News/Region
THE NETHERLANDS - VNU accepts EUR 7.5bn LBO offer
VNU NV, a leading global information and media company, and Valcon Acquisition BV, a holding company newly incorporated in the Netherlands, announced today that they have agreed to a public offer for VNU that values the company’s equity at EUR 7.5bn,...
UK - Micrima secures £475k from VC syndicate
Micrima Ltd, a spin-out from Bristol University, has received a £150,000 investment from NESTA (the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts). This is part of a funding round worth £475,000 with co-investment from private investors and...
GERMANY - 2006 LBO market off to sluggish start, says LEK
The latest edition of the LEK Private Equity newsletter, written by Dr Paul Jowett, records that 2005 finished only marginally above 2004 in terms of dealflow, while the number of transactions closed during the year actually dropped. There are currently...
UK - KCL firm makes new add-on acquisition
Kleinwort Capital Ltd has announced today that portfolio company Healthcare Homes Group Ltd (HHG) has acquired PriMed Group, a privately-owned care and nursing home group based in Suffolk. The acquisition is the fourth successful acquisition made by HHG...
UK - Curvey becomes partner at Duke Street
Duke Street Capital, the independent private equity fund manager, has announced the promotion of Colin Curvey to partner. Curvey joined Duke Street in 1999 and focuses on the consumer goods and insurance sectors.
DENMARK - Nordic Capital's Nycomed announces new management structure
The responsibilities of Nycomed’s leadership team has been revised to place greater emphasis on sales and marketing.
GERMANY - TVM changes name
TVM, a life sciences and information technology venture capital firms in Europe and the United States, announced today that the firm will be change its name to TVM Capital, effective immediately. Founded in 1983 as Techno Venture Management, the name...
GERMANY - Bank of Ireland syndicates Westfalia Auto deal
Bank of Ireland Acquisition Finance has announced that it has launched the syndication of the EUR 50m senior debt and EUR 10m mezzanine debt facilities part financing the secondary MBO of Westfalia Automotive by WestLB and Odewald from Granville Baird...
ITALY - Sanpaolo IMI and Quadrivio invest in ework
Nord Ovest Impresa (the closed-end fund managed by Sanpaolo IMI Fondi Chiusi SGR) and Quadrivio New Old Economy Fund (managed by Quadrivio SGR) have invested EUR 11m in the employment agency ework. The current managers Pino Cova and Marco Davi will remain...
UK - Bank of Scotland invests in McCurrach UK
Bank of Scotland Corporate has announced that its integrated finance team has taken a minority stake in Glasgow-based McCurrach UK Ltd.
UK - 3i invests in Israeli technology fund
3i has invested $20m in Giza Venture Capital’s fourth fund. This investment extends 3i’s global venture capital activities to Israel, where it will invest primarily alongside Giza, in Israeli companies with highly disruptive technologies.
SWEDEN - ICG recruits Timo Larjomaa as Nordic investment manager
Timo Larjomaa has joined Intermediate Capital Group’s (ICG) Nordic team in Stockholm as an investment manager. He has previously held positions at the Boston Consulting Group and the Finnish law firm Roschier Holmberg.
SPAIN - Impala Capital and Charterhouse create world's largest natural stone company
Funds advised by Impala Capital Partners (previously Suala Capital) and Charterhouse Capital Partners have reached an agreement with the shareholders of Grupo Levantina to create the world’s largest natural stone company. The total value of the transaction...
ESTONIA - MartinsonTrigon brings MTV to the Baltics
MTV Network’s emerging markets team will run MTV Baltic’s operations, together with MartinsonTrigon's TVCorp, chaired by Allan Martinson, a local entrepreneur and creator of the first Baltic news agency.
UK - BancBoston makes 15x money on Aquila exit
BancBoston Capital has notched up a 15.2x net return on the sale of its shares in the UK-based Aquila Group Holdings Ltd. This tops a stellar run of exits for the firm. Returns on BancBoston Capital’s recent transactions include 6.5x on the sale of...
FRANCE - Siparex Croissance clocks up good performance for 2005
Sigefi Private Equity’s listed private equity vehicle, Siparex Croissance, has today announced its performance in 2005. The fund, which is quoted on Eurolist’s C compartment, recorded its best performance in five years for parent company net income...
DENMARK - ATP protests against squeeze out of TDC shareholders
ATP has decided to subimt a formal protest against Nordic Telephone Company ApS (NTC) and TDC A/S to prevent the squeeze out of ATP and other minority shareholders of TDC.
SWEDEN - Accent Equity acquires stake in Jetpak
Accent Equity has announced the acquisition of one-third of the shares in Swedish logistics company Jetpak. The formerly SAS-owned company was acquired at the end of 2005 by Danish Polaris Private Equity.
GERMANY - Aurelius Group acquires DBT Maschinenfabrik Scharf GmbH
The Aurelius Gruppe has acquired DBT Maschinenfabrik Scharf GmbH from DBT GmbH, a subsidiary of Essen-based RAG AG. RAG is currently taking part in the bidding process for chemicals specialist Degussa. No details of the transaction value have been disclosed.
UK - Kleinwort announces two new investors
Kleinwort Capital Limited has announced that it has two new investors on board – Swiss-based Partners Group and F&C Private Equity Trust Plc.
FINLAND - CapMan funds receive mezzanine loan repayment
Finlayson & Co Oy has repaid its mezzanine loans to Finnmezzanine II and III, funds managed by CapMan.
GERMANY - DZ Equity Partner acquires stake in Illichmann Aluminiumguss
Frankfurt-based DZ Equity Partner has acquired a controlling stake in Austrian Illichmann Aluminiumguss GmbH & Co KG and its Slovakia-based affiliates. Debt was supplied by Investkredit Bank AG. The financial terms of the contract have not been disclosed....
SPAIN - Permira and Ballvé make offer for Telepizza
According to reports in the Spanish press, the president of Telepizza, Pedro Ballvé, has teamed up with Permira to make a public bid for the company.
FINLAND - Sentica invests in video rental business
Sentica Partners has invested in Turku-based Makuuni Oy. Makuuni specialises in movie rentals and has more than 90 stores across Finland.