News/Region
FRANCE - AXA PE and CDC in partial exit of Saur
AXA Private Equity and Caisse des Dépôts (CDC) have sold a portion of their interest in Hime, the holding company of water services business the Saur Group, to CUBE Infrastructure.
CEE - DLA Piper opens in Bucharest
DLA Piper has announced that it will launch a new office in Bucharest in early November, to be managed by Marian
UK - NVM invests £7m to back buy-and-build of CloserStill
NVM Private Equity has invested £7m into CloserStill Holdings Ltd, a newly created platform company in the events and exhibitions industry.
UK - Matrix backs buyout of Metropress
Matrix Private Equity has backed the buyout of newspaper publisher Metropress Ltd.
NORWAY - Tandberg ends discussions with private equity firm
Norwegian video conferencing business Tandberg has announced that it has terminated negotiations with a potential private equity buyer.
FRANCE - Atlas and OTC make EUR 10m Inspirational investment
New investor Atlas Venture and returning backer OTC Asset Management have invested EUR 10m in a second round of funding for e-commerce specialist Inspirational Stores.
FRANCE - Argos acquires LEXSI
Argos Soditic has acquired a majority stake in security consultancy Laboratoire d’Expertise en Sécurité Informatique (LEXSI) as part of a management buyout transaction, with founder Jöel Rivière and the management retaining the balance of the equity.
UK - Inflexion appoints investment director
Inflexion Private Equity has appointed Richard Swann as investment director.
UK - Sovereign hires assistant director
Sovereign Capital has hired Jon Edington as assistant director.
CEE – Mid Europa increases its stake in Falcon Group
Mid Europa has increased its stake in telecommunication services company, Falcon Group, to 74.06%. The fund already acquired 36.76% in November 2006 and this deal has seen it acquire a further 37.3% from co-investor Lehman Brothers.
SWEDEN - Industrifonden hit by writedowns
Industrifonden reported a SEK -283m loss for the financial year 2007-2008, despite investment commitments of SEK 343m compared to SEK 351m last year when the fund earned of a profit of SEK 123m.
FRANCE - City Star becomes Clavel Investissement
City Star Private Equity, the company founded by Laurence Albertini and Jean-Louis Charon in 2004 has changed its name to Clavel Investissement.
UK - Alix appoints Dan Murphy
Alix Partners has appointed Dan Murphy as director in its performance improvement practice in London.
SWEDEN - Axcel takes 90% stake in John Bauer Organization
Axcel has acquired a 90% stake in Swedish education company John Bauer Organization AB (JBO) from founder Rune Tedfors. Tedfors will retain a minority stake.
PORTUGAL - Explorer closes Probos MBO
Explorer has completed the management buyout of packaging company Probos. The transaction was carried out via Explorer II fund.
ITALY - Advanced Capital launches real estate fund
Advanced Capital has received the green light from Bankitalia for the launch of its EUR 300m AC Real Estate fund, the first in Italy. The fund is reported to have a eight year life span and will seek an annual return rate of 15%.
FRANCE - Naxicap leads EUR 8m round in La Boucherie
Naxicap Partners has led a EUR 8m investment round in restaurateur La Boucherie alongside Perspectives et Participations Bred and BNP Paribas Développement. The Baudaire family and Christophe Mauxion will retain a majority stake in the company.
FINLAND - Sentica Partners merges DWT Engineering and Cavia
Sentica Partners has acquired DWT Engineering Oy, a supplier of sludge treatment technology, from Markku Sihvonen and Timo Kivimäki. The deal is an add-on acquisition to Cavia, Sentica’s portfolio company.
GERMANY – BayBG invests EUR 1m into TAKEO
BayBG has invested EUR 1m into Bavarian auto parts company TAKEO GmbH in the framework of a silent partnership.
GERMANY - Peter Baumgartner joins Vestar
Vestar Capital Partners has appointed Peter Baumgartner as managing director of Vestar Resources, which is based at the firms Munich office and provides advice and services to portfolio companies.
GERMANY - High-Tech Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital back Lophius
High-Tech Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital have made an investment of EUR 600,000 into biotechnology company Lophius Biosciences.
FRANCE - Bridgepoint Capital et al sell Pisto
Bridgepoint Capital, Banexi Capital Partenaires and BNP Paribas Développement have exited their investment in oil services company Pisto in a trade sale to Australian financial services giant Macquarie Group.
UK - Ferd leads EUR 15m Cloud investment
Ferd Ventures has invested EUR 7.5m as part of a EUR 15m funding round for wireless broadband provider The Cloud, with incumbent backers providing EUR 7.25m and corporate financier GP Bullhound investing EUR 300,000.
SPAIN - Talde looking to sell Oscainox
According to rumours, Grupo Talde has entered negotiations regarding the sale of industrial group Oscainox to a strategic player.