UK / Ireland
UK - Vision Capital appoints chairman to portfolio of food businesses
Vision Capital has announced the appointment of Gareth Voyle as chairman of the portfolio of food businesses it has agreed to acquire from Northern Foods. The appointment follows the announcement on 22nd November of exchange of contracts for the acquisition...
UK - Lyceum's Velo to merge with Leasedrive Group
Lyceum Capital portfolio company VELO has merged with the Leasedrive Group. The merged entity, Leasedrive VELO, is now the largest independent privately-owned vehicle management group in the UK with a combined vehicle fleet of around 17,500 cars. Lyceum...
UK - Plastic Logic raises $100m in funding round led by Oak and Tudor
Plastic Logic, a Cambridge-based company whose previous backers include Amadeus Capital Partners, Intel Capital, Bank of America and Merifin Capital, has secured an additional $100m of equity financing led by Oak Investment Partners and Tudor Investment...
UK - NESTA looks to private sector to aid distribution of £50m fund for start-ups
The new NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts) £50m fund for start-ups is to be overseen by a team drawn primarily from the private sector. The committee, which includes Apax partner, Adrian Beecroft and MTI CEO and managing partner,...
UK - NVM funds £16m buyout of defence service provider
NVM has provided just under £7m to fund the £16m management buyout of Product Support Ltd (PSL), a supplier of logistics services to the defence industry.
UK - Inflexion backs £12m MBO of Tekton Group
Inflexion Private Equity has led the £12m management buyout of Tekton Group, the fastest growing Enterprise Resource Planning software provider to the UK construction and house building industries. The buyout also includes the simultaneous complementary...
UK - Close Brothers Private Equity exits Moody via sale to Investcorp
Investcorp has acquired Moody International in a $311m secondary management buyout deal from Close Brothers Private Equity. CBPE paid $55m in April 2004 for the Sussex-based inspection services provider to the oil and gas industries which counts BP, Royal...
UK - Duke Street Capital sells Lil-lets to Electra Partners
Duke Street Capital has sold Lil-lets feminine hygiene division of Accantia, the health and beauty manufacturer to Electra Partners for a total consideration of £80m. Duke Street Capital originally backed the £225m management buyout of Accantia in November...
UK - Finance Wales in £1.2m funding round for BP Rolls
Finance Wales has invested £240,000 to enable car and commercial vehicle repairer BP Rolls to expand its operations in Newport, Gwent. Finance Wales’ investment is part of a wider financial package totalling £1.2m that will see the company purchasing...
UK - Seraphim Capital completes first investment
Seraphim Capital, the UK’s first Enterprise Capital Fund, led by GLE, is to provide a development capital injection of £1m into G-T-P Group Ltd. The deal represents Seraphim’s first investment.
UK - Maxwell leaves Standard Life following dispute over SLIPE’s future
Industry veteran Jonny Maxwell has left Standard Life Investments Private Equity, citing disagreements over the future of the division which he set up.
UK - Charterhouse-backed Saga makes radio disposal
Charterhouse portfolio company Saga, the specialist service provider to the 50 plus age-group, has disposed of its radio assets. The three radio stations based in the Midlands and Scotland, plus another yet to be launched station, have been acquired by...
UK - Permira acquires stake in Britvic
After talks between Permira and Britvic came to nothing two months ago, it has today been reported that Permira has acquired 11.5% in the listed soft drinks manufacturer which has issued several profit warnings this year. Shares rose by approximately...
UK - Hermes Private Equity acquires residential care provider ILG
Hermes Private Equity has acquired Independent Living Group (ILG), a provider of residential care for adults with severe and profound learning disabilities in the South East of England from a diverse group of shareholders. Bank of Scotland provided debt...
UK - August Equity acquires superyacht publisher for £29m
August Equity has backed the £29m secondary management buyout of Boat International Group from funds managed by Henderson Private Capital. August Equity invested £13.4m of equity funding alongside debt facilities provided by Lloyds TSB to acquire the...
UK - LDC exits express company ANC through £120m sale to FedEx
LDC has sold UK express transportation company ANC Group to FedEx Corporation for £120m having acquired it just eleven months earlier for £37.3m. The original deal in February 2006, saw LDC acquire a 26.25% stake in the company through a refinancing...
UK - Gresham backs MBO of Town Centre Restaurants from Bank of Scotland Corporate
Gresham Private Equity has backed the secondary buy-out of Town Centre Restaurants (TCR) from Bank of Scotland Corporate, in a deal with a total funding package of £48m. With over 50 sites in the UK's busiest town and shopping centres, Town Centre Restaurants...
UK - Barclays Private Equity backs £28m MBO of Artigiano
Barclays Private Equity has backed the £28m management buyout of Scala Collections Ltd, the direct retailer of Italian designed ladies’ clothes, shoes and accessories which trades as Artigiano. As part of the deal, Barclays Private Equity will take...
UK - PPM Capital appoints new chairman for Paramount Restaurants
PPM Capital has appointed a new chairman to portfolio company Paramount Restaurants. John Conlan, the founder of First Leisure Plc and Chorion Plc, and more recently chairman of Barrucuda Plc, the managed pubs and bars business formerly backed by PPM...
UK - Primary Capital refinances YO! Sushi
Primary Capital has refinanced portfolio company YO! Sushi, the Japanese conveyor-belt restaurant brand it backed in a £10m management buyout in 2003. Over the last three years, YO! Sushi has expanded to 26 sites across the UK and eight international...
UK - 3i sells Precise Media to Phoenix Equity Partners for £42m
3i has sold UK media monitoring agency Precise Media to Phoenix Equity Partners for £42m. The sale generated an IRR of 101% and a multiple of 3.2x for 3i, which backed the BIMBO of the company (then known as KBBI) in April 2005. During the holding period,...
UK - Legal & General Ventures sells Tragus to Blackstone
Legal & General Ventures (LGV) has announced the sale of Tragus Limited, one of the leading casual dining groups in the UK, to The Blackstone Group for £267m.
UK - EMI ends bid talks with Permira
EMI has reportedly ended talks about a potential £2.5bn sale to Permira. It is understood that the offer was not considered to fully reflect the prospects for and the value of the company which EMI could recommend to shareholders. The Financial Times...
UK - August sells Securistyle to BoSIF
August Equity has sold UK hardware manufacturer Securistyle Holdings in a $42.3m secondary buyout to Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance. August had invested £11.3m as part of a management buyout from Dublin-based Allen McGuire in November 2003.