News
UK - Generation Investment Management combine with KPCB to fund green business
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and Generation Investment Management (Generation) have announced a global collaboration to find, fund and accelerate green business, technology and policy solutions with the greatest potential to help solve the...
FRANCE - PAI partners to be taken to court by portfolio company
Large-cap buyout house PAI partners has been accused of withdrawing an excessive commission of EUR 12m to pay for due diligence processes, following the buyout of engineering group Spie, according to French press reports.
UK - Oak Hill backs £945m SBO of Firth Rixon from Carlyle and Lehman
Oak Hill Capital Partners is backing the secondary management buyout of Firth Rixson Ltd from The Carlyle Group and Lehman Brothers Co-Investment Partners. The deal values the business at £945m. Firth Rixon is a supplier of highly engineered rings, industrial...
UK - Phoenix to sell handbag maker Radley for £150m
Phoenix Equity Partners has put its up-market hangbag portfolio company Radley on the block. It is understood that the business it acquired in February 2006 for £45m could fetch up to £150m at auction. Exponent Private Equity, MidOcean Partners and...
UK - 3i-backed Chorion acquires The Copyrights Group
Chorion Ltd, the UK-based owner and manager of classic and contemporary literary-based brands owned by 3i, has acquired The Copyrights Group Ltd, an independent licensing business, for an undisclosed sum. 3i delisted Chorion in a £134m transaction in...
UK - Gresham establishes Energy and Environmental team
Gresham has announced the creation of a dedicated energy and environmental team that aims to build on the successful investments the firm has already made in these sectors. The team will be headed up by Andy Marsh and Christian Bruning.
CEE - Mid Europa appoints three new partners
Mid Europa Partners, the largest private equity firm focused on buyouts in Central Europe, announced today the appointment of Robert Knorr, Zbigniew Rekusz and Matthew Strassberg as partners. Knorr joined Mid Europa in 1999 and is based in London. He...
GERMANY - AC Alpha Management partners with AshtonPenney
AC Alpha Management GmbH, a German provider of interim managers for private equity portfolio companies, has formed a partnership with AshtonPenney Interim, UK-based interim management solutions specialists. Both companies have decided to work together...
EUROPE - Family offices back private equity
A new study by the European Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (EVCA) and the IMD Business School of Lausanne shows that family offices have become an integral part of the European private equity investor community and that a trend of increasing...
FRANCE - Crédit Agricole invests over EUR 7m in Emalec
Crédit Agricole Private Equity has invested in excess of EUR 7m in the owner buyout of maintenance company Emalec along with the founding owners, taking a minority stake in the company.
FRANCE - Perfectis announces portfolio acquisition
Perfectis Private Equity portfolio company Philippe Manutention has completed the bolt on acquisition of Hyster Nacco Material Handling Distribution (NMHD), creating the first independant forklift retail and rental group in France.
UK - SEGF achieves 27% IRR from Hockway exit
The South East Growth Fund (SEGF) has wholly exited its stake in Hockway Ltd, a supplier of cathodic protection equipment, in a secondary management buyout for an undisclosed sum, realising an IRR of 27%.
UK - Ernst & Young appoints Gary Davison to lead new debt advisory business
Ernst & Young has hired Gary Davison to head the launch of its new specialist debt advisory business in Manchester.
SWITZERLAND – Argos Soditic to reap 12x return with Maillefer
unquote” has learned that Argos Soditic will announce its exit from Swiss company Maillefer next week.
UK - Dubai investment arm acquires SmartStream from TA Associates for £200m
DIFC Investments, the investment arm of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has acquired SmartStream Technologies from TA Associates for approximately £200m in a tertiary buyout deal.
SPAIN - ABN Amro Capital to cease activity in Spain
ABN Amro has reportedly decided to discontinue its private equity activity in Spain. It is widely speculated that the bank - currently undergoing an acquisition process by Santander, RBS and Fortis - will close shop, as soon as it finds a buyer for its...
UK - Denton Wilde Sapte hires leveraged finance specialist Martin Brown
Denton Wilde Sapte has hired leveraged finance specialist, Martin Brown. The appointment brings the practice's partner headcount to five. Brown joins from White & Case, where he spent two years working with a number of international banks. Previously,...
POLAND - bmp Media Investors and Mangrove invest in Republika Kobiet
bmp Media Investors and Mangrove Capital Partners have each taken 17.5% of shares of Republika Kobiet.pl, which aims to build a web 2.0 lifestyle portal targeted at women. The deal represents Mangrove's first investment in Poland.
UK - PPM completes spin-out
Insurance giant Prudential has sold its private equity arm, PPM Capital, to management following protracted negotiations.
POLAND - Carlyle expands CEE team with three new hires
Carlyle has expanded its Central and Eastern European team in Poland hiring three private equity professionals. Janusz R. Guy, managing director, Aleksander Kacprzyk, director, and Piotr Nocen, director, are to join the team.
BELGIUM - Gilde portfolio company Ablynx raises EUR 75m in Euronext Brussels
Gilde portfolio company Ablynx has raised EUR 75m in the largest biotech IPO on Euronext Brussels. The IPO was priced at EUR 7 per share. Pursuant to the offering, 10,714,285 new shares, equivalent to EUR 75m will be issued by Ablynx, and additionally,...
UK - Glitnir joins CIT on £75m debt for Betts deal
Glitnir has joined CIT Leveraged Finance as mandated lead arranger in the £75m debt package to fund the £110m secondary buyout of toothpaste tube manufacturer Betts Global Ltd by Gresham Private Equity. Syndication is expected to launch this week.
GERMANY – Vestar Capital Partners opens in Germany
Vestar Capital Partners Europe has opened an office in Munich, with managing director Jens Tonn, and vice president Daniel Boege heading the team of four.
UK - ECI backs £52m buyout of Kelvin Hughes
ECI Partners has backed the £52m buyout of navigational technology business Kelvin Hughes from Smiths Group Plc, the listed technology company. The purchase price comprises £48m which was paid in cash on completion of the purchase and a deferred payment...