A private equity fund managed by Blackstone on behalf of its private equity investors has acquired a controlling interest in two Maldives-based seaplane operators – Maldivian Air Taxi (MAT) and Trans Maldivian Airways (TMA). Following the transaction, Lars Erik Nielsen (founder of MAT), Lars Petré and Hussain Afeef (majority shareholders

Bain Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of Apex Tool Group, a tools manufacturer. The purchase from Danaher Corporation and Eaton was valued at approximately USD1.6bn. Apex Tool is one of the largest global producers of industrial hand and power tools, tool storage, drill chucks, chain, and electronic soldering products

Chase Templeton Group, one of the UK’s largest private medical insurance (PMI) specialist intermediaries, has secured investment from Palatine Private Equity. Chase Templeton was founded in 2002 by Kevin Amphlett and is the major consolidator in the PMI broker sector having undertaken 10 acquisitions over the past few years. The

The media:tech sector team at Livingstone Partners has sold Taste Festivals to IMG Arts and Entertainment, part of IMG Worldwide, the sport, entertainment and media company. Livingstone advised Taste Festivals’ parent company, Brand Events, and its investor Ingenious Media Active Capital on the transaction. Taste of London and the company’s

Oakley Capital Private Equity has sold Emesa Group, an online consumer auction platform in the European leisure industry, to Cyrte Investments for a gross consideration of EUR95m.  Oakley Capital Private Equity originally acquired Emesa Group in March 2011 for consideration of EUR35m. The transaction represents a 3.6x gross return for

A resurgence of investor confidence in public markets in the closing months of 2012 has left private equity funds facing an increasingly competitive environment for deals, according to research released by BDO’s corporate finance team. With private equity already facing a dearth of quality deals, public company valuations have risen

Two of Kirtland Capital Partners’ portfolio companies have completed strategic add-on acquisitions. Precision Dialogue, based in Chicago, acquired Hub Marketing Solutions, while SmartSource Computer & Audio Visual Rentals, headquartered in Long Island, NY, acquired CRE Computer Rentals & AV Solutions. Precision Dialogue is an analytics-driven customer engagement firm that improves

US retail and consumer merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in 2012 was primarily driven by corporations spinning off businesses, private equity investment in retail, increased cross border activity and expansion into e-commerce, according to PwC’s US retail and consumer M&A insights 2012 Year in Review and 2013 Outlook report. The

The Thames Valley and South Coast corporate finance team of James Cowper has secured the sale of Reading-based Aggregated Telecom for an undisclosed sum. Acting on behalf of the company’s owner, James Cowper sold 8el to Selection Services, backed by Palatine Private Equity. Founded in 2001 by Justin Hamilton-Martin, Aggregated