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Private equity and venture capital news from Germany

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• Blackstone bolsters German team to take advantage of opportunities 10 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Blackstone, the private equity industry’s biggest player, has brought Dr Axel Herberg into its European operations as a senior managing director to head its operations in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, as it sees opportunities in the region.

• Guy Hands predicts slow year for buy-outs 10 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. 2010 could be a much worse year for private equity than predicted, according to Guy Hands. Speaking at the Super Return conference in Berlin, the Terra Firma founder  said that buy-out activity could be more sluggish than anticipated, and that “populist” moves to regulate the sector would constrain recovery for the asset class and the global economy.

• Montagu lines up €2bn BSN Medical IPO 08 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. European mid-market firm Montagu Private Equity is eyeing an initial public offering for German bandages maker BSN Medical that values the company as high as €2bn, according to the Financial Times.

• Deutsche Bank sets up $300m German SME fund 03 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Deutsche Bank has set up a fund to provide equity capital to small businesses in Germany. Mittelstandfonds für Deutschland will provide a means for small- and medium-sized companies to obtain equity capital at favourable conditions in the form of participatory rights.

• Oaktree aims to sell packaging company Nordenia 29 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. Oaktree Capital Management is looking to sell portfolio company Nordenia International, a German plastics company that manufactures flexible packaging. The firm, which is hoping to sell for around €600m, has hired Goldman Sachs to manage the sale and is seeking binding bids in mid-February, according to Reuters.

• Former Lehman PE fund Trilantic looks to take glasses maker Rodenstock 29 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. Former Lehman Brothers private equity fund Trilantic Capital Partners has offered to buy out German glasses maker Rodenstock, which is currently owned by UK private equity firm Bridgepoint, according to the Financial Times.

• GI Partners backs launch of German distressed mortgage investor 27 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. Transatlantic private equity firm GI Partners has backed the launch of Elystan Capital Partners, a Munich investment firm targeting distressed German mortgage assets. GI will provide investment capital from its recently closed GI Partners III fund, with a company spokesman saying that it was prepared to back Elystan with up to €100m.

• Private equity firms line up banks for €5bn Kabel deal 27 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. Private equity firms including CVC Capital Partners and Carlyle are reportedly lining up banks to raise financing for a €5bn bid for Kabel Deutschland, Germany’s largest cable operator. According to the Financial Times, a successful Kabel bid could be the largest leveraged buy-out for two years. Advent, BC Partners and Apollo have also been mooted in the media as considering offers.

• BMG-KKR venture has 38 potential deals in the pipeline 22 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. German media group Bertelsmann and private equity firm KKR’s music venture, BMG Rights Management, is looking at a number of deals backed by bank credit of up to €600m, according to reports.

• EQT director found dead in Munich 18 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. A director of private equity firm EQT Partners has been murdered, according to reports. The body of Dirk von Poschinger-Camphausen, who worked at Morgan Stanley before joining EQT last year, was reportedly found in a delivery van in a suburb of Munich over the weekend.

• German PE firm Finatem raises €120m towards €150m target 15 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. German lower mid-market buy-out firm Finatem is on its way to raising €150m for its latest fund, Finatem III, having collected €120m for its first close.

• SHS and KfW invest in German breathing therapy company 13 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. German growth investor SHS Gesellschaft für Beteiligungsmanagement and the KfW banking group have acquired a majority stake in TNI Medical, a German manufacturer of diagnostic and therapeutic equipment for breathing therapy. KfW investested through its ERP Start Fund, which provides growth capital to young, technology-based firms.

• Permira to sell off remaining Freenet shares 13 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK private equity firm Permira is to exit its remaining 10.1 per cent stake in German mobile telecoms company Freenet, according to Reuters. Permira is planning to sell 12.9 million Freenet shares, held through its Dutch investment vehicle Telco Holding, which is expected to raise around €119m.

• PE firms line up for Siemens hearing aid unit sale 05 Jan 2010. Source: AltAssets. German engineering conglomerate Siemens has shortlisted five private equity firms as potential buyers of its hearing aid unit, potentially worth over €2bn, according to Reuters.

• EQT Partners, GIC close Springer Science+Business Media deal 11 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Private equity firms EQT Partners and GIC Special Investments, an arm of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, have acquired Springer Science+Business Media after months of bidding by rival parties.

• Oakley Capital picks up 51 per cent stake in online price comparison business Verivox 08 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. AIM-listed Oakley Capital Investments has acquired a 51 per cent stake in Verivox Holdings, a European online consumer price comparison businesses for energy and telecom services.

• Private equity firm EQT to make low bid for Springer 07 Dec 2009. Source: AltAssets. Private equity firm EQT may offer less than €300m for Springer Science and Business Media, a publishing company owned by private equity firms Candover and Cinven, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

• Palamon puts growth capital with German health clinic operator Polikum 30 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Palamon Capital Partners, a European mid-market private equity firm, has agreed to provide an undisclosed growth capital investment in Polikum, a German health clinic operator.

• Beck’s sale to Bain Capital called off 30 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Busch InBev has ended plans to sell German beer brand Beck’s to US buy-out firm Bain Capital for €1.7bn ($2.5 bn), according to reports.

• Solar cell developer Heliatek shines on with $27m in venture capital funding 27 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. German solar cell developer Heliatek has received $27m in a second round of financing led by pan-European venture capital firm Wellington Partners.

• Nordic PE firm EQT in bid for pharma giant Ratiopharm 26 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Nordic private equity firm EQT has teamed up with the former chairman of generic German drug company Ratiopharm, Claudio Albrecht, to bid for the company in an auction that could value it at €2bn, according to the Financial Times.

• BC Partners’ Brenntag Holding to renegotiate debt ahead of IPO 24 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. Brenntag Holding, a German chemicals company owned by London private equity firm BC Partners, is in talks to renegotiate its €2.4bn of debt as it prepares an initial public offering, according to reports.

• Informa in talks with PE-backed rival Springer 24 Nov 2009. Source: AltAssets. UK-based media and conference firm Informa has held talks with private equity owned rival Springer Science and Business Media over buying the academic publisher, according to the Financial Times.