News/Region
UK - Apollo's Countrywide bid faces further challenge
Apollo's £1bn offer for Countrywide is expected to encounter difficulty next month when it faces a shareholder vote at an extraordinary meeting on the news that hedge fund Polygon Investment Partners has increased its stake in the UK estate agency chain...
SPAIN - iNova Capital acquires majority stake in IT business
Private equity firm iNova Capital has purchased a 56% shareholding in IT business Unitronics Comunicaciones, S.A from AlpInvest Partners, Coller Capital and the company's founders. Upon completion of the deal, the remaining shares will be split between...
UK - More Sainsbury's share movements
Robert Tchenguiz has raised his stake in Sainsbury's from 4.04% to 4.15%. It is thought the property tycoon is interested in working with the board of the UK supermarket giant to help it realise some of the value of its property. Tchenguiz has previous...
GERMANY - New partners at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in Frankfurt
Willkie Farr & Gallagher has announced that Dr Andreas Hautkappe, Rolf Hünermann and Dr Stefan Jörgens join the firm as national partners in the Frankfurt office. Additionally Ole Oldenburg and Ingo Bednarz join the team as associates. All five new...
GERMANY - Neuhaus Partners exits Gentleware
Neuhaus Partners GmbH has sold Gentleware AG to software house b+m Informatik AG. The transaction value has not been disclosed, but company founder Dr Marko Boger remains invested with a 25% stake.
SWEDEN - Swedish Venture Capital Association gets new president
Fredrick Johansson will follow Johan Hernmarck as the new president for the Swedish venture Capital Association (SVCA), it has been announced today. Johansson started SEB Foretagsinvest back in 1995 and is the head of the company today.
NL - Bridgepoint acquires Wolters Kluwer Education for EUR 774m
Bridgepoint has announced that it has acquired Wolters Kluwer Education (WKE) in a transaction which values the company at EUR 774m. Debt was provided by ING and Société Générale.
SWEDEN - Industry Capital sells Prevesta to Block Watne Group for SEK 1.9bn
Block Watne Group (BWG), one of Norway’s leading housebuilders and listed on Oslo Børs, has entered into an agreement with Industri Kapital's 2004 Fund to buy 100 per cent of the shares in Prevesta, Sweden’s leading producer of prefabricated houses...
UK - Aberdeen leads ID Support Services buyout
Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital has led the management buyout of ID Support Services Ltd (IDSS), a group providing electronic security systems and climate control solutions. IDSS has two divisions, ID Technology Group specialises in the provision...
UK - Hermes portfolio company AMG makes acquisition
Hermes Private Equity portfolio claims management company AMG (formerly known as Ashworth Mairs Group) has acquired specialist commercial property claims adjuster Carr Greenwood Smith.
FRANCE/SPAIN - Altadis attracts private equity buyers
Following the rejection of Imperial Tobacco's £8bn bid last month, three private equity firms have expressed interest in acquiring tobacco company Altadis, according to press reports.
UK - Esprit Capital Partners invests $15m in Tribold
Esprit Capital Partners has led a $15m series B funding round for Tribold, a provider of product management enterprise software developed for communication service providers. Esprit joins previous investor Eden Ventures which also participated in this...
UK - Iceni Capital completes second transaction
Iceni Capital has supported the buyout of Pell & Bales, a not-for-profit specialist marketing services company. Led by the CEO of Pell & Bales, the buyout allows the founder to retire from the company and gives the management team the capital resources...
UK - Bridgepoint acquires Fat Face for £360m
Bridgepoint has acquired clothing retailer Fat Face from Advent International in a transaction totalling £360m. The company has a turnover of £111m and a run rate EBITDA of £30.4m for the year ended 31 May 2007 and employs over 1,500 staff.
UK - Smedvig invests £6.4m in Streetcar
Smedvig Capital has invested £6.4m in Streetcar, a pay-as-you-go car club. The new capital will be used to finance Streetcar's aggressive growth plans, increasing the number of locations and the size of its fleet.
UK - Grant Thornton Leeds strengthens corporate finance team
The Leeds office of Grant Thornton has strengthened its corporate finance team with the appointments of Bridie Robinson as manager and Christina Lacy as executive. Jenny Hopkins has also been promoted to manager. Robinson, who joins Grant Thornton's Lead...
FRANCE - Atos Origin weighs its options out
French computer services company Atos Origin has confirmed it is exploring strategic options. The supervisory and management boards have mandated Rothschild and Goldman Sachs to run the process.
NORWAY - Radiocrafts receives growth capital from Verdane Capital
Radiocrafts AS, a leading supplier of wireless radio frequency (RF) modules to the professional market for communication in the license-free frequency bands, has received growth capital from Verdane Capital. The new funding is part of the strategy to...
NORWAY - SCAN Signs agreement with Ship Finance Ltd
SCAN Geographical systems ASA (SCAN), in which Norvestor IV holds a 35.5% stake, has agreed to sell its three new building high capacity 3D vessles to Ship Finance Limited for USD 70m per vessel.
UK - Apax cashes in on wafer firm
Apax Partners is believed to have made a profit of £25m on the sale of Wales-based silicon wafer reclamation group Pure Wafer.
UK – Apax and Permira seek New Look suitor
Apax Partners and Permira are reportedly expecting up to £2bn for the sale of portfolio company New Look, a UK fashion retailer. The private equity backers have mandated Merrill Lynch to explore options for the company, which they jointly hold two thirds...
GERMANY - CVC sells ista to Charterhouse for EUR 2.4bn
CVC Capital Partners has sold its stake in energy metering and billing company ista to Charterhouse Capital Partners for a total transaction value, including debt, of EUR 2.4bn. CVC acquired ista in a management buyout in June 2003.
NL - Bridgepoint to acquire Wolters Kluwer education division
Wolters Kluwer, the Dutch publishing group, is understood to have agreed the sale of its education division to Bridgepoint Capital in a deal worth more than EUR 750m.
ITALY – AIFI to release 2006 results on Monday
The Italian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AIFI) is to release its 2006 results during its annual conference in Milan.