Clearwater
Livingbridge acquires Love Holidays
GP invests in the online travel agent with equity drawn from its £660m sixth flagship fund
Inflexion invests in management buyout of ITM
GP supports the buyout from the founder-owners of the financial services IT and software firm
Synova generates 8x return on Mandata sale to LDC
Deal for logistics software company brings to an end a five-year holding period for the vendor
Rutland divests Pizza Hut in management buy-back
GP will retain a minority stake in the UK pizza restaurant chain following the deal
Palatine reaps more than 3x on Westleigh sale to Countryside
Transaction values the home builder at up to £135.4m, two years after the GP invested at a £65m EV
Endless exits Stirling Dynamics
GP's Enact Fund I has sold Stirling Dynamics to Ardian-backed Assystem Technologies
European entry multiples hit new high in 2017 despite Q4 cooldown
Average EBITDA multiple increased to 10.4x in 2017 compared with 10.2x in 2016, according to the latest Clearwater Multiples Heatmap
Alternative lending thrives in the Netherlands
Only the UK, France and Germany have seen more deals involving alternative debt, with Netherlands activity growing 31% year-on-year in 2017
Clearwater hires Canaccord's O'Donnell
In his new role as partner, O’Donnell will be in charge of Clearwater's consumer sector practice
NorthEdge makes 3.1x on sale of Jigsaw24 to Alcuin
Sale of the IT business brings to an end a five-year holding period for the vendor
European PE in 2017: Scaling new heights
Buyout activity and fundraising reached a new peak in 2017, with mega-buyouts and small-cap deals fueling dealflow and French funds popular among LPs
NVM makes first deal from maiden LP-backed fund with Dale MBO
GP's first institutionally backed fund has held a first close and has a target of £150m
Lonsdale acquires Simmons Bars
Deal is the fifth investment made by the GP's maiden fund, which closed on £110m in 2016
NorthEdge reaps 3.5x on £70m sale of DW3 to Masonite
Divestment of the window and door manufacturer results in a 59% IRR following a 40-month tenure
Clearwater promotes Eden to COO
Eden joined the business in 2014 following roles at Lloyds Bank, Close Brothers and Experian
HIG buys Beinbauer from Orlando
Management team, headed by Tobias Lührig and Patric Meeth, will continue to lead the group
Bridges-backed Viva Gym acquires Fitness Hut
Bridges made a further investment from Fund III to finance the bolt-on acquisition
Tenzing invests in buyout of Converge TS
Acquisition of the cloud-based IT business is the GP's second investment from its maiden fund
Clearwater hires two for debt advisory team
Grassby and Rattan will join the debt advisory teams in Manchester and Birmingham respectively
Average entry multiple climbs to 10.8x in Q2
Price inflation has led average European multiples to rise further in Q2, according to the latest unquote" and Clearwater Multiples Heatmap
Corporate caution creating carve-out opportunities for PE
Political instability may trigger a raft of corporate divestments, from which PE could profit
Investor influx drives southern European multiples upwards
Increasing global levels of dry powder are seeing international GPs setting their sights on southern Europe in search for value
Average multiples remain stable at 10.2x in Q1
European valuations keep track with 2016, but drop slightly compared to Q4 2016
LDC hires two investment directors
Duo will oversee £1.2bn of equity investments in British companies over the next three years