News
UK - Private equity multiples at highest for six years
Private equity multiples are at their highest for six years according to new data from accountants and business advisors BDO Stoy Hayward. The Private Equity Price Index (PEPI) which tracks the price earnings ratio of deals involving a private equity...
UK - Ingenious Corporate Finance appoints senior UBS bankers
Ingenious, the media investment and advisory group, announces that Adam Joy and David Curley are to join Ingenious Corporate Finance as managing directors.
UK/SPAIN - Livingstone Guarantee creates international mid-market boutique
Livingstone Guarantee (LG), the London-based independent corporate finance house, has announced a merger with its long-standing Spanish partners and a new US-based mergers and acquisitions advisory house to create the first integrated investment banking...
GERMANY – Earlybird invests in smava
Earlybird has led a EUR 4m financing round in German internet company smava. This represents Earlybird’s second investment from the next-generation fund Earlybird IV. Other investors committing to the round are business angels Lukasz Gadowski, Stefan...
SWITZERLAND - Advanced Power AG receives EUR 31.5m financing
3i together with members of the Advanced Power board have invested EUR 31.5m in Swiss company Advance Power AG. The company is active in the development of electricity generation plants in Europe and the US. It currently has 10 ongoing projects in different...
FRANCE - Alliance Entreprendre and Avenir Entreprises invest in Lewinger
Small- to mid-cap investors Alliance Entreprendre and Avenir Entreprises have backed the owner buyout of Roanne-based pret-a-porter specialist Lewinger.
UK - ISIS backs £11.5m MBO of CableCom
ISIS Equity Partners, investing funds from the Baronsmead VCTs, has completed the £11.5m management buyout of IT company CableCom. Based in Clevedon, near Bristol, CableCom operates in the growing market of IT and communication managed services to multi-tenanted...
FRANCE - PAI makes EUR 1.2bn bid for Kaufman et Broad
PAI partners has made an offer for 49% of house builder Kaufman et Broad, according to French press reports. The EUR 53.13 per share bid values the business at around EUR 1.2bn.
ITALY - Fashion house Valentino attracts private equity interest
The president of Valentino, Antonio Favrin, has reportedly said that the haute couture group has been approached by a handful of private equity firms. However, it is not yet clear if the stake for sale corresponds to a minority portion or a controlling...
UK - Travers Smith grows partnership by 9
Travers Smith has announced that 9 new partners will be admitted the partnership as of 1 July 2007, taking the number of partners up to 65. The new additions are Matthew Ayre (Banking), Tim Lewis (Financial Services), Steve McNab (Environment and Planning),...
FRANCE - Atos Origin snubs its suitors
Computer services business Atos Origin has decided to pursue its growth strategy on a stand-alone basis, ending speculation about a possible LBO.
FRANCE - Finadvance leads MBI of swimming pool maker
Finadvance has backed the management buy-in of Piscine Ambiance, acquiring 93% of the equity via its fund Finadvance Capital III.
GERMANY - Halder exits PRÜM-GARANT Holding
Halder Beteiligungsberatung GmbH has sold PRÜM-GARANT to Swiss industrial company Looser Holding AG for an undisclosed amount. Halder acquired PRÜM-Türenwerk GmbH in August 2004, and merged the company with its other acquisition GARANT Türen- und...
GERMANY - ING expands its leveraged finance team
ING Wholesale Banking has made a further addition to the German division of its Leveraged Finance and Sponsor Coverage group based in Frankfurt with the appointment of Dr Heinz Staake as director. Staake joins from Bank of Scotland’s Frankfurt office,...
GERMANY - Latham & Watkins strengthens Munich office
Volkmar Bruckner has joined Latham & Watkins as partner in the Munich office. He joins from Dechert where he was responsible for both corporate/M&A and private equity activities.
UK - OC&C appoints Michael Rzesnitzek as new partner
OC&C Strategy Consultants has appointed Michael Rzesnitzek as a new partner. He will start at OC&C on 1 October 2007. Rzesnitzek, a publishing expert with international experience, will bring his expertise in the media to OC&C.
IRELAND - Terra Firma portfolio company in $5.2bn buyout
Terra Firma portfolio company AWAS, an aircraft leasing company headquartered in Dublin, has acquired Pegasus Aviation Finance Company in a $5.2bn buyout from Oak Tree Capital Management.
UK - Oxford Capital Partners and Imperial Innovations in £3.1m second-round funding
Oxford Capital Partners and Imperial Innovations have co-led a £3.1m second round of funding for Veryan Medical Ltd, a developer of medical devices to improve the long-term effectiveness of medical care in patients with vascular disease. Existing investor...
TURKEY - Global Finance buys stake in Biofarma
Greek private equity firm Global Finance is the latest investor to purchase a stake in Turkish pharmaceutical business Biofarma.
FRANCE - Atos Origin will break the suspense on Monday
The shares of French computer servies giant Atos Origin have been suspended pending a press release to be published on Monday morning.
UK - PAI hungry for Big Brother-maker
Production company Endemol, the name behind Big Brother and Deal or No Deal is on the block with bids expected to fetch EUR 3bn. Spanish group Telefónica announced its plans to sell its 75% stake earlier this year.
UK - JC Flowers sniffs out Friends Provident with AXA
Shares in Friends Provident climbed yesterday amid speculation that JC Flowers is considering working on a bid for the UK life assurer with insurance giant AXA.
UK - 3i takes stake in Foster + Partners
3i has taken a minority stake in architecture practice Foster + Partners. The deal has enabled the company behind the Gherkin and the Millau viaduct in France to restructure management and broaden its shareholder base to include more employees. Equity...
FRANCE - Sofimac Partners invests EUR 250,000 in Cottel
Sofimac Partners, a regional growth cpaital investor focusing on the Massif Central, Rhône-Alpes and Southern regions, has invested EUR 250,000 in the owner buyout of Cottel, a manufacturer of advertising objects.