News
FRANCE - AXA Private equity wins Keolis exclusivity
Following a UBS-run limited auction, France's state rail group SNCF has selected AXA Private equity to buy 55% of public transport management company Keolis.
FRANCE - Barclays Private Equity profits from 21 Centrale's withdrawal from Apem
21 Centrale Partners has withdrawn its offer to acquire electrical switch maker Apem, citing concerns stemming from due diligence work.
POLAND - Enterprise Investors exit PEP on the Warsaw Stock Exchange
Enterprise Investors have sold their remaining stake in Polish Energy Partners (PEP) on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. This sale completes the exit of the financial investor from PEP after taking it private in 2005.
UK - Amadeus portfolio company agrees $600m merger
Solexa Inc, an Amadeus portfolio company formerly headquartered in Cambridge but now primarily based in California, has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Illumina Inc. Illumina will acquire all Solexa shares in a stock-for-stock transaction...
UK - Barclays Ventures supports £30m management buy-in
Barclays Ventures has backed a simultaneous £30m management buy-in of Amwell Systems and Twyford Bushboard. The combined businesses create the UK’s leading independent designer, manufacturer, supplier and installer of both traditional washroom systems...
SWEDEN - Priveq invests in ByggPartner
Priveq has invested in construction contractor ByggPartner and the transaction represents the first step towards an IPO. Following the investment, Priveq Investment will have an equity holding of some 40% and its current partners, led by CEO Bo Olsson,...
AUSTRIA - Private equity group expected to bid for BAWAG
Austria's fourth largest bank in terms of volume of assets, BAWAG, is expected to receive offers from at least four financial and trade buyers. Morgan Stanley has been appointed to run the auction process. Expected bidders are Austrian banks Raiffeisen...
UK - Baker Tilly's corporate finance team continues to expand
Baker Tilly has strengthened its national corporate finance team with the appointment of three new partners. Kirsty Sandwell, Alistair Hynd and Angela Toner join as partners taking Baker Tilly’s total number of corporate finance partners to 27. Sandwell,...
UK - Amec rejects £1.5bn bid from TPG and First Reserve
A takeover bid by Texas Pacific Group and First Reserve for engineering services group Amec has been rejected by its board. It was reported that the offer, at £1.5bn, was rebuffed on the grounds that it did not value the company highly enough. Analysts...
GERMANY - Symrise to float by the end of 2006
The German flavours and fragrances company Symrise has announced that it intends to float shares worth EUR 650m in an initial public offering by the end of this year.
GERMANY - Permira exits Premiere
Permira is selling its stake in German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere. The transaction, which involves Permira's remaining 8.44% stake, is valued at approximately EUR 88m.
UK - Joseph A Stanislaw joins Climate Change Capital
A leading energy expert, Joseph A Stanislaw, has joined the international advisory board of Climate Change Capital, the UK based investment banking group dedicated to investment in clean energy and a low carbon economy.
FRANCE - Fund-of-funds provider Fondinvest spins-off from CDC
Fondinvest Capital, an asset management firm created in 1994 by Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC), has spun off.
SWEDEN - Nordic Capital buys TietoEnator's stake in Personec
Nordic Capital Fund V has agreed to acquire TietoEnator’s shareholding as well as outstanding shareholder loans in Stockholm-headquartered Personec. After the transaction, Nordic Capital will control 100% of the company together with the management...
ITALY - Permira to sell Grandi Navi Veloci to private equity consortium
According to press reports, Permira is said to have reached an agreement with a consortium including buyout house Investitori Associati, Charme and De Agostini to sell its portfolio company Grandi Navi Veloci for over EUR 750m. Two years ago, Permira...
FRANCE - Europcar makes EUR 670m acquisition
Car rental business Europcar, one of Eurazeo's portfolio companies, has acquired US-based Vanguard's European operations for EUR 670m. The price represents 12.7x the company's 2006 EBIT before synergies.
FRANCE - Cerenis receives EUR 42.1m in a second round of financing
Cerenis Therapeutics has gathered EUR 42.1m in its second round of institutional funding. TVM Capital and OrbiMed of the US join the existing investors, all of which renewed their commitments.
UK - Hawkpoint moves offices
From the 20th November, Hawkpoint is moving offices and its new address will be: Hawkpoint Partners Ltd 41 Lothbury, London, EC2R 7AE, UK.
UK - Launch of Kenmore Private Equity
Kenmore Property Group, the international real estate business which operates from 9 offices in the UK, Europe and Dubai, has announced the formation of its sister company Kenmore Private Equity (KPE). KPE will originate transactions initially in the...
ITALY/GERMANY - Mediaset leaves competition for ProSiebenSat
Mediaset, the broadcasting giant owned by ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, is no longer in the competitive process for German television network ProSiebenSat.1 Media.
SWEDEN - TranSiC secures SEK 4m in funding
Energy business TranSiC AB has raised SEK 4m in a first round of funding from Volvo Technology Transfer AB and Midroc New Technology AB. Founded in 2005, TranSiC is a Stockholm Innovation & Growth incubator company. It aims to bring silicon carbide power...
UK - Dunedin appoints new directors
Dunedin has announced that Giles Derry and Mark Ligertwood have been appointed directors. Mark Ligertwood joined Dunedin in 1999 following a six-month secondment from Ernst & Young’s Corporate Finance department where he qualified as a chartered accountant....
ITALY - SG Capital Europe acquires majority stake in Modo & Modo
SG Capital Europe has acquired a 75% stake in Modo & Modo SpA, a manufacturer of paper stationery products under the Moleskine brand. The value has not been disclosed.
PORTUGAL - The Riverside Company acquires ONI
The Riverside Company has agreed to acquire ONI SGPS SA, the wire-line telecom unit of Portuguese utility Energias de Portugal. The deal is valued at EUR 160m, and is expected to close early next year.