Deal News

Private equity and venture capital deal news from around the globe

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• Carlyle to seek $1bn buyer for defence and aviation company Arinc 10 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. US private equity firm Carlyle is seeking buyers for defence and aviation company Arinc in a sale that could fetch $1bn, according to reports.

• Apollo to buy Citigroup’s real estate division 10 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. US private equity firm Apollo Management has agreed to purchase the real estate investment division of financial services giant Citigroup, according to Bloomberg.

• SiBEAM raises $36.5m to take wireless chipset mainstream 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. California-based semiconductor company SiBEAM Inc has closed $36.5m in series D funding led by Foundation Capital. The financing will be used to push its 60 GHz wireless chipsets into the mainstream marketplace while funding future projects and further expansion.

• 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.

• Emerging markets private equity slows in line with global slump 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Fundraising for emerging markets-dedicated private equity funds slowed in 2009, though investment activity was comparatively strong. Emerging markets captured nine per cent of global private equity fundraising and 26 per cent of global private equity investment, with deal activity by transaction volume down by only 11 per cent, according to new research from the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association.

• Law firms launch investigations into Infogroup deal 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. With yesterday’s media reports that CCMP Capital has agreed to buy Infogroup Inc corroborated by an official statement, at least three law firms have stepped up to announce they are investigating the veracity of the deal.

• Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz bailed out by private equity 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz has turned to US private equity firm Colony Capital to help repair her finances, according to reports. Under the terms of the arrangement, Colony is to become Leibovitz’s sole creditor, and will help to market her portfolio of photographs, which include the infamous Rolling Stone magazine cover featuring a naked John Lennon with Yoko Ono, taken hours before his murder.

• PE firms line up for Marsh & McLennan’s Kroll 09 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. A number of major private equity houses have entered first round bids to take control of Kroll, the corporate investigations unit of global insurance broker and consultancy company Marsh & McLennan, for around $1.3bn, the Financial Times reports.

• 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.

• DoubleVerify raises $10m to keep eye on online ads 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. New York City-based online advertising verifier DoubleVerify has closed $10m in series B financing in a round led by Institutional Venture Partners. The financing will be used to fund company expansion in response to increasing demand.

• Aureos Capital invests $10m in Nigerian leasing company 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Emerging markets private equity specialist Aureos Capital has invested $10m in Nigerian leasing company C&I Leasing, taking the firm’s total investment in the African country to $40m.

• 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.

• ABRY to take broadband business RCN private in $1.2bn deal 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Internet and cable TV company RCN Corporation will be acquired by ABRY Partners, a Boston-based media-focused private equity firm, having agreed to a $1.2bn buy-out.

• CCMP Capital to buy Infogroup for $460m 08 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. New York private equity firm CCMP Capital has agreed to buy Infogroup Inc, a data and marketing services business, for approximately $460m, according to the Wall Street Journal.

• 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.

• 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.

• LA's SouthWest Water going private 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Los Angeles-based water utility SouthWest Water Company has agreed to be taken private by JP Morgan Asset Management and Water Asset Management for $275m cash.

• TransMedics raises $36m for organ transplant system 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. TransMedics Inc, a medical device company focusing on delivering a solution for organ transplantation, has closed a $36m financing round led by Foundation Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB).

• Denham Capital to sell US coal producer to Essar Group 05 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Energy-focused private equity firm Denham Capital is to sell US coal producer Trinity Coal to Indian conglomerate Essar Group. In a deal valued at $600m, Essar plans to use the coal to service its steel plant and iron ore operations in North America.

• 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.

• Biotech company Vaxart raises $12.5m to treat bird flu 04 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. San Francisco-based biotech company Vaxart Inc has finalised $12.5m of series B financing, led by Care Capital of Princeton, New Jersey. The funding will be put to work in advancing the company’s lead product, an oral vaccine for avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, into Phase I clinical trials.