Ireland

Private equity and venture capital news from Ireland

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• Schroder Private Equity Fund of Funds chairman appointed to head PM Group’s board 27 Aug 2009. Source: AltAssets. Kevin Kelly, the chairman of Schroders Private Equity Fund of Funds and private equity firm SVG Investments Dublin, has been hired as chairman of management consultancy PM Group’s board.

• Blackstone walks away from discounted Bank of Scotland Ireland loan book 24 Aug 2009. Source: AltAssets. A major US private equity firm, thought to be Blackstone, has stepped away from a potential deal to buy up Bank of Scotland Ireland’s assets at a significant discount, the Sunday Tribune reports.

• Irish medtech company BiancaMed gets €6m backing 29 Jul 2009. Source: AltAssets. BiancaMed, a Dublin and Belfast-based medical technology company, has received an additional €6m in a second round of funding.

• Zapa Technology gets €2.5m backing from Irish venture firm Delta Partners 03 Jul 2009. Source: AltAssets. Irish venture capital firm Delta Partners has invested €2.5m in Zapa Technology, a new Irish company due to launch customer loyalty technology in Europe using "Near Field Communications" over mobile phones.

• Private equity firms say no to Debenhams cash call and quit board 24 Jun 2009. Source: AltAssets. Private equity groups TPG and CVC Capital Partners have resigned from the board of UK department store chain Debenhams, and refused to take part in a fundraising drive by the retailer, The Independent reports.

• Irish technology companies raise €53.5m in Q1 2009 11 May 2009. Source: AltAssets. Irish technology companies raised €53.5m in venture capital during the first quarter of 2009, up 24 per cent from €43.3m in Q1 2008, according to research released by the Irish Venture Capital Association.

• Family of Irish Senator take 25 per cent stake in private equity firm 13 Mar 2009. Source: AltAssets. The family of Irish politician Senator Feargal Quinn has taken a 25 per cent stake in Claret Capital, the Dublin-based private equity firm, according to The Irish Times. The deal means that Domhnal Slattery, the firm’s founder, will relinquish control over a majority of shares.

• Opsona Therapeutics raises €18m in venture funding 18 Feb 2009. Source: AltAssets. Opsona Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on therapeutic and preventative approaches to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, has completed an €18m Series B financing round which will enable it to expand both at an operational and clinical level. Novartis Venture Fund, Fountain Healthcare Partners, Inventages Venture Capital and Seroba Kernel Life Sciences all participated in the funding.

• Seroba Kernel Life Sciences Fund II holds first close on €75m 10 Feb 2009. Source: AltAssets. Irish venture capital firm Seroba Kernel Life Sciences has held the first closing of its Seroba Kernel Life Sciences Fund II on €75m. This is the seventh fund supported by the Irish government through Enterprise Ireland's €175m Seed and Venture Capital Programme 2007-2012.

• KPS Capital plans to buy Waterford Wedgwood's assets 09 Jan 2009. Source: AltAssets. New York-based special situations private equity firm KPS Capital Partners has signed a letter of intent to purchase some of the assets of Irish crystal and china products producer Waterford Wedgwood, which went into administration earlier this week.

• Irish firm Fountain holds €75m first closing on maiden life science fund 29 Apr 2008. Source: AltAssets. Dublin-headquartered Fountain Healthcare Partners, a spin-out investment team from Elan Corporation's corporate venture capital group, has held a €75m first closing on its inaugural fund, Fountain Healthcare Partners I. The firm initially targeted €40m but later increased the target size of the fund to €100m. It expects a final closing to occur within a year from now.

• UK firm Endless expands activity in Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland 16 Nov 2007. Source: AltAssets. Leeds-headquartered buy-out and turnaround firm Endless has appointed two senior advisers, John Kernohan and Richard Gillan, based in the Belfast area. Initially, they will focus their investment activity on Northern Ireland, but they will also look at opportunities in and around Dublin.

