Back to school

01 October 2008

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Having expected minimal movement in the private equity and venture markets it was a pleasant surprise to see a number of deals completed while everyone was supposedly on holiday. The largest of these, the EUR550-600m purchase of Compagnie Europeenne de Prestations Logistiques (CEPL) by Arcapita Bank, a Bahrain-based investment firm, even makes it into the top five deals of the year. Unfortunately, in what seems to have become a slight trend, the deal involves a non-French investor

To add to this, the first couple of weeks since the end of the summer holidays has been by far the most active of the year yet.

The people at Credit Agricole Private Equity (CAPE) certainly haven't been twiddling their thumbs over the summer with the completion of three deals and the launch of a fund in the space of a week since the end of the holiday season. CAPE completed two LBOs, Coiff'idis and STTS, as well as a EUR10m expansion investment in Valorem. On top of that the investor also launched a new EUR150m co-investment fund.

The new school year was marked with the arrival of new pupils Newfund Management and Serena Capital. Serena held a EUR90m first close of its EUR125m early-stage and expansion fund while Newfund held a EUR63m first close of its EUR100m maiden fund. Both will be focused on small companies and their expansion, a subject which will be put under the microscope in this issue.

With the expected finalisation of Abenex's purchase of the Buffalo Grill deal next month, as well as noises about Barclays Private Equity looking at the purchase of Aerocan, it looks like we're starting out our new and toughest school year for a while with all the best intentions. Lets hope this year yields top marks.

Yours sincerely,

Francois Rowell

Editor, France unquote"

Tel: +44 20 7004 7524

francois.rowell@incisivemedia.com.