News
DENMARK - Venture-backed Exiqon enters co-development agreement
Venture-backed Exiqon A/S, a leading supplier of high-value gene expression analysis products, and Luminex® Corporation have signed an agreement to co-develop and commercialise microRNA products. Exiqon will develop and manufacture microRNA products...
FRANCE - Avenir Tourisme and BNP Paribas Développement invest in hotels
Avenir Tourisme and BNP Paribas Développement have each taken a 10% stake in Chez France Hotels and Résidences, with a total equity investment of EUR 800,000. The sponsors also committed some convertible bonds as part of the transaction.
GERMANY - Nord Holding takes majority in PDS Group
Nord Holding has acquired a 70% stake in PDS Group, Cologne, a systems integrator for mobile data capture systems. Raimund Müller-Rau, general manager of the company, retains the 30% balance.The vendor is MUK Kapitalbeteiligungsgesellschaft, a joint...
FINLAND - CapMan sells Tiimari to Leo Longlife
CapMan funds will sell their stake in holding company Maritii Oy, which has 100% ownership of Tiimari, to Oyj Leo Longlife Plc. Prior to the exit, CapMan funds hold around 83% of Maritii, a company with an enterprise value of approximately EUR 61m.
DENMARK - Vækstfonden and SEED Capital sell AudioAsics
Analog Devices Inc has acquired venture-backed technology company AudioAsics A/S for around $19m in cash. It will pay up to $8m more for the Danish business upon the achievement of certain milestones.
SWEDEN - FSN Capital recruits two new Swedish partners
FSN Capital has recruited Peter Möller and Dan Johnson as partners to strengthen its presence in Sweden. Möller joins from Permira, where he has worked as an investment manager, and Johnson has fourteen years of experience from The Boston Consulting...
UK - YFM Group appoints new investment manager
YFM Group, manager of the £25m South West Ventures Fund, has appointed Julian Dennard as investment manager. Dennard will join the SWVF team which make venture capital funding available to small- and medium-sized enterprises with high-growth potential...
UK - Barclays Private Equity takes stake in Jerrold Holdings for £113.5m
Barclays Private Equity has acquired a significant minority stake in Jerrold Holdings Ltd, a secured lender to the residential and commercial sectors, for £113.5m. The acquisition adds to Barclays Private Equity’s financial services portfolio, (which...
UK - Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital appoints new investment manager
Aberdeen Asset Managers Growth Capital has appointed Jonty Hall as investment manager to its Northern team. Hall will focus on new investments involving smaller UK companies requiring up to £4m of equity finance, including MBOs/MBIs, expansion capital,...
ITALY - Advent appoints new chairman
Advent International, has announced the appointment of Francesco de Giglio as chairman of its Italian office. De Giglio is focused on mid-market pan-European buyouts and has over 18 years of experience in the Italian market. Prior to joining Advent,...
UK - Penta Capital leads £10m equity funding round in retail chain’s 147 UK stores
Internaçionale Holdings Ltd, the Glasgow-headquartered retailer which owns 147 Au Naturale and Internaçionale stores throughout the UK, has been acquired in a management buyout worth £45m. Internaçionale’s senior management team of Norrie Stewart,...
UK - Barclays Private Equity invests £15m in powered machine hirers merger
Barclays Private Equity has invested £15m in the merger of AFI Aerial Platforms and Uplift Platforms, hirers of powered access machines. Barclays Private Equity will hold a significant stake in the enlarged business. AFI Aerial Platforms, based in Wakefield,...
UK - Deloitte brings in US transaction expert
Deloitte has announced today the joining of Gary Levinson, the former head of the US firm’s Mid West transaction services practice, to its London office.
UK - Bowmark Capital acquires Design Objectives
Bowmark Capital has announced the acquisition of Design Objectives Ltd, the UK’s leading supplier of products to the rapidly growing paper crafts market. Paper crafting is principally the design and decoration of home-made greeting cards, scrapbooks...
UK - NTL deal reportedly off
Market souces report that the £10.6bn bid for NTL by a consortium of private equity groups is no longer going to go ahead.
UK - HMV's Alan Giles to join Fat Face
Fat Face, the clothing group backed by Advent International has recruited Alan Giles as non-executive. Fat Face's sales rose to £81m for the year to May 2005 with an increase of 79% on operating profits to £13.4m.
UK - Kelso Place Asset Management backs Anya Hindmarch
Kelso Place Asset Management has acquired a stake in Anya Hindmarch in a transaction which values the business at approximately £20m. Over the past 12 years the business has successfully grown from its original first floor shop on London’s Walton Street...
UK - 3i targets Countrywide
Listed estate agency chain Countrywide has confirmed that it has received an approach from 3i. Shares in the company have risen by 13% since Thursday, giving the group a market value of £890m.
SWITZERLAND - Precimed Group and Carr Metal Products to unite
Precimed, a technology supplier to the orthopaedic industry, is set to merge with Carr Metal Products, Inc, a sheet metal and thermo-formed plastic tray manufacturer. Precimed is backed by Swiss financial investor BV Group, as well as HBM Bioventures,...
GERMANY - Burda Digital Ventures acquires computeruniverse.net
Burda Digital Ventures GmbH, a subsidiary of Hubert Burda Media, has agreed to acquire computeruniverse.net GmbH, Friedrichshof. The vendors are the company's management and private investor Participia Holding, Hamburg. The acquisition is designed to...
SWEDEN - Private-equity backed Biovitrum goes public
Biopharma company Biovitrum's share will be listed on the O-list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange as of today. The share price has been set at SEK 100, giving the company a market capitalisation of around SEK 4.3bn.
UK - Braveheart announces new appointment to corporate finance team
Braveheart, the venture capital and investment management business, announces today that it has strengthened its corporate finance team with the appointment of Lesley Jardine as technology analyst. Jardine joins from the Scottish Executive and will be...
AUSTRIA - Nordwind and VMS to revive Cosmos
Specialist turnaround investors Nordwind Capital and Value Management Services (VMS) have together acquired 100% of Cosmos. Under the terms of the deal, VMS will place 100% of the shares it holds in Niedermeyer, which also operates in the consumer electronics...
ITALY/US - Texas Pacific Group hires Davide Croff as advisor for Italy
Davide Croff has been hired by Texas Pacific Group (TPG) as a senior advisor for the Italian market.