Consumer
Private equity still greedy for restaurants & bars sector
The buyout of Côte Restaurant by CBPE adds to an already busy year for investments in the eating and drinking sector, with activity recorded so far in 2013 already exceeding that of the whole of last year.
Argos Soditic's ASC IH makes four bolt-ons
Education provider ASC International House (ASC IH), backed by Argos Soditic, has acquired two education businesses and two private schools.
BPI France et al. inject €4.6m into Tommy's Diner
French investors BPI France, Midi Capital and Multicroissance have invested €4.6m in American-style restaurant chain Tommy's Diner.
CBPE dines out with Côte
CBPE Capital has emerged as the new owner of French bistro chain CУДte Restaurant in a deal thought to be worth in the region of ТЃ100m.
China's Fosun invests in Italian menswear maker Caruso
Chinese conglomerate Fosun International is understood to have bought a 35% stake in Italian high-end menswear manufacturer Caruso.
Exponent's Trainline in £190m dividend recap
Trainline, a UK train ticketing website backed by Exponent Private Equity, has secured a ТЃ190m refinancing.
Afinum buys Thonet
Afinum Management has acquired a majority stake in family-owned furnishings supplier Thonet.
Equistone buys Whitworths in tertiary deal
Equistone Partners Europe has bought a majority stake in Whitworths, a UK supplier of dried fruit, nut and seed products, becoming the firmтs third private equity owner.
MMC backs Tyres On The Drive with £1.5m
Previous investors MMC Ventures and Enterprise Ventures Group (EV) have injected ТЃ1.5m into Tyres On The Drive, a mobile tyre-fitting service.
Trophy investments: Land and sea
Trophy investments
Verdane et al. exit Compricer.se to Schibsted
Verdane Capital, founder Jacob Tolleryd and private investors have sold Swedish price comparison website Compricer.se to Schibsted Media Group.
Private equity misses out on Lucozade, Ribena sale
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has agreed to sell popular drinks brands Lucozade and Ribena, which had attracted interest from buyout houses including Blackstone and Lion Capital, to Japanese trade player Suntory for ТЃ1.35bn.
MMC Ventures backs Boticca series-A
MMC Ventures has taken part in a ТЃ2.5m series-A funding round for Boticca, a London based e-commerce site for luxury fashion accessories, alongside a number of high-net-worth individuals.
TDR works out David Lloyd deal
TDR Capital has acquired the entire share capital of health, sport and leisure group David Lloyd Leisure (DLL).
Amundi et al. invest €1.3m in Envie de Fraises
Amundi Private Equity Funds, Generis Capital Partners and Calao Finance have injected €1.3m into Envie de Fraises, a French online clothing store for pregnant women.
PE-backed Copytrend Group buys printing company
Constellation-backed Copytrend Group has bought a majority stake in Intelligent Printing Solution Group (IPS), a provider of outsourced document management solutions.
Verdane acquires four companies from eEquity for SEK 150m
Norwegian secondaries direct investor Verdane Capital has acquired a 15-30% stake in four Scandinavian e-commerce companies held by Swedish investor eEquity.
Rutland Partners acquires Bernard Matthews
Turnaround investor Rutland Partners has invested in UK-based turkey producer Bernard Matthews Holdings.
PE-backed Delicpol acquires Cuprod
PE-backed Polish confectionery business Delicpol has bought fellow Polish confectionery maker Cuprod with the support of Axa Private Equity and Resource Partners.
Bridgepoint buys AHT Cooling in €585m SBO
Bridgepoint has acquired AHT Cooling Systems, an Austrian manufacturer of refrigerators, from Quadriga Capital and Partners Group for €585m.
MML backs Tournus Equipement SBO
MML Capital Partners has acquired a stake in Tournus Equipement, a French manufacturer and distributor of stainless steel equipment for professional kitchens, from Qualium Investissement as part of a secondary management buyout.
Target Ventures backs Babadu
Russian venture capital firm Target Ventures has invested “several million dollars” in Babadu, a Russian e-commerce platform for children’s products.
Rocket Internet founders back 3 businesses with new fund
Rocket Internet's founders Oliver and Marc Samwer are understood to have invested a total of $5m in online start-ups Lingoda, GirlMeetsDress and Videdressing.com via their new €150m Global Founders Capital (GFC) fund.
BGF invests £2.8m in Arran Aromatics
The Business Growth Fund (BGF) has invested ТЃ2.8m and taken a minority stake in Arran Aromatics, a Scottish luxury toiletries company.