News
UK - Mithras Investment Trust sets up fund-of-funds
Mithras Investment Trust has announced it is to create a fund-of-funds named Mithras Private Equity LLP.
UK - Merlin buys Tussauds for £1bn
The Blackstone Group has announced that its portfolio company Merlin Entertainments Group has acquired The Tussauds Group from Dubai International Capital for £1,028m. The acquisition makes Merlin Entertainments Group the world’s second largest visitor...
UK - HgCapital acquires Americana International in secondary buyout
HgCapital has acquired Americana International, the owner of the brands Bench and Hooch, from ISIS Equity Partners, in a deal valued at £190m.
CEE - ICG appoints head for Central and Eastern Europe
European mezzanine specialist Intermediate Capital Group has appointed Aleksander Marcin Ferenc as assistant director responsible for originating and executing deals in Central and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining ICG, he was investment director at Baring...
SPAIN – ACP leads EUR 2m financing of Buyvip.com
Barcelona-based venture capital investor Active Capital Partners has led a round of funding in Buyvip.com, an e-commerce business offering a range of brand products at discounted prices.
FRANCE - Eurazeo-backer Europcar buys Vanguard EMEA for EUR 670m
Eurazeo’s portfolio company Europcar has acquired Vanguard EMEA, the European activities of US-based Vanguard, for EUR 670m.
DENMARK - CVC acquires Matas
CVC Capital Partners has purchased personal care retail chain Matas A/S and affiliated stores. The private equity house has acquired 206 stores from approximately 125 store owners and has entered into conditional agreements to acquire an additional 45...
SWEDEN - EQT acquires Scandic Hotels from Hilton
EQT V has acquired Nordic hotel chain Scandic Hotels AB from Hilton Hotels Corporation. Scandic, a brand familiar to over 90% of the population of the Nordic region, has 132 hotels and more than 23,000 rooms in 9 countries.
UK - Aureos Advisers appoints new head of group operations
Brigit van Dijk - van de Reijt has joined London-based Aureos Advisers, the fund advisory service to Aureos Capital.
UK - South East Growth Fund backs Medway Foods Ltd
WM Enterprise, via its South East Growth Fund, has invested in food production company Medway Foods Ltd.
ITALY - Abacus Invest and MPS Venture enter the fashion industry
Private equity firms Abacus Invest and MPS Venture have jointly acquired a 45% stake in fashion business Phard SpA.
ITALY - Palamon Capital Partners acquires debt collection agency
Mid-market firm Palamon Capital Partners has acquired all shares in Milan-based debt collection agency Si Collection SpA. The vendor is Si Holding SpA, which owns Carta Si, a major issuer of credit cards on behalf of a consortium of Italian banks.
ITALY - Investindustrial buys cosmetics business
Private equity firm Investindustrial has wholly acquired Morris Profumi. The business is a Parma-based cosmetics division of German specialty chemicals player Henkel.
NORWAY - HitecVision founder receives OTC Heritage Award
Jon Gjedebo, co-founder of the Hitec group and HitecVision Private Equity, has been honoured with the OTC Heritage Award for his contributions to the technological development in the offshore industry.
FINLAND - Amanda Capital moves offices
Amanda Capital has moved and the new address is: Aleksanterinkatu 15 A, 6th floor, Helsinki (visiting address) PO Box 896 FI-00101 Helsinki Finland Tel: +358 9 6829 600 Fax: +358 9 6829 6030 Email: firstname.lastname@amandacapital.fi www.amandacapital.fi
GERMANY - Silver Lake interested in SAP
According to speculation in the German press, US financial investor Silver Lake is looking to acquire a stake in German listed business solutions provider SAP. Reports suggest that JP Morgan has been mandated to advise the private equity house. Silver...
UK - Quester invests £2.4m in web-based education company
Quester has invested £2.4m in UniServity Ltd, a provider of web-based learning platforms to the education sector. The capital raised from the company's first institutional funding round will provide UniServity with additional working capital to consolidate...
NORWAY - VC-backed Edvantage group merges with Zenaria
E-learning provider Edvantage group, backed by Northzone Ventures and Alliance Venture, has agreed to merge with Zenaria. The merger strengthens Edvantage group's position as a provider of e-learning technology, content and services and will allow the...
UK - BVCA launches private equity working group on disclosure
The BVCA today announced that it will form a working group under the chairmanship of Sir David Walker to examine ways in which levels of disclosure in companies backed by the UK private equity industry could be improved. In order to achieve this the BVCA...
UK - Quester invests £2.4m in web-based education company
Quester has invested £2.4m in UniServity Ltd, a provider of web-based learning platforms to the education sector. The capital raised from the company's first institutional funding round will provide UniServity with additional working capital to consolidate...
FRANCE - Apax backs OBO of Royer Group
Apax Partners has acquired a significant minority stake in shoes distributor Royer Group.
UK - Bridgepoint exits ethnic food supplier WT Foods
Bridgepoint has sold ethnic and speciality foods supplier WT (Holdings) Ltd Group to GraceKennedy Ltd. Jamaica-listed GraceKennedy is the third largest company in the Carribbean with interests in food, retail, distribution and banking. The returns the...
GERMANY - Bridgepoint acquires Dragenopharm
Bridgepoint has acquired a majority stake in generic drugs contract manufacturer Dragenopharm Apotheker Püschl GmbH for an undisclosed amount.
FRANCE - Albert Frère anticipates KKR bid for Lafarge
Belgian billionnaire Albert Frère will increase his stake in heavy construction equipment manufacturer Lafarge to 20% over the course of 2007, in order to prevent a takeover by KKR or by rivals Cemex and Holcim, according to reports in the French press.