News
FRANCE - ABN Amro acquires Findis
ABN Amro Capital France has backed the buyout of household appliances distributor Findis, in a deal valuing the business at between EUR 40-50m.
UK - Lloyds TSB appoints David Whiteley as head of leveraged syndications
Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets has appointed David Whiteley as managing director and head of its newly formed leveraged loan syndication team. Whiteley has joined from Royal Bank of Scotland where he was a managing director in the capital markets syndications...
UK - Esprit Capital Partners appoints Cédric Latessa
Esprit Capital Partners has appointed CУЉdric Latessa as investment manager. Latessa was previously an associate at BIP Investment Partners in Luxembourg. At BIP, he was responsible for identifying, evaluating and appraising potential investments in TMT...
UK - YFM-run South West Ventures Fund provides Mirifice with £250,000
YFM-managed South West Ventures Fund has provided digital TV monitoring company Mirifice Ltd with ТЃ250,000 of funding. Mirifice has developed MirimonTM, a monitoring solution for Digital TV networks. The investment will be used to support the marketing...
NORWAY - Ferd completes largest ever buyout by a Norwegian-based private equity fund
Ferd Private Equity Fund II has led the group of investors that has acquired oil service company Aibel Ltd for $900m from Candover, 3i and J P Morgan Partners LLC private equity funds. The transaction marks the largest ever buy-out by a Norwegian-based...
GERMANY - Takko changes hands for EUR 770m
Advent International has acquired a majority stake in German fashion discount chain Takko from Permira for a total consideration of EUR 770m. Takko’s management team, which also invested, will hold a minority stake. In 2000, Permira, then Schroder Ventures,...
GERMANY - capiton acquires Lahmeyer International
capiton has acquired independent consulting engineering company Lahmeyer International GmbH for an undisclosed amount. The management of the company also invested and will hold a minority stake in the company. Deutsche Bank backed the transaction with...
GLOBAL - GE chairman keeps the pressure on private equity
In comments to the UK press, Jeffrey Immelt, the chairman of GE, has added his voice to the sceptical chorus surrounding private equity in recent months. His argument is based on a critique of the industry that sounded like the idiots guide to a buyout...
UK - YFM sees 8.5x return on IPO of Pressure Technologies on AIM
Three YFM-managed funds have seen stunning returns from the flotation of Pressure Technologies on AIM. YFM Venture Finance returns 8.5x its money, while South Yorkshire Investment Fund and Yorkshire and Humber Equity Fund have seen an IRR of 125% from...
UK - Imperial Innovations backs solar power company with £1.35m
Imperial Innovations has participated in a ТЃ1.35m funding round for solar power technology company QuantaSol Ltd. The round also included investments from Low Carbon Accelerator, NetScientific Ltd and Numis Corporation Plc.
UK - Exponent and BPE expected to acquire Midland newspaper titles
Exponent Private Equity and Barclays Private Equity are believed to have teamed up to back the management buyout of a collection of Midland newspaper titles. The deal has an estimated price tag of ТЃ190m. Titles including the Birmingham Post and Coventry...
GLOBAL - $48.5bn deal for BCE the largest ever
The investment arm of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Teachers Private Capital, has joined forces with Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners to acquire BCE, Canada's largest telecom group. The $48.5bn price-tag will make it the...
UK - Bain Capital acquires Brakes for £1.3bn
Bain Capital has backed the secondary buyout of food service distributor Brakes from Clayton, Dublier & Rice. The deal is reported to have weighed in at ТЃ1.3bn. JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank ran a process to dispose of the business which attracted interest...
SWEDEN - Moberg Derma raises SEK 27.7m for clinical trial
Moberg Derma AB, a Swedish pharmaceutical company, has raised SEK 27.7m to fund clinical phase II trial for a Novel treatment of nail fungus. The Baltic Sea Foundation (Östersjöstiftelsen) was the lead investor. Other institutional and private investors,...
FINLAND - ABN AMRO Capital sells Iittala Group for EUR 235m
ABN AMRO Capital has sold Iittala Group Plc, a homeware company that offers a wide range of Scandinavian design-products, to Fiskars Corporation for EUR 235m.
SPAIN/FRANCE - CVC calls on cov-lite debt ahead of Altadis bid
CVC Capital Partners has reportedly secured EUR 12.8m in covenant-light debt to support its bid to acquire Franco-Spanish tobacco business Altadis, according to press reports.
UK - Carlyle targets Virgin Media
Carlyle Group is reported to be leading a bid to take-private NASDAQ-listed Virgin Media. It is understood that Carlyle is working in association with Providence Equity, KKR and Cinven and could offer up to ТЃ4bn for the company. Any deal would have to...
UK - Lyceum exits Asquith Nurseries via sale to Dawnay, Day and Swordfish
Lyceum Capital has sold Asquith Nurseries to Dawnay, Day Principal Investments and Swordfish Investments LLP for ТЃ95m. Asquith Nurseries is a childrenтs day nursery operator with places for up to 10,000 children across 113 nurseries and crУЈches nationwide....
FRANCE - IDI aims to raise additional EUR 50m
Mid-cap investor IDI is to launch a capital increase of EUR 50m, in order to boost its private equity activity and increase the liquiditiy and attractiveness of its shares.
UK - Lyceum strengthens risk management portfolio company with acquisition
Lyceum Capital risk management portfolio company National Britannia Group Ltd (NBG) has acquired Corporate Health & Safety Solutions Ltd (CHSS). CHSS is a strong player in the safety, health and environmental professional training market. It offers training...
FRANCE - Elior's acquisition of Vivae provides exit for Quartus
Quartus Gestion is set to divest its stake in contract catering group Vivaë, through a trade sale to Charterhouse and Chequers-backed restaurant giant Elior.
UK - Balderton backs online advertising marketplace AdJug.com
Balderton Capital has provided AdJug.com, an online advertising marketplace, with a multi-million dollar investment. Balderton was formerly known as Benchmark Capital. The deal represents Balderton's second online start-up investment in a week - it provided...
UK - Hermes makes five new appointments
Hermes Private Equity has made five new appointments across both the direct investments and funds areas. The strengthening of the team coincides with the announcement that the BT Pension Scheme has approved ТЃ300m of backing for Hermes third direct private...
FRANCE - Siparex completes three exits
Siparex has generated between 24% and 30% IRR from each of its three latest exits.