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Private equity and venture capital news from the United Kingdom

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• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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).

• 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.

• 3i writes off third investment as banks move in on Global Garden Products 02 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. FTSE 100 private equity firm 3i has lost control of three investments in the last few days, with banks forcing a debt-for-equity swap as part of a recent restructuring plan, taking over Global Garden Products (GGP).

• Archimedes Pharma in largest European funding round of its kind for 15 years 02 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Archimedes Pharma, a specialty pharmaceutical company backed by global private equity firm Warburg Pincus, has raised £65m (€71.9m) in growth capital, in what marks the  largest amount of capital raised by a private European biopharma company in the last 15 years.

• Encore Ventures exits ex-3i VC investment ApaTech through sale to Baxter 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Encore Ventures, a division of European venture capital firm DFJ Esprit, is set to make a sizeable return after entering an agreement with Baxter International Inc that will see the New York Stock Exchange-listed healthcare company buy portfolio company ApaTech for $330m.

• 3i sees banks take control of eye surgery chain Ultralase 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. 3i Group has lost control of UK laser eye surgery chain Ultralase as the company has gone into administration and been taken over by its senior lenders, according to reports.

• Speed Check Services clocks up £9m from Lloyds’ PE arm 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, has invested £9m (€9.9m) in growth capital in Speed Check Services, a UK supplier of traffic management solutions.

• UK’s Foresight Group adds investment director 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK-based alternative asset manager Foresight Group has appointed Federico Giannandrea as investment director, where he will be responsible for originating, structuring and executing solar transactions.

• Sovereign Capital backs Euro Environmental Group MBO with £20m 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Sovereign Capital, a UK private equity buy-and-build specialist, has backed the management buy-out of Euro Environmental Group (EEG), a Scottish provider of drain and sewer cleaning, inspection and repair services, with £20m (€22.1m).

• Candover rebounds with 15 per cent net asset value increase 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Troubled UK private equity firm Candover has seen a slight rebound in its asset values since mid-2009. The firm, which was forced to terminate the investment period of its flagship fund in January, said that net assets per share reached £10.38 (€11.41) as of the end of December 2009, an increase of 15.1 per cent on the 902 pence (995 euro cents) recorded at the end of June 2009. The figure is also 1.2 per cent above the firm’s share price as of the end of 2008.

• UK turnaround investor Endless nets 10.5 times return on DavyMarkham sale 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Endless, a turnaround investor in the UK mid-market, has sold its investment in heavy engineering business DavyMarkham to Indian engineering and construction conglomerate IVRCL. While no sale price has been disclosed, Endless made a 10.5 times return on its original investment.

• Apax gears up for Promethean World IPO 01 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Promethean World, a UK-based maker of interactive whiteboards which counts private equity firm Apax Partners as a shareholder, aims to raise £224m (€248.7m) through selling shares in an initial public offering, Reuters reports.

• Terra Firma bolsters EMI board with turnaround specialist Peter Williams 26 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. Terra Firma has appointed turnaround director Peter Williams to the board of struggling portfolio company EMI. The former Selfridges CEO has been appointed as a board director of Maltby Investments, the holding company for EMI Music and EMI Music Publishing.

• HIG sees window of opportunity in Synseal deal 25 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. HIG Europe, a division of US private equity firm HIG Capital, has backed the management buy-out of UK PVC doors and windows manufacturer Synseal Extrusions, putting up £30.5m (€34.5m) for the deal.

• PE deals under threat as UK considers tighter takeover regulations 25 Feb 2010. Source: AltAssets. The UK Takeover Panel may be set to radically alter the rules governing buy-outs in the country. In a move that could have implications for private equity firms looking to buy public companies in the UK, the independent statutory body said that it will be launching a consultation on the regulation of takeovers.