News
UK - Aberdeen divests childcare portfolio company
Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital has sold Tender Loving Childcare Ltd (TLC) to Busy Bees Group Ltd, for an undisclosed sum. Aberdeen invested £1.7m of development capital in TLC in October 2000 to fund the rollout of a chain of purpose built nursery...
GERMANY – Holtzbrinck Ventures and European Founders Fund invest in AdScale
Holtzbrinck Ventures and European Founders Fund invested a medium seven figure sum in AdScale in a second round of financing. The size of the first financing round – to which Oliver Jung and Lukasz Gadowski contributed – is undisclosed. AdScale is...
GERMANY/NETHERLANDS – Triangle invest EUR 4.1m in German/Dutch iOpener
Triangle Venture Capital Group has raised EUR 4.1m in seed financing for real-time game engine company iOpener. Its first product is based on innovations from the European Space Agency, which allow the efficient transmission of telemetric data from a...
UK - JC Flowers eyes up Friends Provident again
The US private equity firm JC Flowers is believed to have offered 175p per share, or £4.1bn, for UK insurer Friends Provident. JC Flowers had shown an interest in Northern Rock at the early-stages of the "auction" for the lender. Last week, JC Flowers...
UK - Infrastructure player crashes Biffa deal with £1.5bn offer
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) is reported to be making a £1.5bn offer for waste services company Biffa. Last month, Biffa opened its books to HgCapital and Montagu Private Equity after they made a £1.2bn joint bid for the London-listed group.
GERMANY - High-Tech Gründerfonds invests in search tools company kinkaa.de
High-Tech Gründerfonds GmbH & Co. KG and other investors invested in kinkaa Search Tools GmbH. The company is based in Frankfurt and Palo Alta, Silicon Valley, and operates kinkaa.de, an Internet meta search engine specialised on travels. The search...
GERMANY – Gruenderfonds Bielfeld-Ostwestfalen closes first investment
e-Capital advised Gruenderfonds Bielefeld-Ostwestfalen has joined KfW and High-Tech Gruenderfonds in investing an undisclosed sum in Divolution – Digital Revolution Technology GmbH. Divolution, based in Detmold, offers web analysis, testing and targeting...
FRANCE - Stéphanie Courtadon joins Crédit Agricole Private Equity
Stéphanie Courtadon has joined Crédit Agricole Private Equity as head of marketing and investor relations from AXA.
ITALY - Ergon acquires 50% stake in industrial manufacturer
Belgian Ergon Capital Partners has agreed to acquire a 50% stake in Nicotra-Gebhardt from Fondo Interbancario d'Investimento Azionario in a deal valued at approximately EUR 80m.
ITALY - New fund to invest in Central and South America
The Fondo America Centrale e Meridionale will invest in Central and South American companies acquiring participations to a maximum of 49% of the firm's social capital.
SPAIN - Miura Private Equity sees the light
The Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores has approved the creation of Miura Private Equity.
NETHERLANDS - Private Plus and Heicop acquire Lightweight Structures
Private Plus Fund and Heicop together with the management have acquired all shares in Lightweight Structures.
UK - Apax announces change in business services team
It is understood that the current head of Apax's business services investment team, Stephen Green, is to leave the buyout house in March for family reasons. Green led the buyouts of Yell and Travelex.
UK - Terra Firma's EMI tables bid for Chrysalis
It is understood that EMI, the record company and music publisher owned by Terra Firma, has made an indicative bid for smaller rival Chrysalis. Other trade buyers including Sony ATV and Warner Music have also shown interest. Chrysalis owns music publishing...
FRANCE - Argos Soditic exits Dorotennis after a second MBO
In a second MBO, BCBG Max Azria Group acquired Dorotennis in a deal which saw Argos Soditic exit the company. Financial details were not disclosed.
FRANCE – Demeter Partners invest EUR 1.2m in Panosol
Demeter Partners has led a series-A round of funding for start-up Panosol investing EUR 1.2m. The founders retained a majority of the capital.
BELGIUM - KBC NV invests EUR 8m in Lenaerts-Blommaert
KBC NV has invested EUR 8m in Lenaerts-Blommaert, a company that sells and leases mobile units, machinery and equipment for the building sector.
SWEDEN - Verdane acquires four companies from Brainhart Capital
Verdane Capital has acquired four unlisted companies from Brainhart Capital for an undisclosed sum.
SPAIN - Ahorro Coporación-backed Aurgi defaults on debt
Ahorro Corporación's portfolio automotive sector company Aurgi has reportedly defaulted on its debt repayments.
ITALY - Capitalia invests a further EUR 16m in Gruppo Pneufin
Capitalia Sofipa has increased its investment in Gruppo Pneufin by a further EUR 16.75m bringing its total investment in the company to EUR 29.42m.
SPAIN - Impala fails to meet deadline set for its second closing
Impala Capital Partners has failed to meet the deadline for the second closing of its second vehicle.
GERMANY - Business angels invest six figure sum in drug portal apomio.de
Business angels Lukasz Gadowski and Oliver Jung have invested a six figure sum in apomio GmbH, which runs an independent online portal for price comparisons of drugs, care and food products. The company is set to capitalise on changes in the legal framework...
FINLAND - CapMan establishes EUR 835m real estate fund
CapMan has held a first close of CapMan Hotel RE Ky, a real estate fund, on EUR 835m.
UK - BVCA research predicts economic slowdown
The private equity and venture capital industry is bracing itself for an economic slowdown, according to new research published today by the BVCA – The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. The YouGov poll of BVCA members shows that...