UK / Ireland
UK - Blackstone delays IPO of Cineworld
Blackstone is to postpone the floatation of Cineworld due to stock market volatility. It purchased the 820 screen cinema giant from UGC in 2004. The decision to list Cineworld, which was expected to be worth £400m on the market, was made on 10 May since...
UK - F&C expands Edinburgh-based private equity
F&C Asset Management has further strengthened its private equity funds team with the appointment of Richard Nairn as associate director, private equity funds. Nairn joins the Edinburgh-based F&C team from Intelli Corporate Finance, a corporate advisory...
UK - Matrix backs Pasta King
Matrix Private Equity Partners has financed the MBO of Pasta King alongside management and HSBC (Exeter) which provided senior debt and a invoice discounting facility.
UK - Intermediate Capital Group profits from buoyant private equity market
The listed mezzanine finance provider, Intermediate Capital Group, has seen its pre-tax profit rise by 72% from £95m to £190m.
UK - Candover appoints Simon Marc to its European team
Candover has announced a further addition to its European team with the appointment of Simon Marc as an investment manager.
UK - Ingenious backs Independiente with new album deal
Ingenious, the largest independent source of A&R investment in the UK, has announced that it has made its second investment from its music fund, Ingenious Music VCT Plc, by backing Martina Topley-Bird’s second album. Martina Topley-Bird’s first album,...
UK - Management team acquires IDG venture portfolio
The general partners managing the IDG Ventures Europe portfolio – Ajay Chowdhury, Hitesh Mehta and Chris Smart – have bought out the fund holding the European venture capital portfolio (renamed Acacia I LP) from IDG Inc. The deal was completed with...
UK - BDO appoints 13 new partners
BDO Stoy Hayward has announced the appointment of 13 new partners, with effect from 1 July 2006.
UK - Prudential to sell PPM to PPM management
According to a report in the Daily Telegraph today Prudential is set to sell its private equity division to the company's management team. PPM Capital has about EUR 2bn of funds under management and hopes that the buyout will be completed by the end of...
UK - Photo-Me likely to be private equity target
The Surrey-based photobooth maker, Photo-Me, has confirmed that it has hired JPMorgan Cazenove as a financial adviser according to the Times. The shareprice of the group has suffered in recent months, closing on Friday at 86p compared to 132p last November,...
UK - Regent Inns to stay independent
According to today's Times, rumoured talks between Alchemy Partners and Regent Inns, the operator of the Walkabout and Jongleurs chains, have fallen through.
UK - Sovereign Capital recruits Phil Hinson
Sovereign Capital has appointed Phil Hinson as an assistant director. Hinson has spent the last six years with PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance where he was a founding member of the business services sector team, focusing primarily on the facilities...
UK - 3i backed TransMedics participates in first ever UK beating heart transplant
TransMedics, which received financial backing from 3i in 2003, has participated in the UK's first beating heart transplant.
UK - Skype investor joins Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital Europe, the early-stage technology venture capital firm, has announced that Klaus Hommels has joined the firm as its first European venture partner. Hommels will work with the firm on both new opportunities as well as Benchmark’s current...
UK - Jonathan Bell joins LDC in Manchester
LDC has boosted its Manchester new business team with the appointment of Jonathan Bell.
UK - Blackstone to float Southern Cross Healthcare Group
The recently volatility of the markets has not deterred Blackstone from their intention to float Southern Cross. Blackstone is hoping the sale will value Britain's biggest care home group which it has owned since 2003 at about £550m, according to The...
UK - Nigel Beer joins Hotbed board
Nigel Beer, a former divisional CEO at KPMG, has joined the board of Hotbed, the private investor network. During his time at KPMG, Nigel was a partner and head of its corporate finance division in London and was also a member of its national corporate...
UK - Secondary buyout of Azzurri Communications
3i announces today that it has sold its 75% stake in Azzurri Communications, the leading UK converged voice and date communications company, to a secondary buyout vehicle backed by Prudential Ventures (PPM) in a deal valuing the company at £182.5m. 3i’s...
UK - Pi Capital appoints Peter Brooks
Pi Capital has announced the appointment of Peter Brooks as a managing director and partner. Until October 2005, Peter Brooks was the managing partner of Sovereign Capital Partners. He joins fellow Pi partners David Giampaolo and Paul Thomas on 10 July...
UK - Advantage Capital's Qm Group appoints new head
Qm Group, the UK’s leading provider of queue management systems to retailers and banks, has further strengthened its management team with the appointment of David Pearson as its chief executive. Pearson, the former head of Sony UK, has been appointed...
UK - Return of same day registration service for limited partnerships
The British Venture Capital Association’s technical committee has succeeded in a campaign for the return of a same day registration service for limited partnership. Originally axed due to costs in October of 2005, this is a service that is considered...
UK - Standard Life European Private Equity announces half year results
Standard Life European Private Equity Trust has released interim results showing a strong performance for the six months ended 31st March 2006.
UK - £138m debt refinancing for Tragus Group Holdings Ltd
Tragus Group Holdings Ltd, a company backed by Legal & General Ventures, has undergone a £138m debt refinancing, consisting of senior and mezzanine facilities provided by Barclays Bank Plc. The transaction has enabled Tragus to repay £45m of existing...
UK - NBGI Private Equity appoints Lawrence Dean
NBGI Private Equity has announced that Lawrence Dean will be joining as investment manager. Dean holds nine years of corporate finance experience, having started his career with SBC Warburg (now UBS) and most recently working on the investment banking...