News
UK - Deloitte brings in US transaction expert
Deloitte has announced today the joining of Gary Levinson, the former head of the US firmтs Mid West transaction services practice, to its London office.
UK - Barclays Private Equity invests £15m in powered machine hirers merger
Barclays Private Equity has invested ТЃ15m in the merger of AFI Aerial Platforms and Uplift Platforms, hirers of powered access machines. Barclays Private Equity will hold a significant stake in the enlarged business. AFI Aerial Platforms, based in Wakefield,...
UK - Bowmark Capital acquires Design Objectives
Bowmark Capital has announced the acquisition of Design Objectives Ltd, the UKтs leading supplier of products to the rapidly growing paper crafts market. Paper crafting is principally the design and decoration of home-made greeting cards, scrapbooks and...
UK - NTL deal reportedly off
Market souces report that the ТЃ10.6bn bid for NTL by a consortium of private equity groups is no longer going to go ahead.
UK - HMV's Alan Giles to join Fat Face
Fat Face, the clothing group backed by Advent International has recruited Alan Giles as non-executive. Fat Face's sales rose to ТЃ81m for the year to May 2005 with an increase of 79% on operating profits to ТЃ13.4m.
UK - 3i targets Countrywide
Listed estate agency chain Countrywide has confirmed that it has received an approach from 3i. Shares in the company have risen by 13% since Thursday, giving the group a market value of ТЃ890m.
UK - Kelso Place Asset Management backs Anya Hindmarch
Kelso Place Asset Management has acquired a stake in Anya Hindmarch in a transaction which values the business at approximately ТЃ20m. Over the past 12 years the business has successfully grown from its original first floor shop on Londonтs Walton Street...
GERMANY - Burda Digital Ventures acquires computeruniverse.net
Burda Digital Ventures GmbH, a subsidiary of Hubert Burda Media, has agreed to acquire computeruniverse.net GmbH, Friedrichshof. The vendors are the company's management and private investor Participia Holding, Hamburg. The acquisition is designed to...
SWITZERLAND - Precimed Group and Carr Metal Products to unite
Precimed, a technology supplier to the orthopaedic industry, is set to merge with Carr Metal Products, Inc, a sheet metal and thermo-formed plastic tray manufacturer. Precimed is backed by Swiss financial investor BV Group, as well as HBM Bioventures,...
SWEDEN - Private-equity backed Biovitrum goes public
Biopharma company Biovitrum's share will be listed on the O-list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange as of today. The share price has been set at SEK 100, giving the company a market capitalisation of around SEK 4.3bn.
UK - Braveheart announces new appointment to corporate finance team
Braveheart, the venture capital and investment management business, announces today that it has strengthened its corporate finance team with the appointment of Lesley Jardine as technology analyst. Jardine joins from the Scottish Executive and will be...
AUSTRIA - Nordwind and VMS to revive Cosmos
Specialist turnaround investors Nordwind Capital and Value Management Services (VMS) have together acquired 100% of Cosmos. Under the terms of the deal, VMS will place 100% of the shares it holds in Niedermeyer, which also operates in the consumer electronics...
ITALY/US - Texas Pacific Group hires Davide Croff as advisor for Italy
Davide Croff has been hired by Texas Pacific Group (TPG) as a senior advisor for the Italian market.
FRANCE - AXA Private Equity appoints Asian head to its executive board
Christophe Florin, managing director for Asia at AXA Private Equity (AXA PE), has been made a member of the executive board.
ITALY - BS Private Equity acquires majority stake in Motovario
BS Private Equity, through its fund BS Investimenti IV, recently acquired a majority stake in Motovario, a manufacturer of power transmission products, from Power Transmission Finance. The consideration has not been disclosed.
SWEDEN - Venture-backed Carmel Pharma signs agreement with German pharmacies
VZA, German association of retail pharmacies specialised in the preparation of cytotoxic pharmaceuticals, has signed a cooperation agreement with Carmel Pharma to support the implementation of Carmel Pharma’s PhaSeal system with its 250 members throughout...
GERMANY - Financial consortium exits Vestolit to Strategic Value Partners
Candover has sold PVC-producer Vestolit to Strategic Value Partners, alongside the company's management. A consortium of investors, led by Candover, acquired the company in 1999. Other groups making up the consortium were Chase Capital Partners, Foreign...
GERMANY - PPM Capital sells BST after 15 months
PPM Capital has sold BST Safety Textiles just 15 months after it acquired the company. The buyer is WL Ross & Co, a private equity firm headquartered in the US.
FRANCE - Charterhouse and Chequers reach threshold for Elior de-listing
Holding Bercy Investissement (HBI), a holding controlled by Charterhouse and Chequers, has acquired a block of 1,500,000 shares giving it 95.49% of the share capital in Elior.
UK - Risk Capital Partners hooks up with Seafood Holdings
Luke Johnsonтs private equity fund, Risk Capital Partners, has purchased a substantial minority equity stake in Seafood Holdings т a leading independent fresh fish and seafood distributor to the catering trade. The deal values the company in excess of...
UK - International Private Equity Services announces new hires
International Private Equity Services, the private equity fund administrator and outsourcing provider, is pleased to announce new changes to its senior management team. Dominic Jones has joined IPES as executive director, and chief executive officer designate....
FRANCE - AXA back the buyout of Champeau for the second time
AXA Private Equity has invested about EUR 10m, via its Small Caps Fund, in Champeau, the leading French manufacturer of wood roof truss systems. This is the second time the buyout house invests in this business.
FRANCE - Astorg completes secondary buyout of Staci
Astorg Partners has taken a 51% stake of marketing and stock logistics company Staci. Initiative & Finance, which had taken part in the de-listing of the business in 2004, has re-invested on this occasion.
UK - Nomura International appoints new director of new energy and clean technology ventures
Nomura International Plc has announced the appointment of Russell Pullan as director of New Energy and Clean Technology Ventures. He has joined Nomura from The Carbon Trust where he was head of venture capital. This new venture will have an international...