News/Region
UK - West Coast Capital has three days to make rival offer for Dobbies
West Coast Capital has been given three days by the Takeover Panel to make a rival offer for Dobbies. The Scottish gardening chain is currently the subject of a £15 per share recommended bid by Tesco. The UK retailing giant owns 32% of the shares with...
UK - Private equity set to reclaim struggling Esporta
Esporta is reported to be on the brink of going into administration. The gym chain was acquired by the Halabi family trust from Duke Street Capital in November 2006 for an undisclosed sum. It is understood debt worth £330m involved in Halabi's takeover...
UK - Enterprise Ventures completes further investment in Into Technology
Enterprise Ventures has completed a further investment in e-trading platform specialist Into Technology Holdings Ltd through its RisingStars Growth Fund. The £1.25m funding package included commitments from other existing investors North West Equity...
UK - Cambridge Angels backs ionscope with £680,000 funding round
Cambridge Angels Group has provided microscope technology company ionscope Ltd with £680,000 of funding. ionscope was formed by Imperial Innovations.
UK - Street Capital backs buyout of PCTI Solutions
Irish private equity investor Street Capital has backed the buyout of software business PCTI Solutions Ltd. PCTI is an electronic document management service provider to the UK primary healthcare sector.
UK - BOSIF participates in £925m acquisition of David Lloyd Leisure
Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance (BOSIF), together with London & Regional Properties (L&R), has provided an integrated debt and equity package to facilitate the Next Generation Clubs (NGC) £925m acquisition of David Lloyd Leisure Ltd (DLL) from Whitbread...
ITALY - Barclays Private Equity acquires catering business
Barclays Private Equity has completed the management buyout of Gemeaz Cusin Ristorazione and Scapa Italia from the Accor Group. It is understood that the sale of the two businesses is part of Accor's disposal strategy of non-core Italian assets to focus...
GERMANY – NORD Holding acquires Julius Heywinkel GmbH
Nord Holding Unternehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaft mbH has acquired the Julius Heywinkel Group from the Wilhelm Karmann Corporation for an undisclosed sum. The management also invested and will retain a minority stake in the company.
GERMANY – AUCTUS acquires electronics GmbH
AUCTUS Management GmbH has acquired a majority stake in German electronic manufacturing services electronics GmbH. The transaction value has not been disclosed.
NL - Forbion and Inventages invest EUR 2.5m in AM-Pharma
Forbion Capital Partners and Inventages Venture Capital have invested EUR 2.5m in their portfolio company AM-Pharma, a Dutch biopharmaceuticals business. The investment will be followed by a Series-C financing round, for which the company is in discussion...
UK - Duke Street Capital completes delisting of CI Traders
Duke Street Capital and Europa Capital, the European real estate fund manager, have completed the acquisition of CI Traders through Sandpiper, a newly incorporated Jersey-based company. Based on the offer price of 100p per share in cash, CI Traders has...
UK - BPE exits Direct Group through £40m sale to LDC
Barclays Private Equity has sold Direct Group, a provider of corporate and affinity services to the insurance sector, to LDC for £40m. Direct Group provides a range of services to insurers and corporate partners, including policy administration and fulfilment,...
UK - Rutland to acquire Pulse Home Products for £51.5m
Rutland Partners is to acquire Pulse Home Products Ltd and the business of certain other domestic appliance brands from Alba Plc for £51.5m. The transaction is conditional, inter alia, on the approval of Alba shareholders at an EGM. Rutland is investing...
UK - BOSIF backs £410m SBO of Apollo from LDC
Bank of Scotland Corporate has backed the £410m secondary management buyout of property services company Apollo from LDC. Bank of Scotland provided an integrated debt and equity package to support the incumbent management team, which along with key employees,...
UK - FF&P takes majority stake in furnishings business Oka
Fleming Family & Partners Private Equity has acquired a majority stake in upmarket furnishings business Oka. The deal has enabled the founders of the Oxfordshire-based retailer to realise some value.
UK - Penta Capital exits Out of Town Restaurants
Penta Capital has sold Out of Town Restaurant Group (OTRG) to its former owner. The deal is reported to be worth less than £5m. Lawrence Wosskow founded OTRG in 1998 and has now re-acquired it.
UK - Graphite Capital backs £22m buyout of Third Space
Graphite Capital has backed the management buyout of a premier London health and fitness club, The Third Space Group, for £22m. Founded in June 2001, the Soho-based gym and health centre now has close to 4,300 members. Its facilities include a medical...
UK - Esprit joins forces with global venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson
Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), the Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm responsible for backing Hotmail and Skype in the past, has acquired a strategic stake in Esprit Capital Partners. Esprit will rebrand as ‘DFJ Esprit’ and members of DFJ’s...
UK - CIT announces senior appointments
CIT Group Inc has announced two senior level appointments within its London Commercial Finance business. Graham Randell has been promoted to senior managing director, CIT Commercial Finance Europe. He will continue to oversee the development and expansion...
FRANCE - Management demands stricter debt terms on OGF deal
In the recent EUR 780m secondary buyout of French funeral business OGF, backed by Astorg Partners and Vestar Capital, management has ensured the mezzanine lenders are subject to a two-year hurdle.
SWEDEN - Telenor's offer for Canal Plus rejected by KKR and Permira
According to Swedish press reports, Telenor's offer for KKR and Permira-owned Canal Plus has been rejected. Telenor has been rumoured to have been interested in the Nordic part of the European TV giant for some time, and this is the third time Telenor...
GERMANY - 3i Infrastructure invests in Oiltanking
3i Infrastructure has acquired a 45% stake in Oiltanking Singapore Ltd, Oiltanking Amsterdam BV and Oiltanking Malta Ltd (the OT companies) for a total price of $305m. The investment comprises an equity consideration of EUR 115m and a debt package worth...
BELGIUM - Axcel portfolio company Esko acquires Artwork Systems
Esko, a Belgian packaging pre-production company controlled by Danish private equity fund Axcel, has acquired a 76.69% stake in Artwork Systems from its founding shareholders. The shares were sold at for EUR 11.50 per share in cash, valuing the company...
SWITZERLAND - BC Partners exits Hirslanden hospitals in $2.36bn deal
BC Partners is reported to have agreed the sale of its Swiss hospitals business Hirslanden. It is understood that South African company Medi-Clinic will acquire Hirslanden in a $2.36bn deal. BC Partners has held the company since December 2002, when it...