Consumer
CEE - GED acquires Plus GSM
Through its GED Eastern fund II for Eastern Europe, GED has acquired Plus GSM, a specialist in mobile telephone services.
Think positive
The liquidity troubles which dominated the latter half of 2007 had looked set to spill over into 2008. However, a destabilisation of the private equity industry in 2008 does not feel imminent. Private equity is cyclical and its investments are often much...
UK - Graphite, Advent and 3i gear up for Kurt Geiger
Graphite Capital, Advent International and 3i are reported to be amongst bidders in the final round of an auction to acquire Kurt Geiger. The designer shoe retailer is currently owned by Barclays Private Equity. Hawkpoint is running the process to divest...
SWITZERLAND – Carlyle acquires KSC.net
The Carlyle Group has acquired, in partnership with management, KCS.net Holding AG, an Enterprise Resource Planning solution (ERP) vendor in an all-cash transaction.
EUROPE - Index closes first ventures growth fund on EUR 400m
Index Ventures has closed its latest fund Index Ventures Growth I LP on EUR 400m. The fund was formed to address the market opportunity created by the maturation of Europeтs start-up industry and the movement of traditional late-stage investors into larger...
A new frontier
Sovereign wealth funds have the resource to emerge as serious challengers to private equity in the M&A space. However, unless they address transparency concerns these ambitions are likely to be thwarted by protectionist government intervention.
Bargain hunting
In recent times, quoted companies have presented a real headache to acquire and have accounted for a tiny proportion of dealflow - there were seven take-privates in 2006 and there have been 12 in 2007. If the public markets' focus on share price continues...
UK - Landsbanki continues growth of leverage finance team
European corporate and investment bank Landsbanki has continued the expansion of its leverage finance team with the dual appointments of Dave Amber and John Perry as directors.
UK - Apax and Permira hang onto New Look
Reports suggest that Apax and Permira plan to continue to own clothes retailer New Look for some time. The private equity backers had planned to sell the company in mid-2007 but struggled to find appetite for the ТЃ1.8bn asking price. In late 2006, the...
UK - Electra Quoted Management acquires Peter Werth
Electra Quoted Management has led the ТЃ10m+ management buy-in of men's clothes brand Peter Werth. Clydesdale Bank provided a debt package to support the deal which represents an exit for founder Peter Werth.
CEE - Aurora Russia invests £16.1m for a 24.3% stake in SuperStroy
Last December Aurora Russia Ltd announced an investment of £16.1m in cash for a 24.3% stake in Grindelia Holdings Ltd which owns 99.5% of Russian retail chain SuperStroy. Aurora Russia's investment will take the form of new equity and will be used to...
UK - Epic Private Equity exits Dolcis
Epic Private Equity has realised its investment in struggling shoe retailer Dolcis. The specialist distressed investor has sold its stake back to management.
DENMARK - Via Venture Partners acquires Detail Data Danmark
Via Venture Partners has completed the BIMBO of Danish software company, Detail Data Danmark A/S. The Detail Data management team have invested in the deal alongside new CEO Peder Falck.
UK - Cinven promotes five
Cinven has promoted five employees across a number of teams.
2007 had its up and downs
The year had a promising start when Belgian drug developer Movetis raised EUR49m in a financing round led by Sofinnova Partners and Life Sciences Partners. Bridgepoint acquired educational publisher Wolters Kluwer Education in March for EUR774m, while...