News
UK - Bridges Ventures invests £2.3m in keyworker housing
Bridges Ventures has invested £2.3m to fund the purchase of three blocks of studio apartments to provide key worker housing. The buildings acquired by a newco established by Bridges will provide accommodation for hospital staff employed by Plymouth Hospitals...
RUSSIA - Great Circle invests $21.1m in STS Logistics
Great Circle Fund has invested $21.1m in Moscow-based STS Logistics, a Russian freight forwarding, warehousing and customs services provider. The expansion deal represents the first investment of the $190m Great Circle Fund, which targets transportation,...
UK - Local authority appetite for private equity hots up
The West Midlands' Metropolitan Pension Fund is to commit in excess of £500m to private equity. The £7.7bn pension fund will be upping its allocation to private equity to 7% making it the UK's largest local authority investor in the asset class.
UK - Graham Keniston-Cooper to lead Morgan Stanley Private Equity in Europe
Morgan Stanley has hired Graham Keniston-Cooper to run its private equity business in Europe. Keniston-Cooper will build a London-based private equity team running third party funds.
UK - Tense days for Terra Firma's EMI bid
Terra Firma faces a few tense days before Sunday's cut off point for EMI shareholders to accept its £2.4bn agreed offer for the London-listed music publisher. Terra Firma needs to secure 90% of acceptances by Sunday. The figure is currently understood...
CEE - Quinlan Private sells Polish shopping centre for EUR 128m
Quinlan Private and the Borgestad Group have sold the Forum Shopping Centre in Gliwice, Poland to German real estate investment company Deka Immobilien for EUR 128m. Quinlan Private is a Dublin-based private equity and real estate group and Borgestad...
UK - Bank of Scotland makes £320m indicative offer for Erinaceous
Bank of Scotland has made an indicative offer for property services business Erinaceous Group Plc. The 300p per share offer values the London-listed company at approximately £320m. Bank of Scotland is carrying out due diligence ahead of a formal offer.It...
SPAIN - Carlyle acquires Applus for EUR 1.5bn
After fending off competition from BC Partners and Eurazeo, The Carlyle Group has agreed the acquisition of Applus from its shareholders Agbar, Unión Fenosa and Caja Madrid for an enterprise value of EUR 1.48bn. With headquarters in Barcelona, the company...
GERMANY – BayBG invests in Proteros Biostructures
BayBG Bayerische Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH has participated in a EUR 4.2m second round of financing for protein analysis specialist Proteros Biostructures GmbH. BayBG invested EUR 1m as a ‘stille Beteiligung’.
GERMANY – Barclays PE acquires Siteco from JP Morgan Partners
Barclays Private Equity has acquired German lighting fixtures group Siteco from JP Morgan Partners. The transaction value has not been disclosed. JPMorgan Partners acquired Siteco in October 2002. Under its stewardship, Siteco underwent a substantial...
FRANCE - Eurazeo wins exclusivity for EUR 2.3bn tertiary buyout of Elis
Eurazeo has won a period of exclusivity for the acquisition of textile rental business Elis from PAI partners, in a deal which values the business at approximately EUR 2.3bn.
SWEDEN - Carlyle et al. sell MedPointe to Meda for $520m
Swedish-listed pharmaceutical group Meda has agreed to acquire all the shares in US based-MedPointe, owned by The Carlyle Group and other investors. The two majority shareholders of MedPointe, The Carlyle Group and The Cypress Group, will become shareholders...
UK - JC Flowers expected to swoop on Friends Prov and Resolution merger
Private equity is expected to swoop on the £8bn tie-up between UK insurers Friends Provident and Resolution. JC Flowers, the US private equity group, has been named in association with a break-up bid. It has looked at a potential takeover of Friends...
DENMARK - EQT sells Contex to Ratos for $240m
EQT has agreed to sell Contex Holding , a developer, manufacturer and supplier of innovative 2D and 3D digital image solutions, to Ratos for $250m.
NL - Gilde refinances portfolio company Heiploeg
Gilde Buy Out Partners has refinanced portfolio company Heiploeg. The EUR 246m refinancing was lead arranged by Rabobank. The financing structure includes borrowing base facilities, a revolving credit facility, senior term A and B loans and a second...
NL - Waterland and Prime Technology Ventures sell GlobalCollect to General Atlantic
Waterland Private Equity Investments and Prime Technology Ventures sold their stake in e-payment service provider GlobalCollect to General Atlantic, a US-based private equity firm. GlobalCollect's management continues to hold a substantial stake. Financial...
LUXEMBOURG - Oostvogels Pfister Roemers changes name to Oostvogels Pfister Feyten
Luxembourg-based business law firm Oostvogels Pfister Roemers has changed its name to Oostvogels Pfister Feyten . Frédéric Feyten , partner and the head of the Tax Department, will be represented in the firm's name. The name change follows the departure...
UK - Barclays Ventures expands investment team
Barclays Ventures has expanded its investment team with three new hires. Eddy Dempsey has been appointed senior associate director whilst Rachel Boomgaardt and James Savage join as investment managers. All three will be based at Barclays Ventures' head...
SPAIN - Carlyle, BC Partners and Eurazeo chase Applus+ deal
Carlyle, BC Partners and French buyout house Eurazeo are reported to have all made bids for vehicle inspection group Applus+.
SPAIN - MCH beats Magnum on competition for Eptisa
Engineering business Eptisa has received a bid of EUR 90m from MCH Private Equity, according to press reports.
NL - Stirling Square sells Schoeller Arca Systems to One Equity Partners for EUR 428m
Stirling Square Partners has sold its controlling stake in Schoeller Arca Systems to One Equity Partners. At the time of the deal, the company had an enterprise value of EUR 428m. The founding family Schoeller and the management will keep their respective...
SPAIN - Apax promotes Oriol Pinya to CEO
Apax Partners has promoted Oriol Pinya to the position of chief executive of the firm's operations in Spain.
UK - ECI-backed wireless networks company makes £24m acquisition
ECI Partners portfolio company Aerial Facilities (AFL) has acquired its Swedish-based competitor, Avitec AB for up to £24m. Avitec was formerly owned by CapMan, 3i and a number of private investors. AFL designs, manufactures and installs specialist products...
FRANCE - De Agostini buys Marathon from Bridgepoint
Bridgepoint and the management of TV producer Marathon have sold their entire stake in the company to Italian group De Agostini.