UK / Ireland
UK - AIG expands its European leveraged loan group
AIG Global Investment Group has further strengthened its European leveraged loan group, with the appointment of Margarita Sabarny and Rebecca Reeve to its London office.
UK - AlixPartners names three new London managing directors
AlixPartners, the international corporate turnaround, performance improvement and financial advisory firm, has promoted three of its London team to the position of managing director: Laura Barlow, Andrew Grantham and David Hutchinson. The three professionals...
UK - Activist shareholders put pressure on 3i's Countrywide offer
It has emerged that investment group Artisan Partners and hedge fund Boussard & Gavaudan have been joined by another Countrywide shareholder, Standard Life, in opposing 3i's 490p per share offer for the estate agency chain. The three investors argue that...
UK - ISIS backs £33m buyout of AITCL
ISIS Equity Partners has backed the £33m management buyout of Anglo Irish Trust Company Ltd (AITCL). The investor provided £13m from its ISIS III fund to acquire a significant minority stake in the Isle of Man-based offshore trust and company administration...
UK - Wellington Partners leads EUR 18m investment in Truphone
Wellington Partners has led an EUR 18m series-A funding round for London-based mobile VoIP start-up Truphone. Also participating in financing Truphone are existing investors Eden Ventures and a number of business angels, as well as Independent News and...
UK - Bank of Scotland backs MBO of Willis & Gambier
Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance has funded the £55m management buyout of Willis & Gambier Ltd, taking a minority stake in the company.
UK - Bank of Scotland backs demerger of components division from Nylacast
Nylacast has agreed a demerger of its components division with backing from Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance in a deal worth over £30m. The components division of Nylacast supplies names such as Delphi, JCB, Caterpillar and GSK with highly engineered...
UK - More bad news for Countrywide deal
Sources report that UK hedge fund Boussard & Gavaudan has amassed a 5% stake in Countrywide and intends to oppose 3i's recommended 490p per share offer.
EUROPE - IPES appoints Brennan as COO
IPES, a private equity fund administrator and outsourcing provider, has announced that Kevin Brennan is to take on the newly created role of chief operating officer. Brennan will be responsible for the design and delivery of the organisational structure...
UK - LDC backs MBO of Cable Management Group
LDC has backed the management buyout of Cable Management Group (CMG). The investment will support new product development, expansion of export markets and future acquisitions. Headquartered in Coleshill, Birmingham, CMG is the UK market leader in the...
UK - Double appointment at MTI Partners
MTI Partners, the technology venture capital investor has made two new appointments. Sarah Bates joins the board of MTI as a non-executive director. Bates, who has a BA in Law from Cambridge University and an MBA from the London Business School, worked...
UK - West Coast Capital and Bank of Scotland Corporate to raise bid for house builder
West Coast Capital, the private equity vehicle of Scottish entrepenuer Tom Hunter, and Bank of Scotland Corporate may raise their offer for housebuilding company Crest Nicholson this week. The consortium placed a 585p per share offer for the company in...
UK - 3i's bid for Countrywide prompts disagreement
3i's recommended £940m delisting of Countrywide is the subject of shareholder and board wrangling. Last week, Artisan Partners contacted investors arguing that the 490p per share offer, which includes 0.165 shares in property website Rightmove, did not...
UK - Advent Venture Partners leads $10m investment in Open Cloud
OpenCloud Ltd, a leading supplier of next generation application servers to the telecommunications industry, has received its first institutional funding in a round led by Advent Venture Partners. The round, totalling $10.25m, includes investment from...
UK - Sovereign Capital begins 2007 with three deals
Sovereign Capital has begun 2007 by announcing the completion of three platform investments, two of which are support services businesses. The first was the £10m BIMBO of London Property Maintenance Ltd, a Kent-based provider of contract cleaning, security...
UK - Blackstone completes full exit from South Cross Healthcare
Blackstone has augmented its proceeds from the July listing of Southern Cross Healthcare by selling the 43% stake it retained post-float. The full exit added £127.5m to the cash already realised from the UK's largest nursing home operator. Total returns...
UK - Enterprise Ventures appoints John Simpson
Enterprise Ventures, the Northern-based venture capital company, has appointed John Simpson as finance director and as executive director to the boards of Enterprise Ventures Ltd and Enterprise Ventures Group Ltd.
UK - Apax and Permira's New Look considers IPO in 2007
New Look, the fashion retailer backed by Apax and Permira, has revealed strong trading figures over the Christmas period leading to speculation that the investors may seek to exit the company sometime in 2007. Its chief executive stated that an IPO in...
UK - Matrix completes two buyouts in matter of weeks
Matrix Private Equity backed two management buyouts before the close of 2006, to bring its 2006 tally to eight new investments with an aggregate enterprise value of £65m. The first was the £14m management buyout of Pinewood, the leading UK manufacturer...
UK - LDC portfolio company Music Zone enters administration
LDC portfolio company Music Zone, which with 104 stores and 1,100 staff is one of the UK's largest independent CD and DVD retailers, has entered administration highlighting problems faced by the retail sector. Bank of Ireland withdrew credit facilities...
UK - Bridgepoint exits Digica Group
Bridgepoint has realised its investment in outsourcing and management IT services company Digica Group via a sale of the company to Computacenter Plc, the European IT infrastructure services provider. The consideration paid for Digica amounts to £15.9m,...
UK - Sullivan & Cromwell appoints Tim Emmerson as partner
Sullivan & Cromwell has elected Tim Emmerson as a partner of the firm. He will join its London office during the first quarter of 2007.
UK - ECI sells LateRooms.com for £108m
ECI Partners has sold LateRooms, the online hotels specialist, to First Choice Holidays Plc for £108m. This represents an IRR of over 500% and a money multiple of over 9x on ECI’s investment in two years.
UK - University of Leeds spin-out raises £685,000
White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund, which provides funding for spin-out companies from the universities of Leeds, York and Sheffield, has participated in a £685,000 equity financing for Tissue Regenix Ltd, a Leeds-based developer of revolutionary tissue...