News
UK - Parish Capital hires Catherine Lewis La Torre as venture partner
Parish Capital Advisors has expanded its capabilities in Europe with the hiring of Catherine Lewis La Torre. Lewis La Torre, formerly a co-founder of the Finnish fund-of-funds group Proventure, has joined Parish Capital as a venture partner.
DENMARK - Sunstone and Creandum lead $10m investment in IPtronics
Sunstone Capital and Creandum have together led a $10.25m series-B round in IPtronics, a Danish semiconductor business.
FRANCE – Innovacom invests EUR 2m in Dimelo
Innovacom has invested EUR 2m in Dimelo through its fund Innovacom for a minority share of the company.
UK - Terra Firma and Suez to challenge Montagu takeover of Biffa?
Terra Firma and trade player Suez could mount a last minute takeover bid for waste disposal business Biffa. London-listed Biffa's board recommended a 350p per share offer from Montagu Private Equity and Global Infrastructure Partners earlier this month....
UK - Finance Wales invests £500,000 funding round in pharmaceuticals business
Finance Wales has backed a ТЃ500,000 fundraising round for Dee Pharmaceuticals. Dee, based in Wrexham, North Wales, specialises in the sale and marketing of branded prescription pharmaceuticals with particular focus on the misuse of substances of abuse...
ITALY/SPAIN - Investindustrial reaches final closing on EUR 1bn
Investindustrial has reached the close of its fourth fund, Investindustrial IV LP, on EUR 1bn, EUR 200m over the initial target. The fundraising was completed in a record three month period.
UK - Bridgepoint eats up Prêt for £345m and divests Concentric
Bridgepoint has confirmed that it has acquired sandwich chain PrУЊt A Manger in a deal reported to weigh in at ТЃ345m. The investor has also announced that it has sold Concentric, an engineering company it has owned for ten years. Concentric has been...
SWITZERLAND - Lion Capital acquires 32% stake in Hiestand
Lion Capital has agreed to acquire a 32% stake in Hiestand Holding AG, a publicly-traded company listed on the SWX Swiss Exchange. The Hiestand Group is an international service provider of convenience deep-frozen bakery products, in Switzerland, Germany,...
ITALY - First Capital to invest in listed SMEs
First Capital is a new independent investment company set to invest in listed SMEs or pre-IPO companies following a private equity analysis model.
UK - Graphite portfolio company AMS buys Capital Consulting
Graphite Capital-backed Alexander Mann Solutions (AMS) is buying Capital Consulting, consolidating AMSт leading position in the European market for recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). AMS is the largest independent provider of RPO solutions to blue-chip...
FINLAND - Borenius & Kemppinen announces three promotions
Borenius & Kemppinen has announced three promotions in its tax division.
UK - Endless launches in London
Endless has set up an office in London and appointed Del Huse as its managing director in London to spearhead Endlessтs activities in the capital. Huse was formerly a partner with Kroll Corporate Finance in London and before that was with Andersen.
UK - HgCapital sells Clarion Events to VSS for £120.5m
HgCapital has sold independent exhibition and events business Clarion Events Ltd to US private equity investor Veronis Suhler Stevenson for an enterprise value of ТЃ120.5m. The sale has generated an IRR of 34% for investors.
UK - Bridgepoint emerges as likeliest buyer for Prêt in £350m deal
According to reports, Bridgepoint is set to buy 200-strong sandwich chain PrУЊt A Manger from its consortium of vendors for ТЃ350m. Rothschilds was hired last year to run a sale process. A price tag of ТЃ400m was originally suggested but it is understood...
UK - Vision Capital-backed Portman acquires Fleet Street Travel
Vision Capital portfolio company Portman Travel, a business travel management company, has acquired Fleet Street Travel in a multi-million pound deal. Portman's turnover in 2008 is projected to exceed ТЃ400m compared with ТЃ296m in 2007. Fleet Street...
BALTIC - BaltCap acquires Interinfo Group for EUR 20-30m
BaltCap has acquired 100% of the Interinfo Group in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, for EUR 20-30m.
FRANCE – Pechel holds second close of fund on EUR 101m
Pechel Industries Partenaires has held a second close of new fund Pechel Industries III on EUR 101m. The fund will be used to invest in development capital and LBOs in small to mid-sized French companies with equity commitments of EUR 7-20m per deal....
FRANCE – Atria backs MBO of Abcd
Atria Capital Partenaires has backed the MBO of Abcd from Affine. Atria will become the majority shareholder in the new holding vehicle Abcdgroup with the management team led, by founders Patrick Canac and Francis Robert, taking a minority stake.
UK - Latham & Watkins appoints Daniel Maze to leveraged finance team
Latham & Watkins has announced that Daniel Maze will join the firmтs London office as a partner in the Finance Department, effective from 1 March. Maze specialises in acquisition finance, including senior finance, second lien and mezzanine facilities,...