Media
UK - KCL rebrands as August Capital
Kleinwort Capital Ltd announced today that it will change its name to August Equity, effective immediately. Accompanying the name change is the release of a new company logo, which will begin appearing on the website (www.augustequity.com) and all company...
POLAND - Mid Europa completes Aster buyout
Mid Europa Partners, through its Emerging Europe Convergence Fund II, L.P., has completed the acquisition of Aster, a leading provider of media and communication services in Poland. The agreement to acquire Aster from Hicks Muse Tate & Furst was first...
THE NETHERLANDS - VNU accepts EUR 7.5bn LBO offer
VNU NV, a leading global information and media company, and Valcon Acquisition BV, a holding company newly incorporated in the Netherlands, announced today that they have agreed to a public offer for VNU that values the company’s equity at EUR 7.5bn,...
UK - Kleinwort announces two new investors
Kleinwort Capital Limited has announced that it has two new investors on board – Swiss-based Partners Group and F&C Private Equity Trust Plc.
GERMANY - Wellington invests in GIGA TV
Wellington Partners is investing in GIGA TV in connection with a round of funding totaling EUR 3m. This will enable the company to expand its position as the largest digital TV network for the gaming and e-sports community in Europe.
FRANCE - Motorola Ventures invests in IP over broadcast media provider
Motorola Ventures has injected EUR 2m for a third round of funding in UDcast. The investor joins existing shareholders CDC Entreprises Innovation, SGAM AI PE, I-Source, Baytech Venture and Mitsubishi Venture which collectively provided EUR 8.8m in two...
FRANCE - Stampede over Colony’s Buffalo Grill stakes
France’s largest shareholder action group is urging the AMF (autorité des marchés financiers) to refuse Colony Capital’s attempt to delist Buffalo Grill. Colette Neuville, head of Association pour la Défense des Actionnaires Minoritaires (ADAM),...
ESTONIA - MartinsonTrigon launches TVCorp for international TV projects
MartinsonTrigon, the Baltic venture capital fund, has agreed to invest EUR 1.4m into OÜ TVCorp, a holding company which will be involved in various international TV projects.
EUROPE - LBO market smashes EUR 100bn barrier
2005 saw further significant growth in the European buyout market with the total value of deals topping EUR 100bn for the first time ever, according to the latest European Buyout Review due to be published in March 2006 by Incisive Media in association...
UK - Real estate M&A to increase, says GT
The volume and value of mid-market M&A in the real estate sector has increased significantly over the past year, according to the latest Thomson Financial statistics analysed by Grant Thornton Corporate Finance. Whilst the number of mid-market deals in...
GERMANY - Sale of ProSiebenSat.1 falls through
Germany's Commission to Investigate Media Concentration (KEK) has rejected the takeover of ProSiebenSat.1 by Axel Springer. The media regulator made a final decision in January to block the sale by a fiancial consortium led by Saban Capital due to market-share...
UK - Interregnum announces acquisition and fundraising
Subject, amongst other things, to obtaining shareholder approval at an EGM, the board of Interregnum has raised a total of £10m (before expenses) via a placing of 151,515,152 shares with institutional investors at a share price of 6.6 pence to increase...
DENMARK - MACH acquires venture-backed End2End
MACH has today announced its acquisition of Aalborg-based End2End. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
UK - Mobile media solutions company Kodime backed by The Capital Fund
Kodime Ltd, an award-winning provider of mobile media software and services to property marketers, the music business and marketing agencies, has received an undisclosed amount of funding from The Capital Fund.
UK - NewMedia Spark invests in Skinkers
NewMedia Spark has invested £2m in Skinkers, an e-mail software developer, according to reports.
UK - IBIS Capital launches £30m VCT
IBIS Capital, the specialist media corporate finance and investment business, is joining forces with a team of media and investment management professionals to launch a £30m fund focusing on smaller private UK media companies.
UK - HMV rejects first Permira offer
The music and bookshop group HMV has rejected a £762m bid from the Permira, according to a report in The Independent.
UK - Actionality receives seed funding from Doughty Hanson
Actionality, an emerging leader of automated in-game advertising and marketing solutions for the mobile market, has announced that it has secured seed financing from Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures.
UK - Ingenious Media Active Capital unveils board appointments
Ingenious Media Plc has announced that Tony Ball and Neil Blackley have agreed to become chairman and non-executive director respectively of Ingenious Media Active Capital, the closed-ended investment company which will be incorporated in Guernsey and...
Pi Capital tips healthcare, media and leisure for 2006
Pi Capital, the independent private equity house, expects a significant upturn in UK private equity activity in 2006, with healthcare, media and leisure tipped as the hottest sectors. This is the view of Pi’s around 250 members, representing the UK’s...
LPs agree to tell all at London conference…
Institutional investors and GPs from across Europe have signed up for the second annual London LP Congress organised by Incisive Media and Unquote”, which takes place this Thursday and Friday.
European tech M&A soars, says research
The number of acquisitions during 2005 within the European technology sector has outstripped the previous high of 2004 and recorded a staggering 103% increase in deal value, according to the latest findings from Regent Associates' 'European Technology...
Kennet invests $8m in Adviva Media
Kennet Venture Partners has invested $8m in Adviva Media, the UK-based online advertising network for brand advertisers.
Second German newspaper buyout for Veronis-Mecom Consortium
US private equity media specialist Veronis Suhler Stevenson, alongside British Mecom Plc, has acquired German Morgenpost Verlag GmbH from former shareholders Hans Barlach and Josef Depenbrock for an undisclosed sum. The deal is the consortium's second...