Western Europe

Private equity and venture capital news from Western Europe

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• Creandum hires ex-Balderton Capital general partner 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Nordic venture and growth capital firm Creandum has brought Johan Brenner, previously a general partner at Balderton Capital, into the fold as a venture partner.

• European PE investment in 2009 down 71 per cent on boom of 2007 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Last year was a period of internal diligence and stewardship for the European private equity and venture capital industry, as investors concentrated on supporting existing portfolio of companies against a backdrop of recession and macro-economic uncertainty.

• PE firms line up for UK greetings card company 10 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Permira, Cinven, Summit Partners and Warburg Pincus are among the private equity firms bidding for UK greeting cards retail chain Card Factory in a deal that could fetch £400m (€438.9m), according to reports.

• Limited partners warn EU over regulation 10 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. An investor association whose members hold over $1tr in private equity assets under management has warned EU regulators that proposed regulatory measures could close Europe off from international private equity and severely limit the prospects of European firms.

• Biopharma company Genticel receives €13.1m to treat cervical cancer 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. French biopharmaceutical company Genticel, formerly known as BT Pharma, has secured €13.1m in funding to develop its immunotherapeutic treatments for cancers caused by the human pipillomavirus (HPV). Investors included IRDI, Amundi Private Equity Funds and InnoBio fund (CDC enterprises), in the round led by AGF Private Equity.

• UK waste management company rejects Carlyle's bid 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Sales talks between US buy-out giant Carlyle and UK private waste treatment company Shanks have broken down after the private equity firm’s 120 pence per share bid was rejected.

• UK state regulator slams performance of government’s SME VC initiative 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. The performance of a flagship scheme by the UK government to make venture investments in small businesses has been slammed by a watchdog. According to the UK Public Accounts Committee, the government’s efforts to stimulate small business development through venture capital investment have performed below expectations, suffering from high management costs and unclear goals.

• PE-backed waste management firm Biffa to sell landfill gas business for £350m 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Private equity-backed waste management group Biffa has put its landfill gas business up for sale at a price of £350m (€387m), according to reports.

• HgCapital discusses £150m UK laundry equipment company purchase 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK private equity firm HgCapital is in exclusive talks to purchase John Laithwaite, a commercial laundry equipment supplier, according to reports. The deal could be worth up to £150m (€165.6m).

• Cath Kidston to sell business to private equity 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK vintage designer Cath Kidston is in talks with US buy-out firm TA Associates to sell a stake in her retail chain, in a deal that values her business at £100m (€110.8m), according to the Guardian.

• Coller Capital in pole position for HBOS portfolio 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. HBOS is lining up the sale of its portfolio of investments, which include Vue cinemas and coffee chain Caffè Nero, with the sale expected to fetch £500m (€555m) – a stark contrast to the portfolio’s peak estimated value of £1.4bn (€1.55bn), according to the Sunday Times.

• Open Sky Technologies Fund lands first close 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Germany’s Triangle Venture Capital Group and the European Space Agency (ESA), a body that sets out to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and promote investment, have held the first close of their €100m-targeting joint fund.

• Gresham bolts on celebrity management firm 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Mid-market firm Gresham Private Equity has grown its share of the UK’s celebrity management sphere with the bolt-on of Michael Kay & Company’s entertainment element, which looks after TV personality Philip Schofield.

• 3i, N.I. Partners partner for care company purchase 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. 3i and N.I. Partners, the private equity division of the NATIXIS group, have agreed to invest in Vedici, the fifth largest acute care company in France.

• Cipio bags 20 times return from €60m eCircle exit 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Growth private equity firm TA Associates has agreed to acquire a majority stake in eCircle, an email marketing service provider, from direct secondaries house Cipio Partners for €60m.

• Finnish pan-European FoF in €97m first close 04 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Pohjola Private Equity Funds, a Finland-based fund of funds investing across Europe, has held the first close of its latest vehicle, Selected Private Equity Funds II, on €97m.

• SVG Capital upbeat as NAV bounces back 04 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. SVG Capital, the UK-based fund of funds, has posted a significant recovery in its net asset value per share for the second half of 2009, following tough times for its investments in buy-out group Permira’s funds.

• Bridgepoint to take Care UK private 04 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK mid-market private equity house Bridgepoint is gearing up to take Care UK, a provider of nursing and elderly home care, private in a deal that values the company at £281m (€309.9m).

• Danish PE industry sees raft of IPOs on the horizon 03 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. The Danish private equity industry is anticipating four to five initial public offerings of portfolio companies in the near future, according to Reuters.

• BVCA welcomes report into private equity’s role in accelerating low-carbon economy 03 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Climate change is a problem private equity must address, according to the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA) as it welcomed a new report published by a collaboration of European investors into how to accelerate investment in a low-carbon economy.

• Fund administrator Augentius appoints managing director for Guernsey 03 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Augentius Fund Administration, a provider of fund administration services to the private equity sector, has appointed Glyn Thomas as managing director of its Guernsey office.

• Barclays PE makes 5.7 times return on £325m skincare company sale 03 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. The private equity arm of UK banking group Barclays has sold skincare system company Deb Group to Charterhouse Capital Partners for £325m (€358.5m). The price tag represents a money multiple of 5.7 times  the mid-market investor’s original investment of £32m (€35.3m).

• HgCapital launches investigation into Goldshield’s profits 03 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. HgCapital is investigating whether Goldshield, a UK pharmaceutical company acquired by the mid-market private equity firm in January, understated its reported profits over a number of years whilst it was a public company.