News
UK - LDC backs St Tropez
St Tropez, the self tanning brand, has received funding from LDC in order to capitalise on the huge global demand for self tanning products.
GERMANY - Maybach family to return as co-owner of MTU
The EQT IV Fund has invited the Maybach family to reinvest in MTU Friedrichshafen, which was founded by Karl and Wilhelm Maybach in 1909. No financial details of the transaction have been disclosed. EQT has also announced that it has appointed four industrial...
GERMANY - KPMG advises ECM on Sport Group divestiture
KPMG has advised ECM Equity Capital Management on the sale of Sport Group to Industri Kapital. Headquartered in Germany, Sport Group has over 550 employees. The group has three main product groups: artificial turf, tracks and playgrounds. In 2005, it...
GERMANY - White & Case expands private equity and tax team
Law firm White & Case LLP has expanded its Düsseldorf offices with the appointments of Hans-Jörg Wittmann and Christoph Kuzaj. Both lawyers are joining the firm following more than three years with Simmons & Simmons.
UK - Simon Jobson joins Close Brothers Growth Capital as investment executive
Close Brothers Growth Capital, the provider of combined equity and debt funding, has announced the appointment of Simon Jobson as investment executive.
GERMANY / UK - Wellington Partners back Zopa in further round
Wellington Partners has provided $15m to UK-based Zopa Ltd in a second round of financing. The group was initially part of a first round financial consortium including Benchmark Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners.
FINLAND - VC-backed Inion receives US patent grant
Inion, a Finnish company focused on medical implants, has announced the granting of a US patent covering the combination of Inion Optima™ biodegradable polymers with bone morphogenetic proteins and pyrollidones.
GERMANY - Blackstone Group to slim down German presence
According to a report in Financial Times Deutschland on Friday, the Blackstone Group is planning to reduce its presence on the ground in Germany. Future transactions will be led out of the company's London offices, says the report.
ITALY - €375m MBO of Seves Group
Ergon Capital Partners, Vestar Capital Partners and Athena Private Equity have signed a definitive agreement to acquire Florence-based Seves Group, the global leader in glass insulators for power transmission and glass bricks for interior design. The...
NETHERLANDS - Van den Ende & Deitmers buys eyeworks
Van den Ende & Deitmers Crossmedia Fund has taken a 30% interest in television producer Eyeworks. The management retains the rest of the shares.
SWEDEN - 21 Grams raises SEK 20m from InnovationsKapital
21 Grams, a provider of postal management services, has announced that it has raised a SEK 20m round of financing from InnovationsKapital.
NORWAY - Norvestor's Panorama buys Gullegget and Juvelen
Panorama has acquired jewellery retail chains Gullegget and Juvelen for an undisclosed sum. The transaction will increase Panorama's sales by around NOK 50m.
UK - Hermes acquires Mayfair Gaming
Hermes Private Equity has acquired Mayfair Gaming, a bingo operator with eight clubs across the UK, from Risk Capital Partners.
UK - Workplace health and safety innovator wins investment from The Capital Fund
Optima Diagnostics, the fast-growing supplier of user-friendly web-based health and safety management tools, has attracted £275,000 of funding, in a round led by The Capital Fund, a £50m venture capital fund that invests in fast-growth companies in...
FRANCE - Wendel looks beyond France
As Wendel Investissement finalises its flotation of Legrand, which it acquired for EUR 3.63bn from Schneider in December 2002, it has announced its move to acquire companies outside France. It currently has some EUR 1.03bn in equity to dedicate to potential...
UK - Buyout consortium walks away from ITV
The private equity consortium courting ITV has given up interest in a potential takeover after a renewed offer was unanimously rejected by the company's board.
UK - Kleinwort Capital Trust Plc announces £15m commitment to Parallel Ventures
August Equity Ltd, the manager of KCT, has announced a commitment of £15m by KCT to the Parallel Ventures Ltd Partnership managed by Parallel Private Equity Ltd.
BELGIUM - E-Capital launches E-Capital II
E-Capital has announced the launch of its second fund, E-Capital II, dedicated to the small- and mid-size buyout market.
BELGIUM- KBC acquires IPCOS
KBC Private Equity has acquired a 60% stake in Leuven-based technology company IPCOS, active in the development and worldwide sale of automated process control solutions for the chemical, glass and oil industries.
UK - CVC-backed Formula One makes simultaneous acquisitions
CVC Capital Partners Group and Formula One Administration are pleased to announce that subsidiaries of Alpha Topco Ltd, the holding company for the Formula One Group, have reached agreement to acquire simultaneously Allsport Management S.A., and the business...
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.