Industrials

UK - Close Ventures leads £4.36m funding into Oxsensis

Close Ventures has led a £4.36m round of funding for Oxsensis, an industrial technology firm. Foursome Investments and existing investors also committed to the funding round. Oxsensis develops fibre-optic instrumentation for precision controls in harsh...

UK - LDC backs MBO of Kimberly Access

LDC has funded the management buyout of Kimberly Access Ltd, a business which rents powered access equipment. The deal represents an exit for the founder of the company. Royal Bank of Scotland provided debt to support the deal.

SPAIN - Ibersuizas receives attractive offer for Alcasa

Private equity firm Ibersuizas is said to have received an attractive offer for its stake in Aluminio Catalán SA (Alcasa) from industrial player Abengoa. Rumour has it that the auction process, led by corporate finance boutique Atlas Capital, also involves...

UK - MSIF backs Mersey glass firm in £4m deal

A new company set up and funded by Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF) has acquired Lattimer Group, a glass firm, from Hamspon Industries Plc, the international aerospace and precision engineering group. Lattimer Holdings Ltd, whose head office...

GERMANY - Nanotron closes EUR 10m round

zouk ventures, a London venture capitalist specialising in cleantech, has led a EUR 10m funding round in German Nanotron Technologies. Other investors committing to the round are Polytechnos, Danfoss, and IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft - VC Fonds Berlin....

UK - Imperial and The Capital Fund back NanoBioDesign

Imperial Innovations and The Capital Fund have together invested £500,000 in NanoBioDesign Limited (NBD), a company developing a range of toxicity screening systems to speed up the drug discovery process. The company will use the funds to secure contracts...

GERMANY - 3i exits Wendt Holding GmbH

3i has sold German grinding machines and tools manufacturer Wendt Holding GmbH to Swiss Winterthur Technologie AG. The transaction value is said to be approximately EUR 100m. 3i backed the management buyout of Wendt in March 2005, acquiring the company...

NL - Candover expected to make EUR 1.5bn cash offer for Stork

Candover has expressed its intention to make a EUR 1.5bn public offer for all the shares of Dutch industrial conglomerate Stork. London Acquisition B.V., a holding company controlled by Candover funds, and Stork issued a joint press release, which states...

FRANCE - CAPE backs MBI of Ocean

LCL Régions Développement, a fund managed by Crédit Agricole Private Equity (CAPE), has acquired a minority interest in Ocean on the occasion of the buyout of the company by two incoming entrepreneurs.

GERMANY - Barclays Private Equity sells TUJA for EUR 800m

Barclays Private Equity has sold temporary employment agency TUJA Group to Adecco for EUR 800m. The financial investor acquired TUJA in March 2006 from Odewald & Cie and pursued an aggressive expansion strategy, acquiring six companies within and outside...

UK - E-Synergy appoints Sam Richardson as investment director

E-Synergy has appointed Sam Richardson as investment director to the team managing its £30m Sustainable Technology Fund. The Sustainable Technology Fund, launched earlier this year, is a £30m UK Limited Partnership Fund backed by a mix of institutional...

SWEDEN - Industrifonden recruits two new investment managers

Industrifonden has hired two new investment managers. Stefan Jakelius, formerly head of seed financing at the Energy Agency, who will invest in cleantech ventures. Tore Tolke, formerly investment manager at Småföretagsinvest, who will work in expansion...

UK - Compass Partners sells Eco to Luvata

London-based private equity firm Compass Partners has sold heat-transfer coils and coolers manufacturer Eco to Luvata, a supplier of fabricated metal solutions owned by Nordic Capital.