rate EBITDA of £30.4m for the year ended 31 May 2007 and employs over 1,500 staff.
UK - Smedvig invests £6.4m in Streetcar
Smedvig Capital has invested £6.4m in Streetcar, a pay-as-you-go car club. The new capital will be used to finance Streetcar's aggressive growth plans, increasing the number of locations and the size of its fleet.