News
FRANCE - Willkie Farr & Gallagher bolsters its Paris office
Law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher has appointed Pierre Ullmann as associate in its Paris office. Emmanuel Galifer, who has worked with Ullmann since 2004 also joins the law firm.
UK - Whitbread rumours intensify as Starwood appoints former Whitbread director
Rumours surrounding the leisure group Whitbread and its possible delisting by Starwood Capital have intensified this morning as it emerged that Starwood had appointed Desmond Taljaard, formerly property director at the group.
US - Clayton, Dublier & Rice appoints new partner
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) has announced that Charles A Banks, former chief executive officer of Wolseley Plc has joined the firm as a partner. He will be based in CD&R’s New York office. Banks led Wolseley, the world's largest specialist trade...
UK - Kevin Dunn appointed new European head of leveraged finance for GE Commercial Finance
Kevin Dunn has been named as the new European head of leveraged finance for GE Commercial Finance. Based in London, Dunn will oversee the entire European leveraged finance operation, with offices in Paris, Milan and Frankfurt. Dunn replaces Sandeep Kamat,...
UK - 3i sells 6% stake in Travelex to majority owners Apax and Standard Chartered
Funds advised by Apax Partners together with Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) have entered into a series of agreements with funds advised by 3i to purchase 3i's remaining 6% stake in Travelex. The transaction is due to complete within the next 5 months.
UK - Aberdeen Asset Managers sells interest in Bond Aviation Solutions
Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital has sold Bond Aviation Solutions Ltd to Alpha Aviation Group. Aberdeen originally led the £4m management buyout of Bond from Astraeus Ltd, another Aberdeen Asset Managers-backed company, in November 2005. The sale...
UK - Ingenious Media takes stake in Apax target Incisive Media
Ingenious Media Active Capital Ltd part of Ingenious Media Plc, the entertainment and media-focused investor has acquired an 11% stake in Incisive Media Plc for £22m. Ingenious paid 195p per share which matches the price offered by Apax six weeks ago...
SWEDEN - Roschier recruits seven new lawyers to Stockholm office
Roschier has strengthened its operations in Sweden through the recruitment of seven new lawyers to its Stockholm office. Fredrik Rydin, a specialist in acquisitions finance, has been appointed partner and recruitment continues on all levels.
UK - Bowmark Capital generates 6.7x return on Medscreen exit
Bowmark Capital has sold its majority interest in drug and alcohol testing services provider Medscreen Holdings Ltd to Concateno Plc, an AIM-listed company. The exit has generated an IRR of 52% and a return of 6.7x for Bowmark Capital.
FRANCE - Spef Venture rebrands itself
Spef Venture is changing its name to Seventure Partners.
SPAIN - 3i director joins Magnum Industrial Partners
Inaki Echave has left 3i's London office to join Magnum Industrial Partners, a Spanish buyout firm recently launched by ex Santander Angel Corcostegui. The firm has begun the fundraising for its first fund, capped at EUR 750m. Echave's work at 3i included...
UK - Private equity rumours continue to engulf Whitbread
Whitbread, the listed leisure group that owns Premier Travel Inn, Costa, David Lloyd Leisure and T.G.I. Fridays is again the subject of private equity speculation after market sources report that Starwood Capital has built up a 3% stake in the company.
UK - FSA reports positively on private equity industry
The FSA has today published its report on the private equity industry, an inquiry that was begun in March having been prompted by the rapidly growing size of the industry. Despite the fact that the Justice Department in the US has stated that it will...
SWITZERLAND/FRANCE/ITALY - Argos Soditic's founder to leave the firm
According to press reports Edoardo Bugnone, founder of private equity firm Argos Soditic and a former chairman of the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EVCA), is to leave the firm weeks after the closing of its latest fund.
GERMANY - KKR and Goldman Sachs acquire Kion forklift unit
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Goldman Sachs Group's private-equity unit have signed an agreement to acquire the Kion forklift unit of Wiesbaden-based Linde Group, the world's largest maker of industrial gases, for EUR 4bn. The sale is subject to regulatory...
NL- TNT completes sale of logistics division to Apollo Management
Dutch express delivery company TNT has completed the sale of its logistics division to Apollo Management. The total value of the transaction is EUR 1.48bn on a cash and debt free basis, of which EUR 15m has been received in the form of a 5% equity stake...
FRANCE - Former Wanadoo boss appointed partner by Sofinnova
Sofinnova Partners has announced the appointment of Olivier Sichel as partner.
NL- Wavin exercises overallotment option
Dutch pipe manufacturer Wavin has announced that ABN AMRO Rothschild, Lehman Brothers and Merril Lynch International, in their capacity of joint global coordinators and joint bookrunners and in name of the banking syndicate, have exercised the overallotment...
UK - Langholm Capital portfolio company Just Retirement seeks AIM flotation
Just Retirement, a Surrey-based life assurance group focusing on the provision of financial services to those at or in retirement, has announced its intention to apply for admission to AIM. Just Retirement is seeking to raise approximately £50m through...
UK - Warburg Pincus pharmaceutical company makes acquisition
Archimedes Pharma Ltd, a speciality pharmaceutical company based in Reading has acquired Link Holdings Ltd. Link is a Sussex-based pharmaceuticals group focusing on sales and marketing of speciality pharmaceuticals with commercial operations in the UK,...
UK - Hutton Collins backs James Hull Group
Hutton Collins & Co Ltd has acquired James Hull Group, a specialist dental corporate operating in both the public and private markets.
FRANCE - BNP Paribas Développement leads the buyout of Dufieux Industrie
BNP Paribas Développement has backed the buyout of Dufieux Industrie, a Grenoble-based industrial supplier for the aeronautical sector.
NORWAY - Reiten & Co purchases Ellipse-Klinikken
Reiten & Co has acquired a controlling ownership stake in Ellipse-Klinikken, the Nordic region’s largest non-invasive beauty clinic chain. Ellipse-Klinikken offers non-surgical treatments and has 9 locations in Scandinavia and 1 in the UK. In 2005,...
SWITZERLAND - EonTech backs EUR 4m first round for Astron-Fiamm
Early stage VC investor EonTech Ventures has teamed up with Generali Group to invest EUR 4m in a first round of funding for Astron-Fiamm Safety, a Lugano, Switzerland-based company that makes safety lighting products for the automotive industry. Trade...