News/Deals
UK - Boots deal encounters up to £1bn unforeseen pension costs
KKR's buyout of Alliance Boots has encountered a setback in the form of an extra £1bn demanded by the trustees of its pension fund. The pension fund was reported to have a surplus just days earlier. Yesterday, the Pension Regulator called on trustees...
UK - Bridgepoint secures Leeds Bradford deal
Bridgepoint has won the auction for Leeds Bradford Airport. It is paying £145.5m to acquire the asset from its five local council owners. Bridgepoint intends to invest up to £70m in the facility to try to double passenger numbers. In 2005, the airport...
UK - One Equity could value EMI at £3bn
EMI is being circled by One Equity, the private equity group associated with JP Morgan. The music publisher has been the subject of private equity speculation since last November. It was first courted by Permira which was understood to have considered...
SPAIN - Applus+ up for sale (again)
CVC, Carlyle, Permira, Brigepoint, Apax Partners and Blackstone are reported to be preparing offers of around EUR 1.5bn for Applus+. The likeliest buyer, however, is Blackstone; rumour has it that the the US giant is set to launch a pre-emptive bid for...
UK - Carlyle swoops on BAE with submarine bid
As part of its efforts to acquire the refitting and refueling Devonport naval dockyard in Plymouth, Carlyle has proposed running the UK's submarine building programme at Devonport. This process currently takes place at BAE-owned Barrow-in-Furness.
GERMANY - Klöckner Pentaplast changes hands for EUR 1.3bn
Cinven and JP Morgan Partners have sold German manufacturer of rigid plastic films Klöckner Pentaplast to The Blackstone Group for EUR 1.3bn, representing an 8x multiple of pro-forma EBITDA. In 2001, Cinven and JPMorgan acquired Klöckner Pentaplast...
SWEDEN - Innovations Kapital makes 9x on sale of Spotfire
InnovationsKapital hs sold IT company Spotfire to TIBCO, a US software company, making a 9x return on investment. The sale of Spotfire marks the final close of InnovationsKapital's first fund, InnKap 1.
GERMANY - NOXXON Pharma raises EUR 37m
NOXXON Pharma AG, a developer of mirror image oligonucleotide therapeutics, has closed a EUR 37m series-C financing round. The main investors are TVM Capital, Sofinnova Partners and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners. Other investors contributing...
BULGARIA - AIG acquires Bulgarian Telecommunications Company
AIG Global Investment Group has acquired a 65% stake in Bulgarian Telecommunications Company for EUR 1.08bn from Viva Ventures GmbH. The former state-owned telecommunications company is currently listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange and AIG acquired...
UK - Electra in 5x exit from CSG via sale to Candover
Electra Private Equity has sold height safety equipment company Capital Safety Group to Candover in a $565m transaction. The deal has generated a multiple in excess of 5x Electra's investment, equivalent to an IRR of 23%.
LUXEMBOURG - Mangrove invests in Jambaz
Mangrove Capital has reportedly provided seed-financing to Luxembourg-based Jambaz, a creator of a game widget that lets people predict the stock movement on a daily basis while offering cash prices to the most accurate calls. No further details have...
UK - Blackstone, Bain, CVC and Cinven interested in CDR's Brakes
Clayton, Dublier & Rice has appointed JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank to sell portfolio company Brakes, the food distribution business formerly known as Brakes Bros. The transaction is expected to fetch up to £1.3bn. CDR delisted Brakes in 2002 when it had...
UK - Kelso Place acquires sub-prime mortgage broker TML
Kelso Place Asset Management has completed the acquisition of TML Financial Solutions, a subsidiary of Kensington Group Plc. The new independent company will trade under its previous name, The Mortgage Lender. The Mortgage Lender, a specialist sub-prime...
UK - Apollo to save troubled Focus DIY?
Apax and Duke Street Capital portfolio company Focus DIY is believed to be on the brink of a rescue deal with Apollo Management. The DIY retailer has struggled with its debt load for the last two years following worsening conditions in the home improvement...
SPAIN - Cinven leaves CVC-PAI-led Altadis consortium
Cinven is said to have left the consortium led by CVC and PAI Partners, reportedly preparing a bid for cigarrette producer Altadis.
UK - ECI acquires CliniSys in £61m deal
ECI Partners has acquired healthcare IT company CliniSys for £61m plus an earn out of up to £2m from its founding shareholders, some of whom are re-investing in the business. Headquartered in Surrey and with operations in Belgium, The Netherlands, France,...
UK - RBS backs £21m buyout of chemicals business Tocris
Royal Bank of Scotland has backed the £21m management buyout of speciality chemicals business Tocris Cookson Ltd from its founding shareholders. The deal sees RBS taking an equity stake in the newco having provided a combined equity and debt package....
UK - Quester and YFM in £600,000 third round for Symetrica
YFM Group and Quester join other investors NESTA, the SULIS Seedcorn Fund and Tennants Ventures on a third round of funding totalling £600,000 for gamma radiation detector specialists Symetrica. NESTA first invested in Symetrica in September 2004 in...
UK - New Look IPO off
Rumours that Apax and Permira were going to float portfolio company New Look were unfounded. The high street fashion retailer looks set to change private equity hands, with Merrill Lynch appointed to run an auction. KKR, CVC and Texas Pacific Group are...
ITALY - MPS Venture acquires minority stake in Pramac
Regional expansion fund Siena Venture, managed by the private equity arm of bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS Venture), has acquired a 3.2% stake in machinery player Pramac SpA from its founders via a public offering.
NORWAY - HitecVision to invest in Poseidon Group
HitecVision Private Equity has invested in Poseidon Group, a supplier of engineering, system solutions, technology and consultant services within construction, operations and maintenance of subsea oil and gas fields. The investment gives HitecVision a...
UK - LGV seeks further asset in dental healthcare sector
It is thought that Legal & General Ventures is considering a bid for AIM-listed dental group Oasis Healthcare. The Norwich-based company's shares rose a fifth yesterday on the back of news that it had received several preliminary approaches.
GERMANY - Mauser AG changes hands in EUR 850m transaction
One Equity Partners have sold Mauser AG for EUR 850m to fellow financial investor Dubai International Capital. In May 2003, One Equity Partners had acquired the industrial packaging specialist for an undisclosed amount.
GERMANY - StageSpace receives seed funding
StageSpace has raised an undisclosed amount of seed capital from a syndicate of investors including Mountain Partners and Tiburon Unternehmensaufbau GmbH.