News/UK / Ireland
UK - TPG Capital appoints new vice president
TPG Capital has appointed Jacob Polny as a vice president in its London office.
UK - Providence and Carlyle to join Blackstone bid for Informa
Blackstone is believed to be talking to Providence and Carlyle to arrange a joint bid for specialist business-to-business information provider Informa. It has been reported that a syndicate of banks led by JP Morgan has been lined up to provide most of...
US - Linklaters hires Jeffrey Schmidt for New York office
Linklaters has appointed Jeffrey Schmidt as partner in the New York office.
UK - Duke Street moves offices
Duke Street has moved its UK office in London to Wigmore Street.
IRELAND - Elan receives bids for EDT
Reports suggest that biotechnology company Elan Corp Plc has received first-round bids for its drug delivery unit Elan Drug Technologies (EDT), with private equity firms TPG Capital and Bain Capital thought to be potential buyers. The sale is hoped to...
UK - NVM appoints David Inman
NVM Private Equity has appointed David Inman as financial controller in Newcastle.
GLOBAL - Permira beefs up Asian presence
UK-based buyout house Permira has appointed longtime Goldman Sachs banker Henry Chen as its head for Greater China.
UK - Acuity invests £4.5m into Connect 2 Media
Return investor Acuity Capital has supported games platform Connect 2 Media with £4.5m.
UK - Rainbow Seed Fund invests £750,000 into LiteThru
The Rainbow Seed Fund and the Oxford Technology Enterprise Capital Fund have led a £750,000 investment round for drug analysis company LiteThru Ltd.
UK - Advent backs EUR 15m SEP funding
Return investor Advent Venture Partners, alongside Generali Insurance subsidiary BSI, has invested EUR 15m in a second round of funding for pharmaceuticals business Speciality European Pharma Ltd (SEP).
EUROPE - Earlybird closes new fund on EUR 127m
Earlybird has held a final closing of its new fund Earlybird IV, with investors from Germany, the US, Asia and the Middle East committing EUR 127m towards the early-stage financing of young, innovative companies.
UK - More funds for distressed debt
The amount of capital raised by private equity for funds investing in distressed debts is to set to top last years record total, according to reports.
EUROPE - Apollo and Lazard join forces
US buyout house Apollo Management and investment bank Lazard have announced a strategic partnership for private equity in Europe.
GLOBAL - Private equity investments drop 40%
A new report published by International Financial Services London has revealed that private equity investments have declined by approximately 40% in the first half of 2008 compared to the corresponding period last year.
UK - Capricorn leads £4.5m investment into Alaska Food Diagnostics
Capricorn Venture Partners has led a £4.5m funding round for Alaska Food Diagnostics Ltd, a company that develops microbiology tests to support the food processing and food safety testing sectors.
IRELAND - Nauta further supports MobileAware
Return backers Nauta Capital and Cross Atlantic Capital Partners have invested an undisclosed sum in MobileAware Ltd, a provider of technology for creating and managing mobile data solutions.
UK - Duke Street-backed 2e2 takes Netstore private in £58.1m deal
2e2 Holdings, an IT services company backed by Duke Street, has agreed to take IT networking company Netstore Plc private in a deal that values the company at £58.1m.
UK - Cinven acquires 50% stake in Indicus
Cinven has acquierd a 50% stake in alternative investment manager Indicus Advisors for an undisclsoed sum, with management retaining the balance of the equity.
EUROPE - RBS et al sell ABN assets for £156m
Reports suggest that Royal Bank of Scotland, alongside Fortis and Santander bank, has sold a portfolio of seven private equity assets controlled by ABN Amro to a consortium led by Goldman Sachs in a deal thought to be worth around £156m.
UK - Apposite et al lead £10m further investment into Serentis
Co-lead investors Apposite Capital, MVM Life Science Partners and Denmark-based Novo have led an investment of £10m into biopharmaceutical company Serentis in a second tranche of series-A funding.
GLOBAL - Secondaries market set to grow as credit crunch squeezes returns
The private equity secondaries market could see strong growth in activity in 2008 in the wake of fears of underperformance in large buyout funds, with US private company exchange Nyppex estimating that total value could reach a record breaking USD 18bn...
UK - RBS sells debt
According to reports, Royal Bank of Scotland has sold £4.2bn of loans used to finance private equity acquisitions to a consortium comprising Apollo, TPG and Blackstone's debt investment arm GSO Capital.
UK - HBOS could invest £100m into portfolio company
According to reports, HBOS could be forced to inject approximately £100m of equity into portfolio construction company Crest Nicholson, which is thought to be close to breaching a banking covenant.
UK - Asian investors eying Apax
According to reports, three Asia-pacific based investors are interested in acquiring the 10% stake put up for sale by Apax Partners, with valuations thought to be around the USD 10bn mark.