UK unquote
Cinven buys Guardian from Aegon
Cinven has acquired UK life and pensions provider Guardian Financial Services from Aegon for £275m.
Bridgepoint exits Protocol Education
Bridgepoint has sold Protocol Education, part of its portfolio company Protocol Associates, to Graphite Capital.
ECI buys Wireless Logic for £38m
UK mid-market investor ECI Partners has backed the management buyout of Wireless Logic from Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Peter Jones for £38m.
State Street adds new head of UK, Middle East and Africa
State Street has appointed Susan Raynes as head of its UK, Middle East and Africa institutional business.
LDC invests £12m in WRG
LDC has invested £12m in Salford-based live events and marketing agency WRG.
UK activity surges in July after slow start
Following a rather lacklustre start to 2011, the UK has seen a sudden spike in private equity investment activity this summer, and professionals will be hopeful this can continue through the rest of the year.
Vitruvian's Tinopolis acquires Base Productions
Vitruvian Partners-backed Tinopolis has acquired US-based TV production company Base Productions for a reported $65m.
A third of deals in doubt from September
Recent changes to the Takeover Code would have impacted 32% of UK deals since 2005. But if properly considered, P2Ps will still be do-able. Kimberly Romaine reports.
CapVest's Valeo acquires Jacob Fruitfield
CapVest-backed Valeo Foods has acquired Jacob Fruitfield Food Group in a deal valued between €60-70m.
Business Growth Fund adds execs to board
Four chief executives have been appointed as non-executive board members of the Business Growth Fund (BGF).
Cinven in talks for Guardian Life Insurance
Cinven is set to buy Aegon’s Guardian Life Insurance in a £250m deal.
Fidelity Growth Partners appoints Hebel as partner
Davor Hebel has become a partner at Fidelity Growth Partners Europe in the firm’s London office.
SL Capital Partners hires new investment director
Thomas Chevalier has joined SL Capital Partners’ team in Edinburgh as an investment director.
YFM backs Bagel Nash MBI
YFM Equity Partners has backed the management buy-in of UK-based bakery and retail business Bagel Nash.
Imperial leads £40m investment in Nexeon
Imperial Innovations Group plc has led a £40m series-C round for battery materials and licensing company Nexeon.
Sovereign acquires CHS for City & Country
Sovereign Capital has acquired Community and Homecare Services (CHS) as an add-on for City & County Healthcare Group.
OCAS, Octopus and IP Group inject £3.6m in ASL
OCAS Ventures, Octopus Ventures and IP Group have invested £3.6m in renewable energy technology business Applied Superconductor Ltd (ASL).
Sud Investments leads financing in PneumaCare
Sud Investments has led a £2m round of funding for PneumaCare Ltd, together with a group of existing investors including Cambridge Enterprise, Cambridge Capital Group, Plextek Ltd and members of the Cambridge Angels group.
GMT acquires MeetingZone for £38.5m
GMT Communications Partners has teamed up with management to acquire UK-based conference and collaboration service provider MeetingZone for a total consideration of £38.5m.
Industry fears confirmed as BGF outbids NVM
The Business Growth Fund’s outbidding of private investor NVM appears to justify market concern that the vehicle constitutes unfair competition to smaller PE houses.
PE firms linked to sale of Glaxo non-core brands
A number of private equity groups are thought to be interested in acquiring a product portfolio being sold by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
Notion and Eden back NewVoiceMedia with £2.5m
Notion Capital and Eden Ventures have injected £2.5m into UK call centre technology vendor NewVoiceMedia as part of a second round of funding.
Private equity considering takeover of Bintons Carpets
UK-based Bintons Carpets is reportedly in talks with an unnamed private equity firm over a potential sale.
Infinity invests in BLS
Manchester-based private equity firm Infinity has invested in property developer and manager Bravo Life Style (BLS) for £37m.