News
GERMANY - Barclays Private Equity buys into shipping packaging solutions
Barclays Private Equity alongside company management has acquired a majority stake in Pliening-based Ratioform Gruppe. The financial investor bought its stake from Thomas Krieg, who will retain a 19% participatory stake in the company, with the management...
ITALY - Permira set to list Ferretti
Luxury yacht group Ferretti has confirmed that it will be returning to the Milan stock exchange this year. The IPO, which is likely to happen in the autumn, had been widely anticipated ever since it was purchased by private equity fund Permira and subsequently...
IRELAND - Northern Trust sets up in Dublin
Northern Trust has set up a dedicated private equity fund administration team to offer a complete range of services for private equity funds and private equity related fund structures domiciled in Dublin. Northern Trust’s full suite of solutions includes...
ITALY - L Capital buys Piazza Sempione
L Capital, the private equity arm of the group LVMH, has acquired a majority stake in Piazza Sempione, a high-end fashion company, from its founding family. The consideration has not been disclosed.
NETHERLANDS - Private equity to bid for Philips' semiconductor division
Philips Electronics' semiconductor division has attracted interest from three consortia of private equity firms, which reportedly are in the final stages of preparing bids of around $ 10.2bn (EUR 8bn). One group is said to consist of Bain Capital, Francisco...
UK - Cinven appoints new partner
Cinven has announced the appointment of Benoît Valentin as a partner. Previously he was at Goldman Sachs where he worked for 12 years, initially within the investment bank in London and Singapore and later as managing director within the private equity...
UK - Design LED Products receives Braveheart investment
Braveheart has invested £250,000 in Design LED Products, a spin-out company from the Hillington Innovation Centre, Glasgow, with which Braveheart has strong links. This is the first investment from its Alpha EIS Fund.
FRANCE - KKR in exclusive talks for PagesJaunes
According to press reports, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has entered exclusive negotiations with France Telecom for the acquisition of its 54% stake in telephone directory business PagesJaunes, for EUR 3.3bn
UK - Lagan secures £8.3m funding led by Esprit Capital Partners
Lagan, provider of enterprise case management and customer relationship management solutions to governments in the UK and North America, has secured £8.3m investment funding to support the company's next phase of growth. The latest round of funding was...
DENMARK - CVC Capital Partners sells DT Group
CVC Capital Partners has announced the signing of an agreement to sell DT Group (formerly Danske Traelast) to Wolseley. Wolseley has bought the leading distributor of building materials for an equity value of EUR 1,498m.
UK - Panmure Capital recruits Richard Wyatt from Panmure Gordon
Panmure Capital, a joint venture between Bank of Scotland and Panmure Gordon, has been joined by Richard Wyatt who steps down from his role as executive chairman of Panmure Gordon.
UK - Nomad receives £8m boost led by Amadeus
Amadeus has led a series-A financing round of a total commitment of £8m in Nomad Holdings, a UK company that designs, installs and operates high bandwidth connectivity on board trains. German venture firm T-Mobile Venture Fund has participated in the...
UK - Barclays Ventures backs MBO of Lakeview Computers Group
Barclays Ventures has backed the management buyout of Lakeview Computers Group Ltd, a leading player in the development and maintenance of enterprise resource planning software systems. The business, which generates an annual EBITDA of over £2m, was...
UK - MFI retail chain auction enters final stages
This week, MFI Furniture Group Plc will meet with the remaining bidders, including Merchant Equity Partners, Apax and Argyll Partners, in the auction for its retail arm.
UK - BA considering selling Air Miles
British Airways is considering selling loyalty scheme Air Miles for around £25m reports the Times today. The sale of BA's wholly owned subsidiary would generate cash to bolster the airline's troubled pension fund.
SWEDEN - Procuritas buys North Trade
Procuritas Capital Investor III has acquired a majority shareholding in meat products importer North Trade AB. Going forward, North Trade plans to launch new products and expand geographically.
UK - Partnership law reform welcomed by BVCA
Following a sustained campaign by the BVCA’s Legal and Technical Committee, the Minister for Trade, Investment and Foreign Affairs, Ian McCartney, yesterday issued a statement that HM Government will be taking forward the Law Commissions’ proposals...
SPAIN - All eyes on Pullmantur
A number of private equity firms are courting Pullmantur, one of the primary tourist divisions of the group Marsans. The travel operator, specialised in tours, cruises and charter flights is looking for a financial partner willing to buy between 30 and...
UK - Takeover dilemma for McCarthy & Stone
The largest builder of retirement homes in the UK, McCarthy & Stone, recommended a joint offer by Permira and Barclays Capital earlier this week. However, now a rival consortium made up of HBOS, the Reuben brothers and West Coast Capital has indicated...
NORWAY - Norvestor’s Life Europe buys more shares in Life Scandinavia
Norvestor Equity’s Life Europe AB has increased its shareholding in Norwegian health food retailer Life Scandinavia AS to 89%. The seller of the stake is Validius, which will continue to own 11% of the shares. Following the transaction, Norvestor owns...
UK - Hedge fund tries to scupper Fortress/Telent deal
The Financial Times today reports that Fortress Investment Group's proposed take-private of Telent was uncertain due to the tactics of US hedge fund Polygon. The board of the Marconi telecommunications equipment business has already approved the offer...
UK - Bridgepoint's Pets at Home in £288m refinancing
Pets at Home, the UK pet food and product retailer, has secured £288m of new debt facilities following its announcement last week of revenues of £276.9m and EBITDA of £40.7m for the year ended 31 March 2006. Following completion of the refinancing,...
NORWAY - Norvestor's SCAN Geophysical completes NOK 315m private placement
SCAN Geophysical ASA has completed a private placement of approximately NOK 315m. The offering included 24,230,000 new shares with a share price of NOK 13. SCAN will now be listed on the OTC list, and the pricing implies a market capitalisation of the...
ITALY - Aletti acquires majority stake in Lovato
Aletti Private Equity has purchased 70% of Officine Lovato from its founders, via the Dimensione Network fund. According to reports in the Italian press, the transaction is worth around EUR 25m.