News
UK - Albion Ventures launches £25m share issue for VCT fund
Albion Ventures, formerly Close Ventures before spinning out of Close Brothers in January, intends to launch a new share issue this autumn to raise £25m for its Albion Development VCT.
UK - Seraphim and Oxford further invest in Sirigen
Seraphim Capital and Oxford Capital Partners have invested a further £1.2m in life sciences company Sirigen.
UK - 3i stops salary hikes and bonuses to top management
In its annual report, published this month, 3i has announced that it has halted salary increases and bonuses to its senior management.
GLOBAL - Barclays accepts BlackRock's offer for BGI
Barclays' board of directors has accepted BlackRock's offer to acquire its asset management division Barclays Global Investors (BGI), with the price tag thought to be around $10bn.
UK- Candover slips as worries surface over Wood Mackenzie sale
The share price of private equity group Candover fell by more than 5 pence amid worries that the £550m sale of its energy consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie to buyout house Charterhouse would fall through.
SWEDEN - AP6 backs mobile solutions business Accumulate
The Sixth Swedish Pension Fund has invested an undisclosed sum into Accumulate, a technology provider of connected mobile solutions.
UK - JPEL to raise up to $100m
London-listed specialist secondary investor JP Morgan Private Equity Limited (JPEL), formerly Bear Sterns Private Equity, plans to raise between $50m to $100m to take advantage of opportunties in the secondaries space.
UK - Sovereign Capital appoints assistant director
UK buy-and-build specialist Sovereign Capital has hired Richard Taylor as assistant director to its investment team.
UK - Osmosis Capital appoints CFO
Fund-of-funds manager Osmosis Capital has hired Paul Bramley as chief financial officer.
UK - Finance Wales leads £500,000 Datmedia
Government-backed Finance Wales has invested £400,000 as part of a £500,000 investment into media company Datmedia Ltd, alongside business angel network xenos.
FRANCE - AFIC names new chairman
The French private equity and venture capital association (AFIC) has elected Jean-Louis de Bernardy as chairman, replacing Pierre de Fouquet
UK - GI Partners-backed The Orchid Group acquires BRB businesses
GI Partners-backed The Orchid Group has acquired 10 businesses from Birmingham-based Bar Room Bar (BRB), the pub group that collapsed in April.
POLAND - Enterprise Investors acquires PLN 16m Web Inn
Enterprise Investors has wholly acquired IT sourcing business Web Inn in a deal valued at PLN 16m (EUR 3.6m).
GERMANY - Earlybird leads EUR 3.3m round for Music Networx
Earlybird has alongside existing investor including DuMont Venture and Klaus Wecken invested EUR 3.3m into live music marketing company Music Networx. Earlybird committed approximately EUR 2m of the total deal value.
EUROPE - Cipio holds first close of Fund VI on EUR 61m
Secondary direct player Cipio Partners has held a first closing of Cipio Partners Fund VI on EUR 61m, targeting EUR 200m.
EUROPE - Bridgepoint appoints Stephen Green as partner
Private equity firm Bridgepoint has appointed Stephen Green as partner and head of its European financial services sector team.
SWEDEN - Procuritas acquires Däckia from Goodyear
Procuritas, via its fund Procuritas Capital Investors IV, has acquired tire services chain Däckia Holding AB from Goodyear Dunlop Europe BV.
SWEDEN - Ratos-backed EuroMaint acquires EISAB for SEK 24.5m
EuroMaint Industry, a subsidiary of Ratos-owned EuroMaint, has acquired EISAB Energi och Industriservice AB, a service provider to industries within waste management and renewable energy, valuing the business at SEK 24.5m. Ratos will be injection a corresponding...
GERMANY - Carlyle acquires 29.34% of Personal & Informatik AG
The Carlyle Group has acquired 30% of listed Personal & Informatik AG (P&I), a supplier of software solutions for human resource management.
GLOBAL - LPs suggest trouble ahead
A quarter of all private equity fund managers will go out of business and a tenth of investors could default on capital calls; industry LPs reveal their sombre side.
IRELAND - Fountain Healthcare & Mitsui co-lead $17m Cappella funding
Fountain Healthcare Partners and Mitsui & Co Venture Partners (MCVP) have co-led a $173m investment into medical device company Cappella, alongside Enterprise Ireland and existing investors Polytechnos Partners and ACT Venture Capital.
UK - Index et al. to exit Lovefilm
According to reports, Lovefilm's private equity backers, including Index Ventures, Arts Alliance Media, Balderton Capital and DFJ Esprit, are looking to sell their stake in the home entertainment company.
SPAIN - Carlyle-backed Applus+ acquires two companies
Carlyle-backed certification group Applus+ has acquired two companies: France-based Contrôles Techniques Services (CTS) and Ekopol, based in Poland.
IRELAND - Permira interested in Eircom
According to reports, UK-based buyout house Permira is interested in acquiring infrastructure specialist Babcock & Brown-backed Irish telecom group Eircom.