News/Region
Barclays Private Equity France leads purchase of Amstutz Levin
Barclays Private Equity has led the purchase of Amstutz Levin, located near Belfort (Alsace, France) for an undisclosed amount. The company with a turnover of about EUR 40m is a leading designer and manufacturer of small metal components for the French...
Alchemy exits Alcentra Group
The Alchemy Investment Plan has announced the completion of the sale of Alcentra Group to The Bank of New York. The exit has enabled Alchemy to return 3.8x to investors and generate an IRR of 57%.
ReceptIcon secures DKK 31m of venture funding
ReceptIcon has received DKK 31m from Dansk Erhversinvestering, INCUBA Venture, VECATA A/S, InnovationsKapital and Oestjysk Innovation.
ISIS sells Language Line for £25m
ISIS Equity Partners has announced the sale of Language Line to Language Line Inc for £25m. Language Line is a UK provider of telephone interpretation services. ISIS invested in Language Line in August 2003 leading a £15m secondary buyout from ECI....
Charterhouse to exit Lucite
Charterhouse intends to exit its investment in Lucite. The private equity house recently mandated Deutsche Bank to handle the sale after receiving unsolicited approaches from trade buyers. The possible value of a sale has been estimated at £1.4bn, with...
Cuatrecasas to open London office
The Spanish law firm Cuatrecasas has announced plans to open a new office in London in line with the firm’s strategy of international expansion. Cuatrecasas London will have experts in Spanish and Portuguese business law from its offices in Spain and...
Candover appoints new partner in Paris
Candover has announced the appointment of Bertrand Finet as a partner in its Paris office.
Granville Baird backs buyout of Paddock Fabrications
Granville Baird Capital Partners (GBCP) has backed the management buyout of Paddock Fabrications Ltd from private vendors. The £8.9m investment is the second UK transaction from GBCP’s 7th Fund and was supported by a debt package provided by Royal...
Vienna-based Nabriva receives EUR 42m in early-stage funding
A syndicate of investors led by Nomura, including Global Life Science Ventures, HBM Bioventures, Novartis Bioventures and Wellcome has provided EUR 42m in financing to antibiotic research concern Nabriva GmbH. GLSV committed EUR 6m in the series A financing...
Red-M secures £5.4m further funding
Close Venture Management (CVM) has invested £750,000 in Red-M Group, a leading provider of services and products for managed wireless infrastructures. The investment was part of a £5.4m funding round, led by Pi Capital and including in addition to Close,...
LPs agree to tell all at London conference…
Institutional investors and GPs from across Europe have signed up for the second annual London LP Congress organised by Incisive Media and Unquote”, which takes place this Thursday and Friday.
European tech M&A soars, says research
The number of acquisitions during 2005 within the European technology sector has outstripped the previous high of 2004 and recorded a staggering 103% increase in deal value, according to the latest findings from Regent Associates' 'European Technology...
Capital Fund invests in TXT4
A company that provides automated mobile response systems for advertising and recruitment campaigns has raised £250,000 from The Capital Fund, a £50m venture capital fund that invests in fast-growth companies in Greater London. TXT4 was advised by GP...
Terra Firma in $2.5bn aircraft leasing buyout
Terra Firma, the private equity group, has announced the acquisition of AWAS Aviation Holdings LLC (AWAS) for $2.5bn from Morgan Stanley. The acquisition is being funded by a mixture of equity and debt underwritten by JP Morgan, which also acted as financial...
STAR Capital in German double
STAR Capital Partners, the European investment fund focused on investing in capital intensive businesses, has announced the completion on 30th December 2005 of two new deals in Germany: Abellio GmbH and GSES GmbH. The combined equity investment (including...
HMV shares up on possible buyout rumours
According to a report in The Sunday Times, music and book retailer HMV is being lined up for an approach from a private equity firm. The speculation centres on plans by Permira to acquire the company for around £800m.
3i sells Witwood Food stake to management
3i has sold its minority shareholding in Witwood Food Products, a manufacturer of specialist food coatings for the frozen and chilled food industry.
Granville Baird leads Paddock MBO
Granville Baird Capital Partners, the international mid-market private equity firm, has today invested £8.9m in Paddock Holdings Ltd, the UK market leader in the design and manufacture of high quality, multi point door locks. The funding from Granville...
Second German newspaper buyout for Veronis-Mecom Consortium
US private equity media specialist Veronis Suhler Stevenson, alongside British Mecom Plc, has acquired German Morgenpost Verlag GmbH from former shareholders Hans Barlach and Josef Depenbrock for an undisclosed sum. The deal is the consortium's second...
Eqvitec provides mezzanine financing to Swedish Hedson Technologies
Eqvitec Technology Mezzanine Fund II has provided a mezzanine loan of EUR4.7m to Swedish Hedson Technologies AB.
Austrian startup RF-iT receives EUR 4m from PONTIS and Truffle
Vienna-based PONTIS Venture Partners, alongside Parisian Truffle Venture has arranged a first round of funding for Infineon spin-off RF-iT Solutions. Public leverage came from the federal agency Austria Wirtschaftsservice (AWS) which complemented the...
3i acquires Spanish cafe chain
3i has signed an agreement to buy a 47% stake in the coffee shop chain Café & Té from the founder Gustavo Ron, who will retain a 51% interest in the business.
Sofinnova Partners and Apax invest EUR 12m in DBV Technologies
Sofinnova Partners has announced a EUR 7m investment as lead investor in a EUR 12.3m round of financing in DBV Technologies, a French biopharmaceutical company that specialises in the development of allergy therapies and diagnostic tests. Apax Partners...
Abingworth hires Sandham as venture partner
Abingworth Management, the life sciences investment group, has appointed Andy Sandham as a venture partner. In this role he will identify and create new businesses and provide strategic and operational support for existing companies within the Abingworth...