News
UK - HgCapital acquires SHL
HgCapital has acquired SHL, a psychometric testing and assessment company with clients that include Abbey National, Marks & Spencer and Tesco.
UK - Och-Ziff Capital backs take-private of Whitehead Mann
City executive recruitment firm, Whitehead Mann has been acquired by Och-Ziff Capital Management in association with Palladian Investments, an investment vehicle owned by Piers Marmion.
UK - Blackstone only bidder left in final stages of auction for United Biscuits
Blackstone is the only contender left in the ТЃ1.7bn auction to acquire United Biscuits (UB), the foods company owned by Cinven, PAI and MidOcean Partners, after Premier Foods was forced to pull out as it could not raise the cash. The blow to the Premier...
SPAIN - Nazca buys El Derecho Editores
According to press reports, Nazca has agreed to buy El Derecho Editores, a company that specialises in online and offline legal information services, from its founders and management team. The purchase, expected to complete before the end of this year,...
FRANCE/ITALY - AXA Private Equity backs purchase of Guaber Household
AXA Private Equity has recently backed the purchase of a 100% stake in Guaber Household. Spotless Group, the holding of French business Eau Ecarlate and owned by its management and AXA, wholly acquired the Italian household cleaning products arm of Guaber...
UK - Octopus Investments acquires Golddigga for £18.5m
The Golddigga fashion brand has been acquired in an ТЃ18.5m buyout by its management team and Octopus Investments. Octopus led and arranged the deal, introducing buy-in candidate Daniel Morris who joined the company in June as CEO. The founder and vendor,...
UK - Scottish Widows Investment Partnership appoints new investment manager
Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP), the asset management arm of the Lloyds TSB Group, has appointed Mirja Lehmler-Brown as investment manager, to its private equity team. Lehmler-Brown will report to Billy Gilmore, investment director private...
FRANCE - UFG Private Equity invests in 3-in-1 laundry machine
UFG Private Equity has invested EUR 1.2m in Robotran, the developer of a new laundry machine for public launderettes.
UK - Listing of Hogg Robinson at between 140p and 220p a share
Permira is set to list Hogg Robinson, the business travel management company it has held since 2000. It is reported that it has set a price range for shares of between 140p and 220p.
UK - Mezzanine Management appoints two new directors
Mezzanine Management, the mezzanine and private equity firm, today announces that it has appointed Bal Johal and Ian Wallis as Directors. They will join Mezzanine Management on 1 November 2006 and will be based in the London office.
UK - Cinven gains access to Gondola's books
The largest listed restaurant company in the UK, Gondola, has allowed Cinven access to its books. Cinven made a takeover approach to the owner of Pizza Express, ASK and Zizzi late last week and is considering making it a formal offer of 415p a share....
ITALY - Carlyle courts Telecom Italia
The Carlyle Group is thought to be considering a bid for Telecom Italia’s mobile phone units. Other possible bidders include Spain’s Telefónica, the BT Group and Deutsche Telekom. The newspaper La Repubblica reported that Telecom Italia is planning to...
UK - LDC backs commercial mortgage lender with £27m investment
Commercial First, the specialist commercial mortgage lender, has secured the backing of private equity firm LDC to help grow the business ahead of a possible stock market flotation. Established in 2002 by financial industry experts Marty Finegold and...
UK - The Capital Fund invests £250,000 in Local Data Company
The Local Data Company, which operates the UKтs most accurate database of in-depth information on UK city centre retail businesses and other urban points of interest, has raised ТЃ250,000 from The Capital Fund. The companyтs management team will use the...
SPAIN - 3i divests stake in Kider
3i and minority shareholders have agreed to sell their combined stake of 47.4% in Kider to Caja Navarra for EUR 33.3m. The remaining stake will be held by the company’s management. The deal is part of the bank’s EUR 353m investment strategy, which will...
UK - Advent International exits Financial Dynamics
Financial Dynamics (FD), the business and financial communications consulting firm has been acquired by FT Consulting, Inc, a consulting and technology service provider to major corporations for ТЃ137m. The transaction represents an exit for Advent International...
FRANCE - Cinven, Carlyle and APAX sell MediMedia for EUR 489.3m
The Cinven-led consortium of investors which had acquired Vivendi Universal Publishing in April 2002 has sold its medical publications subsidiary MediMedia USA to Vestar Capital, for an entreprise value of EUR 489.3m.
FRANCE - Oxxius receives $10m in second round
Sofinnova Partners has led the $10m second round of funding for the manufacturer of ultracompact lasers, Oxxius. The other contributors in this funding were AXA Private Equity and US-based Sofinnova Ventures.
UK - Carbon Trust appoints Gilbert Chalk to its board
The Carbon Trust Investments Clean Energy Fund, a fund established with the support of the Carbon Trust and focused on private equity investment in the low carbon and clean energy technology sectors, announced that Gilbert Chalk has agreed to join the...
UK - Finance Wales participates in £5m funding round for TES Aviations
Finance Wales has reached its 1,000th deal with an expansion capital investment into TES Aviation. A funding package of more than ТЃ5m was supported by international financiers, the company itself and by Finance Wales, the organisation created by the...
FRANCE - Investors make 2x on Swapcom sale
Iris Capital's Part'Com, Spef Venture, Banque de Vizille and Sudinnova have generated a 2x money multiple on the sale of their entire interest in French mobile solutions developer Swapcom to a subsidiary of Swisscom.
FRANCE - Alpha and Apax make major loss on Créatifs sale
Sources close to the deal have confirmed that Alpha Associés Conseil and Apax Partners have sold Créatifs to Developpement & Partenariat and Prado Finance, for EUR 500,000. The buyout houses had originally bought the conference visual designer in a EUR...
FRANCE - AXA Private Equity buys Eliokem for about EUR 130m
French buyout house AXA Private Equity has announced its acquisition of a majority stake in former Goodyear Tire spin-off Eliokem for about EUR 130m.
FRANCE - Dailymotion receives EUR 7m
It is understood that French internet video sharing website Dailymotion has received EUR 7m of investments from Partech international and Atlas Ventures.