Sector
ITALY - Aksia Capital III backs industrial player
Fund Aksia Capital III, closed earlier this week, has purchased a majority stake in Robuschi SpA, a manufacturer of industrial blowers and pumps.
UK - Simon Pearson becomes partner at Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young has announced the admission of Simon Pearson as an M&A partner. Person will be based in London and will continue to lead the Technology M&A practice for the firm.
UK - Octopus Investments backs acquisition of specialist history publishers
Octopus Investments has invested ТЃ5.5m in NPI Media Group to facilitate the acquisitions of two of its key competitors. Equity investment was provided as part of a combined deal valuation of ТЃ15m, which included funding from GMAC Commercial Finance...
FINLAND - CapMan buys vehicle logistics business
CapMan has purchased a 60% shareholding in John Nurminen Oy’s Vehicle Logistics Unit. John Nurminen Oy will hold 25% of the shares in the newco.
GERMANY - KKR and Permira launch public offer for ProSiebenSat.1
A consortium comprising Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Permira has made a public cash offer for the remainder of the publicly traded shares of German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. The financial investors are paying EUR 22.45 for each preferred...
DENMARK - Gilde invests EUR 5m in Symphogen
Gilde Healthcare Partners has invested EUR 5m in biotechnology company Symphogen A/S in a second closing of the series-E round.
FRANCE - CDC Capital Investissement backs buyout of Plastiques Gosselin
CDC Capital Investissment (CDC CI) and Participex have backed the buyout of medical equipment maker Plastiques Gosselin. Following the deal, which stemmed from a UBS-run auction aimed at both private equity and industrial buyers, CDC CI took a majority...
DENMARK - Erhvervsinvest buys Aalborg Træindustri
Danish buyout firm Erhvervsinvest has acquired an 83% stake in table tops provider Aalborg Træindustri.
GERMANY - Triangle invests in iPharro
Triangle has invested EUR 4m in iPharro Media GmbH, a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics located in Darmstadt. The funding will enable the company, which has developed software to identify videos much faster than in real time,...
AUSTRIA - Pontis invests EUR 2.5m in Lixto Software
Pontis Venture Partners has invested in Vienna-based software company Lixto Software GmbH. Following its EUR 2.5m investment, the venture capitalist will hold a minority stake in the company.
FRANCE - Innoven injects EUR 3m in NavX
Innoven Partenaires has invested EUR 3m in NavX, a website offering services to satellite navigation device users.
GERMANY - Baird Capital sells Hahl
Baird Capital Partners Europe has announced the sale of Munderkingen-based Hal to Lenzing Plastics GmbH for an undisclosed amount. The financial investor had acquired Hahl in a management buyout in April 2003 from its US-based parent company.
FRANCE - Iwedia raises additional EUR 4m
Software developer Iwedia has raised an additional EUR 4m in its fourth round of funding from its historical investors. CDC Entrprises Innovation, the company’s largest shareholder, was accompanied by I-Source Gestion, iXCore and Thales Corporate Venture....
UK - Barclays Private Equity sells Phase Eight to Kaupthing consortium
Phase Eight, the womenтs wear retailer, has been sold by Barclays Private Equity, in a deal that values the company at ТЃ51.5m. Phase Eight has been acquired by an investor consortium comprising management, Kaupthing Principal Investments, the Tchenguiz...
UK - Synergis invests £1.6m in cell encryption technology
Synergis Technologies has committed ТЃ1.6m in Cellcrypt, a company focused on secure voice encryption software for mobile phones and other mobile devices. Established in 2005, Cellcrypt is based in London with offices in California.
UK - NewMedia SPARK backs MarketClusters with $3m funding round
NewMedia SPARK has led a $3m series-A funding round for MarketClusters Ltd, developer of the 'StrategyWire' intelligence platform which enables corporates to accurately filter expert opinions created in blogs and news feeds.
US - 3i growth capital business enters US
3i has recruited nine private equity professionals to form its new US growth capital team and has opened an office in New York to spearhead its growth activities in the US. An additional five investors will join over the course of 2007. The founding partners...
UK - Founder of Ingenious Media joins NESTA board
Patrick McKenna, founder and chairman of Ingenious Media and a leading figure in the creative industries, will join the 11-strong NESTA board of trustees. The board, led by chairman Chris Powell, exists to help NESTA shape and develop its strategy and...
FRANCE - AXA Private Equity backs European expansion of rich contents producer
AXA Private Equity has announced it has invested in Brainsonic, a Paris-based rich media contents producer.
FRANCE - XAnge and Aurinvest pair up to back business search engine developer
XAnge and Aurinvest have injected EUR 4m in software developer Sinequa. XAnge invested three quarters of this series-A funding through XAnge and Capital and two of its FCPI funds.
UK - Ingenious VCTs back Peter Gabriel
Ingenious Media's two music VCTs have made a further joint investment, totalling ТЃ2m, to support the North American release of the next solo album of international artist, Peter Gabriel. The investment will be made through the formation of a joint venture...
EUROPE - European Buyout Review shows 2006 record year for private equity
2006 was a record year for European buyouts with the total value of deals topping over EUR 160bn for the first time ever, according to the latest European Buyout Review due to be published in March 2007 by Incisive Media in association with Bridgepoint....
NL - Apax to sell stake in PCM
Apax Partners has reportedly sold its 47.5% stake in Dutch publishing firm PCM Uitgevers to Stichting Democratie en Media (SDM), currently owner of 41.9% of the shares.
UK - Braveheart invests £1m in NiTech Solutions
Braveheart Investment Group has invested approximately ТЃ1m in NiTech Solutions Ltd, a spinout company from Heriot Watt University, which has developed a patented mixing technology for process industries. The investment includes monies from the Scottish...