• Irish venture capital firm Delta Partners raises Ireland/UK-focused early stage fund 08 Oct 2007. Source: AltAssets. Irish venture capital firm Delta Partners has held a first closing on its latest fund, Delta Equity Fund III, with commitments of €100m. The fund is the second to be established under the Enterprise Ireland's Seed and Venture Capital Scheme 2007-2012. The fund has a target of €150m.

• FL Partners buys Racing Post for £170m 02 Oct 2007. Source: AltAssets. Dublin-based private equity investment firm FL Partners has purchased horse racing daily newspaper Racing Post from media firm Trinity Mirror for £170m. The purchase includes the newspaper's accompanying website www.racingpost.co.uk and a number of weekly and annual horse racing publications and material for the betting industry.

• Montagu sells Open International to Towergate for £276m 24 Sep 2007. Source: AltAssets. European private equity house Montagu Private Equity has sold Open International, a UK and Ireland broker software house, to European insurance intermediary Towergate for £276m.

• Thomas H. Lee, Bain Capital, Blackstone to sell Houghton Mifflin Company 29 Nov 2006. Source: AltAssets. HM Rivergroup, a newly-formed Irish public limited company, has agreed to acquire US educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Holding Company from Thomas H. Lee Partners, Bain Capital Partners, The Blackstone Group, and management. The purchase price of approximately $3.4bn consists of $1.75bn in cash plus the assumption of approximately $1.61bn in net debt.

• AIG, Credit Suisse and GE Infrastructure to acquire London City Airport 12 Oct 2006. Source: AltAssets. AIG Financial Products, a wholly-owned subsidiary of insurance and financial services provider American International Group, and Global Infrastructure Partners, the infrastructure joint venture between Credit Suisse and GE Infrastructure, have agreed to acquire the company that owns the business known as London City Airport from Irish businessman Dermot Desmond.

• Bank of Ireland, Paul Capital establish Paul Capital Top Tier Investments 21 Jun 2006. Source: AltAssets. Bank of Ireland Group has established a joint venture with US private equity specialist Paul Capital Partners to provide private equity fund of funds products and advisory services to institutional and other investors. The new joint venture will be called Paul Capital Top Tier Investments. It will be based in San Francisco, California.

• UK firm Doughty Hanson to acquire Ireland's TV3 23 May 2006. Source: AltAssets. UK-based private equity firm Doughty Hanson & Co has agreed to acquire 100 per cent of Ireland's commercial television channel TV3 from existing shareholders CanWest, ITV and a consortium of private investors. The transaction values TV3 at €265m. Doughty Hanson will invest €140m of equity.

• Electra Partners Europe sells BWG subsidiary Bargain Booze for £63.5m 16 Jan 2006. Source: AltAssets. European mid-market private equity specialist Electra Partners Europe has sold Bargain Booze, a subsidiary of the Irish and UK wholesale distribution business BWG, to ECI Partners for £63.5m.

• Castle Harlan buys plastic pipe systems supplier Polypipe Group in £293m deal 06 Sep 2005. Source: AltAssets. New York-based private equity investment firm Castle Harlan has acquired the Polypipe Group, a supplier of plastic pipe systems in the UK and Ireland, for £293m from international engineering company IMI.

• Bridgepoint's WT Foods sells Noon Products to Ireland-based Kerry Group 08 Aug 2005. Source: AltAssets. Bridgepoint portfolio company WT Foods has sold its unit Noon Products, a producer of ethnic, chilled ready meals, to quoted global ingredients, flavours and consumer foods business Kerry Group for £124m. Bridgepoint acquired WT Foods Group in a £102m buy-out and stock exchange de-listing in 2001.

• HgCapital invests in Irish wind farm Sorne Wind 02 Aug 2005. Source: AltAssets. European mid-market specialist HgCapital has invested in Sorne Wind - which has developed and is constructing the 32MW Sorne Hill wind farm in County Donegal, Ireland - in the private equity investor's second wind farm investment in less than a year.