UK / Ireland
Buyout rankings: who has invested most across Europe since April?
EQT, Ardian and KKR remained very active and struck sizeable deals amid the coronavirus turmoil
LionRock rescues Clarks in £100m deal
Asian GP will acquire a majority stake in Clarks as it enters a company voluntary agreement
Preparing for the turnarounds wave
The much-anticipated wave of distressed opportunities has failed to materialise so far, but market participants are still readying for an uptick
Grant Thornton appoints new head of UK corporate finance
Woodley has been with Grant Thornton for 15 years in the M&A practice, having joined from 3i in 2005
Epidarex sells Sirakoss to VC-backed OssDsign
Epidarex Capital initially backed the £3.1m series-A for the bone graft substitutes developer in 2014
Maven, Par Equity sell Symphonic stakes to trade
US-based Ping Identity acquires the Edinburgh-headquartered identity and authorisation software
Eurazeo exits Farfetch with €90.4m proceeds
Sale ends a four-year holding period for Eurazeo, which led a $110m series-F funding round for the company
Sponsor-lender relationship faces stiff Covid-19 test
GPs' relationships with their existing banks and debt funds will remain key to managing the ongoing consequences of the crisis
RCapital carves out TPG Engineering from TP Group
Acquisition complements other investments in the GP's portfolio
Inflexion buys minority stake in Phenna
GP deploys capital from its dedicated minority investment fund, Partnership Capital II, which closed on £1bn in 2018
BGF, Perwyn et al. in £25m round for unicorn Gousto
Latest funding will be used for the development of Gousto's two new fulfilment centres and accelerate investment in automation
LDC backs Rhino Products MBO
Deal is led by the firm's Manchester team, and values the business at £36m
Key Capital Partners exits Hallam Medical
Sale ends a six-year holding period for KCP, which backed the company with a £3.3m investment
G4S rejects offer from BC's Gardaworld
Company says Gardaworld's offer is "nowhere near a full and fair price"
Claret Capital takes over Harbert European Growth Capital
Claret secures the GP and its funds, and hires the entire HEGC investment team
Secondaries update: Unigestion’s David Swanson
Secondaries activity is recovering from the initial coronavirus-related shock, with good prospects for GP-led secondaries deals
LDC exits Ellis Whittam to Marlowe in £59m deal
Sale ends a four-year holding period for LDC, which owned a minority stake in the company
Castik closes Epic II on €1.25bn
Fund will follow the same strategy as the GP's debut fund, which held a final close in 2015 on €1bn
Blackstone Core Equity Partners II closes on $8bn
BCEP II follows a long-hold private equity strategy, with an investment period of 15 years
TVM Capital closes LSI II on $478m
Vehicle is TVM's largest ever fund and the second in its exclusively life-sciences-focused strategy
Grafton Capital secures majority stake in Third Financial
VC firm has so far invested £7m in Third Financial, which will use the latest funding to accelerate the growth of its platform
Digital doctors here to stay as telemedicine deals surge
Rise in demand for telemedicine – and promising returns for investors that have been targeting the space – looks set to continue
Investindustrial exits Aston Martin
Investindustrial sells its remaining stake of 4.12% in the company, fully exiting the investment
Rutland exits Armitage in £140m deal
Exit from Rutland Fund III realises a return of 5.7x on the original cost of the investment