France
Oakley to sell majority stake in Ace Education to trade
Exit will generate a gross return on investment of nearly 2.1x money and around 27% IRR for Oakley Capital Private Equity III
Ashurst hires Dechert's Hellot
François Hellot spent 12 years as a partner with Dechert prior to joining Ashurst
Over a third of LPs track GPs on social media - survey
Survey finds that 38% of LPs use social media to track GPs and a further 29% use social media as part of their due diligence on potential investments
PAI to acquire SGD Pharma from JIC
Buyout reportedly values the pharmaceutical glass packaging producer at around €900m
Silverfleet exits Coventya in €420m sale, nets 2.5x money
Trade sale comes five years after Silverfleet acquired the metal finishing business from Equistone
Tikehau-backed Ace Aerofondo IV raises €100m
Fund invests in mid-market companies active in the Spanish aerospace and defence sector
10T Holdings leads $380m round for Ledger
Another 27 investors take part in the funding round, which gives the company unicorn status
TowerBrook buys crane rental firm Uperio from LFPI
Deal will help the company aim for expansion internationally, as well as into other sectors
Cerea Mezzanine IV holds €215m first close
Fund invests in small- and mid-cap companies operating across the food and beverage value chain
Ambienta hires four
Demeunynck and Héron join Ambienta's Paris office, while Leu and Balz join its Munich office
Sagard, Isai back MBO of software firm Invoke
MBO is led by Invoke managing director Raphael de Talhouet and several employees of the company
KKR backs Silver Lake's Cegid in €5.5bn deal
Silver Lake remains the majority shareholder in the company, alongside AltaOne
SoftBank leads $500m series-E round for Contentsquare
Latest funding brings Contentsquare's total funding to date to $810m and values it at $2.8bn
PAI Partners backs Apave
GP is investing alongside Gapave, which will remain the largest shareholder in the company
Advent exits Circet to ICG
Sale ends a three-year holding period for Advent, which bought the company from CM-CIC Investissement
Merieux Participations 4 holds €300m first close
MP4 provides equity tickets of тЌ20-80m, with a sweet spot of тЌ40-45m, targeting the health and nutrition sector
Cinven sells Chryso to Saint-Gobain for €1bn
Sale ends a four-year holding period for Cinven, which acquired the company from LBO France via Cinven VI
General Atlantic leads €276m round for €2.6bn-valued Back Market
Round sees participation from Generation Investment Management, Aglaé, Eurazeo, Goldman Sachs and Daphni
Raise, IDI buy PE-backed Talis Education
Azulis Capital and Aquiti Gestion invested in the professional training provider in January 2020
Eurazeo launches PME IV Fund
Eurazeo's PME arm deploys equity tickets of €20-100m, focusing on French mid-market businesses with EV of €50-200m
Abénex backs medical imaging software provider EDL
GP plans to support the company in boosting its organic growth and accelerating its expansion through targeted add-ons
Bain's Parts Holding Europe files for IPO
PE-backed IPOs have been scarce in France in the past five years, according to Unquote Data
Eurazeo sells 49% stake in Trader Interactive in $1.6bn deal
With this sale, Eurazeo reaps a 1.5x return on its initial investment, made in 2017 alongside Goldman Sachs
Keensight sells LinkByNet to Accenture
Deal ends a five-year holding period for Keensight, which invested €50m in LinkByNet in exchange for a minority stake