News
NL - Five enter the final bid for SigmaKalon auction
It is widely reported that BC Partners, PAI Partners, TPG and Warburg Pincus have made it through to the final round of Bain Capital’s $2.87bn auction for Dutch paint maker SigmaKalon. Sherwin Williams, a US-based paint company, will also enter the...
GERMANY - Industi Kapital sells DSI to CVC
Industri Kapital has sold DYWIDAG- Systems International (DSI) to CVC Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum. Industri Kapital acquired DSI in 2005 from the insolvent Walter Bau AG and subsequently pursued a buy-and-build strategy.
FRANCE - Air Liquide rumours continue
KKR is said to be interested in acquiring industrial gas giant Air Liquide, potentially a EUR 27bn deal.
UK - ISIS environmental portfolio company completes £2m acquisition
ISIS Equity Partners portfolio company SLR Consulting has completed its first major acquisition with the purchase of Insite Environments. SLR Consulting is an environmental consultancy in which ISIS acquired a minority stake in 2004, investing £4.85m...
EUROPE - No end in sight for large buyouts
”Deal sizes are increasing more quickly than fund sizes,” said John Barber, managing partner at Citi Private Equity at a luncheon today. Though more prevalent in the US than in Europe, the phenomenon should allow the record fundraisings to find suitable...
UK - Glitnir funding team grows with appointment of Jean-Pierre Albin
Glitnir has continued its growth in the UK market with the appointment of Jean-Pierre Albin as a director of long term market funding. Albin, formerly of the syndication desk at Mizuho International in London, has been recruited to work in the Bank's...
NL - Esprit Capital Partners leads EUR 2m round for semiconductor company
Esprit Capital Partners has invested a further EUR 900,000 in Xanadu Wireless BV in a EUR 2m funding round. The balance was provided by existing investors GIMB and Motorola Ventures.
UK - BVCA and TUC attend roundtable talks
At the invitation of TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, this morning representatives from trade unions and the BVCA met for a roundtable discussion at Congress House. At the invitation of the BVCA, another meeting is planned for the autumn. The tone...
GERMANY - Nanotron closes EUR 10m round
zouk ventures, a London venture capitalist specialising in cleantech, has led a EUR 10m funding round in German Nanotron Technologies. Other investors committing to the round are Polytechnos, Danfoss, and IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft - VC Fonds Berlin....
UK - NVM invests £7m in building consultants buyout
NVM Private Equity (NVM) has invested £7m in the management buyout of building services consultants Foreman Roberts.
NL - CVC makes EUR 1.52bn bid for Univar
Ulysses Luxembourg, a vehicle for funds managed and advised by CVC Capital Partners, has made a EUR 1.52bn offer to all the issued and outstanding shares of Univar, a Rotterdam-based chemicals distributor. The offer, worth EUR 53.50 per share, represented...
GERMANY - Eschenbach Optik changes hands
Barclays Private Equity has acquired German supplier of spectacle frames form HANNOVER Finanz and the Eschenbach family. The transaction value has not been disclosed, but Barclays Private Equity will hold a 70% stake in the company with management acquiring...
FRANCE - EdRIP invests EUR 9m in CEME secondary buyout
Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners (EdRIP) has invested EUR 9m in equity and convertible bonds in the secondary buyout of electrical engineering and air conditioning specialist CEME.
FRANCE - Allen & Overy and Santoni Paccioni team establish turnaround partnership
Law firms Allen & Overy and Santoni Paccioni have agreed an exclusive partnership to cooperate on all aspects relating to the acquition or restructuring of French distressed companies or their debt.
SPAIN - Cinven in $675m deal for USP Hospitales
Cinven has acquired USP Hospitales, an independent healthcare operator, from Mercapital for $675m. USP operates 33 facilities, including 13 hospitals and 16 outpatient centres across Spain. USP is expected to generate revenues of $280.7m and EBITDA...
UK - Beringea leads £2.2m funding for Harmony Media Group
Beringea has lead a £2.2m investment round in Harmony Media Group. Harmony Media Group is the newly formed parent company of Filmnight Digital and Saffron Digital. Beringea provided the funding through its ProVen VCTs.
SWEDEN - Attendo acquires MedOne
Industri Kapital backed healthcare company Attendo has acquired MedOne, a Finnish provider of outsourced healthcare and social services. Attendo now has operations in every Nordic country. MedOne is projected to generate revenues of EUR 110m in 2007....
SPAIN - European Capital opens Madrid office
European Capital has opened an office in Madrid to concentrate on mezzanine deals in the Iberian market. The office will be run by Luis Felipe Castellanos, BNP Paribas' former managing director and head of leveraged finance in Spain and Portugal...
SPAIN - GED bolts Icesa onto Nekar
Spanish private equity firm GED has acquired Icesa packaging through the vehicle which holds Nekar packaging, a company that GED also purchased last year for EUR 28m.
UK - Zinwave in second fundraising round
Scottish Equity Partners is reported to be involved in a series-B fundraising round for Zinwave. Zinwave's technology prevents buildings, tunnels and elevators from disrupting the high frequency signals of cellular and wireless services. Zinwave is currently...
ITALY - Alcedo acquires office furniture business
Italian mid-cap private equity firm Alcedo has acquired 80% of Faram, a designer and manufacturer of office furniture and partitions.
BELGIUM/SWEDEN - EQT sells deSter to Gate Gourmet
EQT, through its funds EQT I and EQT III, has agreed to sell deSter Holdings B.V. to Gate Gourmet, a provider of airline catering and provisioning services. EQT-owned Duni AB, headquartered in Sweden, acquired deSter in 1999 and since then has substantially...
GERMANY - Jefferies to open Frankfurt office
Global investment bank and institutional securities firm Jefferies is to open a new office in Frankfurt. The German office will be co-led by managing directors Richard Markus and Warren Scott, who are joined by fellow managing directors Martina Ecker,...
DENMARK - Carlyle acquires TDC headquarters
The Carlyle Group has announced the acquisition of the headquarters of TDC, the communications group at the centre of an attempted take-private by NTC, the acquisition vehicle of a consortium of private equity firms. The headquarters include 19 buildings...