News
NORDICS - Nordic unquote
Nordic unquote" will hold the inaugural Nordic unquote" Private Equity Awards ceremony, sponsored by SEB, on the evening of 28 November and a limited number of tables are now on sale at www.nordicunquote.com.
NL- Bencis acquires Aktiesport and Perri Sport
Bencis Capital Partners has acquired a substantial equity interest in the in the sport retails chains Aktiesport and Perry Sport through Unlimited Sports Group BV (USG).
DENMARK - Polaris recruits Icopal director and CapMan partner
Polaris Private Equity has appointed Jan Johan Kühl, group director of Icopal, as managing partner and as director of the management company and Jan Dahlqvist, partner at CapMan, as partner. Kühl will join Polaris in the first quarter of 2007 and the...
UK - SiConnect receives £700,000 investment from Esprit
Esprit Capital Partners has led an investment round for SiConnect Ltd. The ТЃ700,000 is part of a first tranche of second fundraising which comes from Esprit's Prelude Trust Plc fund and follows earlier investments of ТЃ1.3m in March 2006 and ТЃ2.8m in...
UK - Gresham appoints new investment executive
Gresham has announced that Simon Hemley has joined the investment team as an investment executive. He will be based in London.
UK - South East Growth Fund commits £250,000 to Oxford English Training Ltd
SEGF has invested ТЃ250,000 as part of a ТЃ500,000 investment round to fund the continued expansion of Oxford English Training Ltd (OETL) in mainland China. OETL is a prestigious English Language and Business Qualifications training company servicing...
FRANCE - ERCP completes two refinancing
Edmond de Rothschild Capital Partners (ERCP) has announced that it has completed a EUR 24m leveraged recapitalisation of luxury childrenwear brand Bonpoint and an EUR 86m refinancing of Via Location.
GERMANY - T-Venture backs CoreOptics alongside other investors
T-Com Venture Fund has made a strategic investment in CoreOptics Inc, a developer of transponder systems. The company is headquartered in Nuremberg, with operations in New Hampshire, US. It develops high-speed optical networking applications in the telecommunications...
DEVELOPING WORLD - New Finance commits $130,000 to clean energy technology incubators
New Energy Finance, the world's leading specialist provider of information and research to investors in renewable energy, low-carbon technologies and the carbon emission markets, today committed to launch a $130,000, two year program in support of clean...
UK - New grouping of private equity investment trusts launched
At a time of rising interest in the private equity sector, iPEIT, the Initiative for Private Equity Investment Trusts, has been formed to improve awareness and understanding among retail investors, smaller institutions and investment managers not already...
UK - Signet wants to hang on to H Samuel and Ernest Jones
US jewellery company Signet has stated that it intends to hang on to its 590 outlets in the UK which trade under the H Samuel and Ernest Jones names. It is understood that the UK businesses are falling behind the fast-growing US businesses.
UK - Possible take-private of Inter Link Foods?
Reports suggest that the management of Inter Link Foods are in talks with private equity firms, including 3i, HgCapital and LDC, about the possibility of delisting the company. Its shares closed at 407.5p on Friday with management anticipating to demand...
ITALY - All eyes on Telecom Italia's mobile telephony assets
According to reports in the Italian press, at least six private equity are interested in buying the mobile telephony businesses of Telecom Italia. It is understood that a consortium has been formed, which includes the likes of Texas Pacific Group, Blackstone,...
SPAIN - Diana Capital and ICO buy 12.7% of Guascor Group
Diana Capital and the Instituto de Credito Oficial (ICO) have acquired a 12.7% shareholding in Guascor Group, a company focused in the development of marine propulsion equipment and engines. Private equity firm Diana Capital and ICO, the state-owned...
SPAIN - Vista and Apax divest Itevelesa for EUR 500m
Apax and Vista Capital have sold their entire shareholding in Spanish vehicle inspection company Itevelesa to Australian investment bank Macquarie. The bank, which had been looking for opportunities in Spain since its divestment from road management company...
SPAIN - Permira secures Telepizza in EUR 850m deal
The five-month battle for Spanish pizza delivery chain Telepizza has come to an end with the winning bid of EUR 3.21 per share from Foodco Pastries and Medimosal, companies jointly owned by Permira and Telepizza founding family Ballve's investment vehicle...
ITALY - Candover opens office in Milan
Candover's Milan office is now officially open for business. The firm announced earlier this year that it intended to expand its activities in Southern Europe.
SWEDEN - CapMan creates Nordic healthcare group
CapMan funds and Plena AB have signed an agreement for the acquisition of two Swedish healthcare companies SelefaTrade AB and Förbandsmaterial AB. The acquisitions have been made via the holding company that owns Finnish Tamro MedLab Oy, a business CapMan...
UK - Clayton, Dubilier & Rice refinances Brakes
Brakes, a food service solution provider and portfolio company belonging to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) is the subject of a ТЃ275m refinancing. The refinancing is lead-arranged by JPMorgan, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank, with UBS as co-manager....
UK - Bank of Scotland Corporate invests in Sunseeker International
Bank of Scotland Corporate has provided luxury yacht builder Sunseeker International with an integrated finance and debt package, taking a minority stake in the business following the transaction.
GERMANY - Nordic Capital's Nycomed acquires ALTANA for EUR 4.215bn
Nycomed, a portfolio company owned by Nordic Capital, has acquired ALTANA Pharma AG for four times its own enterprise value. Headquartered in Konstanz, the company is the pharmaceutical business of ALTANA AG's pharmaceuticals and chemicals group. If the...
SWITZERLAND - Helbling joins the fray
Swiss engineering and consulting firm Helbling Gruppe has launched its own private equity fund, Helbling Capital. The group will focus on special and restructuring situations, corporate spin-offs and management buyouts, targeting companies with a turnover...
NETHERLANDS - LSP leads EUR 3m investment round in BMEYE
Life Science Partners has announced that it has led a EUR 3m Series A financing round of BMEYE, a Dutch medical device company. The round was led by LSP and included a group of Silicon Valley and Dutch groups TechFund and BAT (Business Angels Technostarters)....
UK - Bank of Scotland Corporate backs MBO of Conran Restaurants
Bank of Scotland Corporate Banking has provided a ТЃ47m integrated debt and equity package to support the existing management in the buyout of Conran Restaurants. The deal has enabled management, who have invested new cash, to significantly increase their...