News
GERMANY - DZ Equity Partner and L-EA Private Equity acquire German GIMV investment
DZ Equity Partner as lead investor and L-EA Private Equity have completed the acquisition of Konrad Hornschuch, a manufacturer of plastics, in a secondary buyout from funds advised by Halder.
GERMANY - Bank of Ireland opens office in Frankfurt
Bank of Ireland has opened a new leveraged finance office in Frankfurt, focusing on debt provision for mid-market transactions. The team, led by Ralph Betz and Maurice Fitzgerald, will offer mid-cap senior and debt arranging capabilities to private equity...
BELGIUM- Big Bang Ventures holds first close
Big Bang Ventures has announced that it has held a first closing of its second fund, Big Bang Ventures II, at EUR 17.3m.
NETHERLANDS- VNU bid under pressure
Market reports suggest that nearly half of VNU's shareholders are planning to reject the EUR 7.5bn takeover proposed by a consortium of Alpinvest, Blackstone, Carlyle, Hillman & Friedman, KKR and Thomas H Lee.
ROMANIA - Advent sells Terapia for $324m
Advent International has sold its 96.7% stake in Terapia S.A., Romania’s leading generic pharmaceuticals manufacturer, to Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited for $324m.
SWEDEN - FSN Capital buys Alignment Systems
FSN Capital has agreed to buy Alignment Systems AB from 3i Group Plc and funds advised by Euroventures Management AB, including AP6.
PORTUGAL - Explorer Investments and MCH acquire Nutricafés
According to reports in the Spanish press, the Portuguese private equity firm Explorer Investments and the Spanish group MCH Private Equity have acquired 100% of Nutricafés. The group was purchased from Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Sumolis, which bought...
UK - 3i to return £500m to investors
3i has announced that it expects full-year profits on the disposal of investments to be 'significantly higher' than last yearтs and announced plans to return at least ТЃ500m to shareholders for the second year running.
UK - CVM invests £3.5m in Blackbay Ltd
Close Venture Management Ltd has announced an investment of ТЃ3.5m in Blackbay Ltd. Blackbay provides real-time mobile worker solutions that enable business process improvements to Supply Chain and Field Service mission critical operations.
UK - Montagu Private Equity acquires Misys General Insurance for £182m
Montagu Private Equity has signed an agreement to acquire Misys General Insurance for ТЃ182m. MGI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Misys Plc, a global business providing specialised software applications to the healthcare and banking industries. Final...
UK - Nova makes recommended cash offer for Springboard Plc
Nova Capital Group has announced a recommended cash offer for Springboard Plc, an AIM listed private equity investment company that was formed and floated in 1998. The offer of 144 pence in cash values the existing share capital of Springboard at approximately...
SWITZERLAND - Capvis acquires stake in Stadler Rail Group
Capvis has acquired a 20% stake in railway machinery producer Stadler Rail Group. The current owner, CEO Peter Spuhler reached the decision to form a partnership with Capvis when looking for an equity partner to broaden the company's shareholder base....
UK - Bridges Community Ventures backs Smart Storage
Bridges Community Ventures has announced its investment in Smart Storage, a Wirral-based business providing self-storage facilities for a mix of domestic and commercial customers.
UK - HgCapital to acquire First Technology Safety & Analysis
HgCapital has entered into agreement with Honeywell to acquire First Technology Safety & Analysis. The deal will value the market leader in crash test dummies and associated services at ТЃ50m.
UK - IBIS Media VCTs attract investment
IBIS Capital, the specialist media corporate finance and investment business, has announced that its VCT focusing on smaller private UK media companies has attracted support from leading figures from the media and financial services industries.
UK - VCTs held for the long-term, says Noble
New research from Noble Fund Managers has found that 81% of intermediaries are investing VCT money on behalf of their clients with a view to holding their investments for the long-term, an eight- to ten-year time horizon. Only 11% said that their clients...
UK - Further investment for Imperial College spin-out deltaDOT
Imperial Innovations, the technology commercialisation company of Imperial College London, has completed a ТЃ1m investment in spin-out company, deltaDOT, a developer of innovative enabling technologies and products for bioscience research. The investment...
SWEDEN - SVCA strengthens its board of directors
The Swedish Private Equity & Venture Capital Association has strengthened its board of directors following the annual general meeting on 21 March.
DENMARK - IVS appoints Weilby Knudsen as partner
Thomas Weilby Knudsen, CEO of the venture capital group IVS, has been appointed partner at the firm as of 1 April.
GERMANY - Dr Neuhaus Techno Nord exits EUTEX holding
Following the listing of EUTEX on the Entry Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in December 2005, Dr Neuhaus Techno Nord has exited its remaining stake in the company. The strategic investor is an undisclosed Russian company operating in the field...
FRANCE – Ventech and DN Capital back Babinet's new venture
Eyeka has completed a EUR 4m series-A round of funding just months after being founded. Paris-based Ventech has injected EUR 2.56m, while London-based DN Capital has provided the remaining EUR 1.44m. Eyeka is a provider of mobile video and image service...
UK - Cambridge Consultants restarts venturing business
Cambridge Consultants, one of Europeтs leading technology-based design and development companies, has announced plans to reactivate its spin-out business with the creation of a new venture fund.
GERMANY - New partners announced at TVM Capital
TVM Capital has announced the promotions of ICT principal Chris Cobbold and Life Sciences principal Dr Annegret de Baey-Diepolder. Both have been made partners with the established IT and Life Science investor. Additionally, Dr Axel Polack has been promoted...
UK - Bank of Scotland backs £119.5m acquisition of Adare Group
Adare Group, a leading UK print management, mailing and packaging solutions company, has announced that a team of seven current directors, led by Robert Whiteside, has acquired the business with the backing of Bank of Scotland Corporate.