News
UK - Successful exit for Bridges
Bridges Community Ventures has announced the sale of SimplySwitch, a price comparison service for household utilities and financial services, to The Daily Mail and General Trust plc. The transaction was valued at £22m and will be the second successful...
UK – Phasor Solutions Ltd raises £1m in first round of funding
Katalyst Ventures, the private investor group, has made a significant investment into Phasor Solutions Ltd, a developer of flat panel antenna systems, enabling the company to raise £1m for its initial funding round.
UK - Partial exit for NBGI Private Equity
Following a year of strong performance, Hamworthy Heating Ltd has been able to repay its full loan stock to its principal shareholders, NBGI Private Equity, enabled by new debt facilities provided by HSBC Leveraged Finance. The NBGIPE Fund will now reclaim...
ITALY - Cdb Web Tech sells its entire venture capital interest to Pantheon
Italian investment company Cdb Web Tech has signed an agreement to sell its entire interest in venture capital funds. The company will sell its holdings in 90 of the 98 venture capital funds in which it has invested to the London-based Pantheon Ventures...
FRANCE - Turenne leads Aston Medical France restructuring
Turenne Capital has led the financial restructuring of orthopedic implants manufacturer, Aston Medical France. The private equity firm contributed EUR 3.5m alongside Sofimac Partners, which committed EUR 1m.
FRANCE - Alven invests EUR 1.5m in travel agency
Alven Capital has injected EUR 1.5m as the sole investor in Travel Selection’s first round of financing. Following the transaction, management retains a majority stake.
NL- Bencis acquires childcare provider Catalpa
Bencis Capital Partners has acquired a substantial equity interest in Catalpa, the market leader in childcare in the Netherlands.
FINLAND - Sentica buys Elematic Group from Consolis
Finnish Elematic Oy Ab has been acquired in a deal led by Sentica Partners and including Finnish Industry Investment, Etera Mutual Pension Insurance Company and the management of Elematic Group. Elematic is a technology provider to precast concrete producers...
FINLAND - Conor Venture leads $2.5m round in Helmi Technologies
Oulu-headquartered Helmi Technologies, a provider of an Ajax-based development platform for building browser-independent rich internet applications, has secured $2.5m in a round led by Conor Venture Partners. The other investors included Finnish Industry...
FRANCE - SGAM and Galileo invest EUR 4m in internet shoe retailer
Société Générale Asset Management (SGAM) and Galileo Partners have injected EUR 4m in e-commerce shoe retailer Sarenza.
UK/NL - Unilever to sell frozen food unit to Permira
Anglo-Dutch consumer products group Unilever has announced that it has signed an agreement to sell the majority of its frozen foods business to Permira for EUR 1.725bn. The transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, is expected to...
SPAIN - 3i acquires shareholding in Sten
3i has agreed to buy a 30% stake in Sistemas Técnicos de Encofrados (STEN) from its founders and majority shareholders. The company develops formwork systems and solutions for construction projects and civil engineering work. The consideration has not...
FRANCE - Bourgogne Angels creates regional private equity firm
According to press reports, the Bourgogne region's business angels network has decided to setup a venture capital investment firm, with a total equity value of EUR 250,000.
UK/ NL - JP Morgan bids for Unilever frozen foods
Following reports by the Financial Times that interest in the frozen food division of Unilever is lacklustre, reports from Reuters now suggests that JP Morgan may have made a bid for the asset.
GERMANY - BC Partners pulls out of Bertelsmann-BMG auction
BC Partners has withdrawn its offer for Bertelsmann's BMG Music Publishing just before the deadline for the auction on 31 August. Bertelsmann is selling the group in order to pay off debt with the proceeds.
ITALY - MPS Venture exits Moby and buys into Savino Del Bene
The asset management firm MPS Venture has sold its 3.47% stake in logistics player Moby in a deal worth EUR 6.4m to the Onorato family, which now wholly owns the company.
NETHERLANDS - Apollo acquires TNT logistics division
Express delivery company TNT has signed an agreement to sell its logistics division to Apollo Management. The total value of the transaction is EUR 1.48m on a cash and debt free basis, of which EUR 15m will be received in the form of a 5% equity stake...
SPAIN - Fund Marco Polo ceases its activities
The closed-end fund Marco Polo will end its activities in September. Companies such as El Corte Ingle, Indra and Union Fenosa, as well as banks Caja Madrid and Bancaja invested over EUR 100m in 2000. The fund was created right at the start of the internet...
SWEDEN - Replisaurus raises $14.4m
Replisaurus Technologies has raised $14.4m in a first round funding led by Wellington Partners and Northzone Ventures. The new investors were joined by seed investors KTH Seed Capital, FBBB (ForetagsByggarna) and Aumar - The Sixth AP Fund (AP6).
SWEDEN - SLS Venture sells Carlsson Research in deal worth up to SEK 875m
Swedish Carlsson Research AB, a portfolio company of Scandinavian Life Science Venture (SLS), has been acquired by publicly-listed NeuroSearch A/S. The deal, which will close on condition that NeuroSearch completes a new rights issue, is worth up to SEK...
UK - Birds Eye auction not as well attended as hoped
Sources report that only a small number of private equity firms have submitted bids to the Goldman Sach's run auction for Unilever's Birds Eye brand.
UK - Barclays Ventures backs £26m MBO of KIG Holdings Ltd
Barclays Ventures has backed a £26m management buy out of KIG Holdings Ltd, a leading supplier of secondary steelwork branded products, primarily providing safe access solutions, structural fittings and steelwork fixings.
ITALY - 21 Investimenti buys stake in B-Pack Due
Treviso-based private equity firm 21 Investimenti has acquired a share in the capital of B-Pack Due, a company producing packaging material for the food, textile and medical sectors, for an undisclosed sum.
NETHERLANDS - VNU appoints David Calhoun as chairman of executive board and CEO
VNU has announced that David L. Calhoun, vice chairman of General Electric Company, has been named chairman of the executive board and chief executive officer of VNU by the company’s supervisory board. Calhoun succeeds Rob Ruijter, who has served as...