News
UK - Beringea backs MBO of Eagle Rock from HgCapital
Beringea has backed the buyout of TV and DVD producer and publisher Eagle Rock Group Ltd from HgCapital. The company's catalogue properties include live concert performances from artists such as The Who and Nirvana. Beringea supported Hamburg-based edel...
UK - Beringea backs data marketing company Optima in acquisition
Beringea, manager of the ProVen VCTs has been the lead investor in the acquisition of WDIS Ltd, a specialist business-to-business data management company, by Optima Data Intelligence Ltd. Optima is a data management and business generation company which...
UK - 3i Quoted to list
3i Group will list its new Quoted Private Equity arm on the London Stock Exchange in June. The firm will issue shares at £8, aiming to raise at least £400m in the offering. 3i Quoted Private Equity was set up to invest in listed companies and...
FRANCE - Elaia Partners invests EUR 1.5m in Orchestra Networks
IT-oriented venture investor Elaia Partners has made a EUR 1.5m investment in Paris-based Orchestra Networks, a provider of master data management (MDM) solutions.
UK - LDC backs £52m buyout of Emprise
LDC has backed the £52m management buyout of Emprise, a national provider of outsourced facilities services. Royal Bank of Scotland provided debt to support the deal, which represents a partial exit for RJD Partners, formerly Royal London Private Equity....
SWEDEN- Benchmark capital invests USD 8m in Power Challenge
Benchmark Capital has invested USD 8m in Power Challenge, a online sports game developer based in Sweden. The investment will be used to develop new titles, improve the quality of existing games and expand its global infrastructure.
SWEDEN - EQT lists Nederman with strong interest in the market
EQT has listed Nederman on Stockhom Stock Exchange, receiving noteworthy interest in the market.Through a bidding process, the final price offer was set at SEK 87 (EUR 9.4) per share. The public offering, which compromised a total of 7,381,898 shares,...
SWEDEN- Industrifonden sells shares in XCounter
Industrifonden has sold their shares in XCounter, a medical equipment company listed on AIM. Industrifondens stake, which amounted to 4,74%, was sold for SEK 42m.
EUROPE - Carlyle in Euronext placing
The Carlyle Group is to place shares of its Guernsey-based affiliate Carlyle Capital Corporation on Euronext Amsterdam later this year, the buyout house said in a statement.
UK - Aberdeen Growth Capital appoints Ned Dorbin
Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital has appointed Ned Dorbin as senior investment manager to the South East team. Dorbin will focus on new investment opportunities involving smaller UK companies requiring up to £4m of equity finance.
EUROPE - Male gender prevails in venture-backed companies
Around 95% of the CEOs in venture-backed companies across Europe are men, according to a study carried out by Library House. However, the data shows that companies run by women appear to perform ahead of their male peers. Out of 600 venture-backed companies...
CEE - unquote'' Central & Eastern Europe Congress & Awards
unquote” is excited to bring you the first annual unquote” Central & Eastern Europe Private Equity Congress & Awards this Wednesday, 16 May 2007, in London. The unquote” Central & Eastern Europe Private Equity Congress brings together industry experts...
UK - Blackstone in £1bn refinancing of Center Parcs
Blackstone has refinanced portfolio holiday village operator company Center Parcs. The £1bn refinancing has reduced the size of the company's debt and follows the reverse sale-and-leaseback of Center Parcs' property. Blackstone backed Center Parcs to...
UK - Teachers' Private Capital opens London office
The private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Teachers' Private Capital, has announced it is to open a London office.
WORLD - KKR cashes in with 44% of global deal volume
KKR has eclipsed its rivals so far this year, claiming a 44.1% share of global deal volume, over double its 20% share since the beginning of 2004. The value of these deals was more than it recorded in 2005 and 2006 combined. This includes the £10.1bn...
SWITZERLAND - Allianz acquires vending machine company Selecta
Allianz Capital Partners has beaten competition from Terra Firma to acquire vending machine business Selecta for £772.5m. The operator of 150,000 vending machines in 22 countries, Zug-based Selecta became part of London-listed food service company Compass...
NL - Endemol snapped up by Mediaset
Endemol, the Amsterdam-listed production company is understood to have been acquired by Italian media company Mediaset. The deal values Endemol at EUR 3bn. Spanish company Telefonica announced its intention to sell its 75% stake in the company earlier...
NORWAY - SCAN has completed a private placement of NOK 224m
Norvestor backed SCAN has successfully completed a private placement of 8m shares at a price of NOK 28 per share, equalling gross proceeds of NOK 224m. SCAN announced the private placement on May 2nd 2007, of 6-8m shares and retail offering of 2-4m shares,...
UK - Permira eyes Britvic again
Permira has resumed its interest in listed soft drinks company Britvic. Reports emerged that Permira was looking at the company, which suffered several profit warnings last year, in mid-2006. In December 2006, Permira acquired an 11% stake in the public...
FINLAND - 3i sells shares in Wicom to SAP
3i has agreed to sell its shares in Wicom to SAP. At the same time the other investors and the Wicom management are divesting their shares, hence SAP will become the sole owner of the business. Wicom specialises in IP telephony for businesses, servicing...
GERMANY - Chrysler sold to Cerberus for EUR 5.5bn
DaimlerChrysler has agreed to sell its Chrysler division to US private equity firm Cerberus for EUR 5.5bn. Cerberus will take an 80.1% stake with Daimler retaining 19.9%. The transaction has been supported by American unions. In 1998 Daimler paid $35bn...
UK - BVCA survey shows private equity funds outperform public markets
Returns from UK private equity funds have significantly outperformed the stock market over three, five and ten years according to the 2006 Performance Measurement Survey summary results published today by the BVCA. The survey was produced in conjunction...
UK - Heatons appoints two new partners
Manchester law firm Heatons has announced the appointment of Mary Erb and Jim Truscott to equity partners. The move takes Heatons' total partner count to six and comes as the firm celebrates its first anniversary after severing ties with its two affiliate...
UK - Beringea backs online lead generation company
Beringea, manager of the ProVen VCTs, has backed online lead-generation company Dianomi Ltd in an expansion capital deal for an undisclosed amount.