Private equity buy-out news from around the globe

Private equity buy-out news from around the globe

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• Cinven picks up diagnostics company Sebia from Montagu 16 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. European firm Montagu Private Equity has sold Sebia, a French healthcare diagnostics company, to London-headquartered buy-out firm Cinven.

• KKR files for $2.2bn NYSE listing 16 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. New York private equity firm KKR is to list in its home town. Almost three years after its last attempt, the firm has finally filed plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

• KKR percolates $219m India coffee deal 16 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. New York private equity firm KKR is to lead a consortium to invest in one of India’s most popular coffee chains, according to Reuters.

• Apax closes Promethean World IPO 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Apax Partners is the first private equity firm to successfully float an investment in the UK this year, having sold interactive whiteboard company Promethean World.

• Apax exits Tommy Hilfiger for $3bn 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. UK private equity firm Apax Partners has sold US fashion house Tommy Hilfiger to Phillips-Van Heusen for €2.2bn ($3bn). The sale includes €1.92bn in cash and €276m in Phillips-Van Heusen common stock, with the fashion corporation also assuming €100m of Tommy Hilfiger's liabilities.

• PE firms go through to next round of HobbyCraft auction 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Private equity firms are leading the way in the race to acquire UK arts and crafts retailer HobbyCraft, according to reports. UK car parts and bicycle seller Halfords Group had been looking at the company but did not end up submitting a first round bid for the company, leaving private equity to dominate the shortlist of bidders.

• AIFM could decimate venture and growth funds, EVCA says 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Proposed EU regulations on the private equity industry could devastate venture and growth capital firms, according to industry body the European Venture Capital Association.

• Citadel invests $183m in Egypt river ports 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital has invested EGP1bn ($183m) is three Nile River ports and plans to invest in two more in the country, according to reports.

• OpenGate Capital picks up French Connection’s Nicole Farhi label 15 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. US private equity firm OpenGate Capital has acquired the Nicole Farhi clothing brand owned by French Connection, as the fashion house moves to close its US stores and restructure.

• HgCapital launches £50m share placing to fund investments 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. HgCapital Trust, the listed investor of HgCapital funds, has announced the launch of a £50m (€55m) share placement to raise money for investments. The firm placed the shares at 845 pence (€9.3m) per share.

• TPG sells Asian healthcare stake for $685m 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. US buy-out firm TPG has sold its 23.9 per cent stake in Asian healthcare service provider Parkway Holdings to Indian company Fortis Healthcare for $685m. The sum reportedly represents a three times return on the firm’s initial investment in the Singapore-listed company.

• Advent plans to put Poundland up for sale 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Private equity house Advent International has hired advisers to prepare a potential sale of Poundland to a rival buy-out firm or to a competitor discount retail chain, according to the Financial Times.

• Brown, Sarkozy to discuss EU private equity regulation 12 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy will try to map out a deal over EU fund regulation reforms, with the UK Prime Minister hoping for a compromise on measures which have been branded protectionist, according to the Financial Times.

• Primary wins auction for HSBC's Amtech Group 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. HSBC Private Equity has sold portfolio company Amtech Group to mid-market investor Primary. The £35m (€38.5m) sale takes the form of a management buy-out, with £15m (€16.5m) in senior debt finance provided by Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets Acquisition Finance.

• EMI chief executive to leave 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Elio Leoni-Sceti, chief executive of troubled record label EMI, is to step down at the end of this month. The turnaround specialist was brought in to head the company in July 2008 by private equity owner Terra Firma, and will be replaced by current non-executive chairman Charles Allen.

• Goldman Sachs China chairman quits to launch PE fund 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. One of Goldman Sachs’ most senior dealmakers is stepping down to launch a multi-billion dollar China-focused private equity fund, according to Reuters. Fred Hu, a 13-year veteran of the Wall Street Bank, is to retire as partner next month, but will stay on with the firm in an advisory capacity.

• Long-term European private equity performance remains robust 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Short-term horizons for private equity and venture capital performance have registered a slight improvement, while long-term returns enjoyed by investors remain robust, according to data for 2009 compiled by Thomson Reuters in association with EVCA.

• Ten years to invest buy-out houses’ $500bn 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Buy-out firms may have to wait up to ten years to invest the $500bn in investor commitments they are sitting on if deals continue at the current rate, according to Bloomberg.

• Bain Capital’s Sensata in $569m IPO 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. Sensata Technologies Inc, a maker of sensor and controls technology used by high-profile companies such as Ford and Samsung, has raised $568.8m from its initial public offering, with shares to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow.

• 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.

• US Treasury Secretary Geithner blasts EU regulation 11 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has warned the European Commission that plans to regulate the private equity and hedge fund industries could put up barriers between the continent and the US, according to the Financial Times.

• 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.

• Citadel Capital appoints CEO for financial platform company 10 Mar 2010. Source: AltAssets. North African private equity firm Citadel Capital has appointed City of London investor Amr Seif as CEO of Finance Unlimited, its regional financial services platform investment.