Sector
FRANCE - LFPI exits recycling business
La Financière Patrimoniale d'Investissement (LFPI) has sold its stake in Bartin Recycling Group, a company which collects, treats and recycles industrial waste, to larger competitor Veolia Propreté.
ITALY - ABN Amro acquires pump manufacturer
ABN Amro Capital has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Finder SpA, a manufacturer of centrifugal and vacuum pumps and filters. The news of the acquisition follows ABN Amro's recent sale of gardening products manufacturer GGP to 3i.
UK - Deadline for Northern Rock bids approaches
Today marks the deadline for indicative proposals to be put forward by those wishing to buy all or part of Northern Rock, with several private equity firms expected to be among those making an offer for the stricken bank.
UK - ECI sells Bounty for £70m
ECI Partners has agreed to sell Bounty, the UKтs largest parenting club for ТЃ70m. The acquirer is Kaboose, the largest independent family-focused online media company in North America. Since funding the management buyout of Bounty in December 2004, ECI...
UK - 3i acquires Agent Provocateur
3i has signed an agreement to acquire Agent Provocateur, the luxury brand lingerie retailer. 3i's funding will enable Agent Provocateur to pursue further growth opportunities. The deal sees both the founders remain as shareholders in the business, with...
BELGIUM - Lion completes EUR 263m Adventure deal
Lion Capital has completed the acquisition of AS Adventure Group, a Belgium-based speciality retailer of outdoor equipment and clothing, in a deal which values the company at EUR 263m.
UK - Hotbed members invest £3.3m to back buyout of DIY supplier
Hotbed, a UK private investor syndicate, has invested ТЃ3.3m to back the management buyout of Avocet Hardware. Avocet is a supplier of screws, nails, fixings and general ironmongery products to the UKтs biggest DIY retailers, including B&Q, Focus and...
UK - MSIF invests £200,000 in So Protect Me
The Merseyside Special Investment Fund (MSIF) has invested ТЃ200,000 from its Liverpool Seed Fund into card protection software developer So Protect Me.
UK - LDC-backed Epi-V completes its first investment
Specialist oil and gas private equity fund Epi-V has completed its first transaction, investing ТЃ3m in Aberdeen-based Brinker Technology. The ТЃ50m Epi-V fund was launched in August 2007 with the aim of making equity investments of between ТЃ2m and ТЃ10m...
UK - 3i appoints Ipreo chairman as senior adviser
3i has announced the appointment of Rosalyn Wilton, chairman of Ipreo LLP, as a senior adviser to its media team.
FRANCE - Online shoe shop raises EUR 4.3m
Spartoo, an online shoe retailer, is said to have raised a significant first round of institutional funding from CM-CIC Capital Privé and A Plus Finance.
FRANCE - Initiative & Finance backs MBI of ham and cheese specialist
Initiative & Finance has backed the management buy-in of Primo, a company which provides a range of food products to large retailers.
UK - Arcapita in takeover bid for Peacocks
Arcapita has made an approach to buy the discount fashion retailer Peacocks from its current backers Goldman Sachs and hedge funds Och-Ziff and Perry Capital. The three investors took Peacocks private in December 2005 in a ТЃ404m deal.
UK - Oak Hill backs £945m SBO of Firth Rixon from Carlyle and Lehman
Oak Hill Capital Partners is backing the secondary management buyout of Firth Rixson Ltd from The Carlyle Group and Lehman Brothers Co-Investment Partners. The deal values the business at ТЃ945m. Firth Rixon is a supplier of highly engineered rings, industrial...
FRANCE - Perfectis announces portfolio acquisition
Perfectis Private Equity portfolio company Philippe Manutention has completed the bolt on acquisition of Hyster Nacco Material Handling Distribution (NMHD), creating the first independant forklift retail and rental group in France.
UK - Dubai investment arm acquires SmartStream from TA Associates for £200m
DIFC Investments, the investment arm of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has acquired SmartStream Technologies from TA Associates for approximately ТЃ200m in a tertiary buyout deal.
POLAND - bmp Media Investors and Mangrove invest in Republika Kobiet
bmp Media Investors and Mangrove Capital Partners have each taken 17.5% of shares of Republika Kobiet.pl, which aims to build a web 2.0 lifestyle portal targeted at women. The deal represents Mangrove's first investment in Poland.
UK - Glitnir Total Capital backs MBO of Arthouse
Glitnir Total Capital has financed the management buyout of Arthouse Ltd, a design house supplying wall coverings, art, tiles and coving to the UK retail market. This is Total Capitalтs third investment in 2007.
FRANCE/GERMANY – Deutsche Telekom to announce media broadcast unit sale
According to press reports, Deutsche Telekom will sell its German media broadcast business to TDF, which is backed by Texas Pacific and AXA Private Equity. The transaction is estimated to be worth between EUR 700m and EUR 900m. Australian Macquarie Infrastructure...
UK - Craig Armour joins LDC's new Scotland office from Penta
LDC has opened its first office in Scotland. The office, located in Edinburgh, will be headed up by Craig Armour. Armour previously spent seven years as a partner at Penta Capital, where he led buyouts in the consumer and business services sectors throughout...
FRANCE - Bridgepoint reaches squeeze-out for Alain Afflelou
A year and a half after acquiring 61% of shares, Bridgepoint has finally reached the 95% threshold needed to delist opticians chain Alain Afflelou from the French stock exchange.
GERMANY – Earlybird sells AbaXX Technology AG
Earlybird portfolio company, AbaXX Technology AG has been acquired by Dutch software company, Cordys. Earlybird and 3i provided the company with early-stage funding in 2000. Three further rounds of funding followed in which BayTech also participated....