UK / Ireland
UK - Sovereign Capital announces three promotions
Sovereign Capital has made three promotions in its team: Dominic Dalli and Simon Hitchcock have been made directors and Jose Rodriguez has been promoted to investment manager.
UK - RJD Partners appoints new investment director
RJD Partners Ltd has appointed Tim Thomas to the role of investment director.
UK - CVC makes senior appointment
CVC Capital Partners has announced the appointment of David Wood.
UK - Barclays Ventures supports 99p stores expansion
99p Stores Ltd, a leading UK single price point value retailer, has announced that it plans to open up to 45 new stores throughout the UK in the next 20 months, doubling its present number of outlets. Barclays Ventures, together with other shareholders...
UK - Hg completes acquisition of Paragon Healthcare Group
HgCapital has acquired Paragon Healthcare Group from Duke Street Capital in a £322m buyout.
UK - Matrix backs MBO of VSI Ltd
VSI Ltd, a group specialising in developing and marketing 3D software, has been sold by its founder shareholders to the management team in a £6m MBO. Matrix Private Equity Partners invested £1.9m with the remaining funds comprising cash and roll-over...
UK - Clifford Chance to launch private equity fund?
Trade magazine The Lawyer has reported that Clifford Chance intends to launch an in-house fund-of-funds to invest alongside its private equity clients.
UK - LDC backs St Tropez
St Tropez, the self tanning brand, has received funding from LDC in order to capitalise on the huge global demand for self tanning products.
UK - Simon Jobson joins Close Brothers Growth Capital as investment executive
Close Brothers Growth Capital, the provider of combined equity and debt funding, has announced the appointment of Simon Jobson as investment executive.
GERMANY / UK - Wellington Partners back Zopa in further round
Wellington Partners has provided $15m to UK-based Zopa Ltd in a second round of financing. The group was initially part of a first round financial consortium including Benchmark Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners.
UK - Hermes acquires Mayfair Gaming
Hermes Private Equity has acquired Mayfair Gaming, a bingo operator with eight clubs across the UK, from Risk Capital Partners.
UK - Workplace health and safety innovator wins investment from The Capital Fund
Optima Diagnostics, the fast-growing supplier of user-friendly web-based health and safety management tools, has attracted £275,000 of funding, in a round led by The Capital Fund, a £50m venture capital fund that invests in fast-growth companies in...
UK - Buyout consortium walks away from ITV
The private equity consortium courting ITV has given up interest in a potential takeover after a renewed offer was unanimously rejected by the company's board.
UK - Kleinwort Capital Trust Plc announces £15m commitment to Parallel Ventures
August Equity Ltd, the manager of KCT, has announced a commitment of £15m by KCT to the Parallel Ventures Ltd Partnership managed by Parallel Private Equity Ltd.
UK - CVC-backed Formula One makes simultaneous acquisitions
CVC Capital Partners Group and Formula One Administration are pleased to announce that subsidiaries of Alpha Topco Ltd, the holding company for the Formula One Group, have reached agreement to acquire simultaneously Allsport Management S.A., and the business...
UK - 3i to return £500m to investors
3i has announced that it expects full-year profits on the disposal of investments to be 'significantly higher' than last year’s and announced plans to return at least £500m to shareholders for the second year running.
UK - CVM invests £3.5m in Blackbay Ltd
Close Venture Management Ltd has announced an investment of £3.5m in Blackbay Ltd. Blackbay provides real-time mobile worker solutions that enable business process improvements to Supply Chain and Field Service mission critical operations.
UK - Montagu Private Equity acquires Misys General Insurance for £182m
Montagu Private Equity has signed an agreement to acquire Misys General Insurance for £182m. MGI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Misys Plc, a global business providing specialised software applications to the healthcare and banking industries. Final...
UK - Nova makes recommended cash offer for Springboard Plc
Nova Capital Group has announced a recommended cash offer for Springboard Plc, an AIM listed private equity investment company that was formed and floated in 1998. The offer of 144 pence in cash values the existing share capital of Springboard at approximately...
UK - Bridges Community Ventures backs Smart Storage
Bridges Community Ventures has announced its investment in Smart Storage, a Wirral-based business providing self-storage facilities for a mix of domestic and commercial customers.
UK - HgCapital to acquire First Technology Safety & Analysis
HgCapital has entered into agreement with Honeywell to acquire First Technology Safety & Analysis. The deal will value the market leader in crash test dummies and associated services at £50m.
UK - IBIS Media VCTs attract investment
IBIS Capital, the specialist media corporate finance and investment business, has announced that its VCT focusing on smaller private UK media companies has attracted support from leading figures from the media and financial services industries.
UK - VCTs held for the long-term, says Noble
New research from Noble Fund Managers has found that 81% of intermediaries are investing VCT money on behalf of their clients with a view to holding their investments for the long-term, an eight- to ten-year time horizon. Only 11% said that their clients...
UK - Further investment for Imperial College spin-out deltaDOT
Imperial Innovations, the technology commercialisation company of Imperial College London, has completed a £1m investment in spin-out company, deltaDOT, a developer of innovative enabling technologies and products for bioscience research. The investment...