Deals
With over USD1trn in US mergers and acquisitions announced last year, the US remains the strongest M&A market.
According to PwC’s 17th Annual CEO Survey, acquisition strategies are ripe for change as CEOs become comfortable with their positioning in the changing deals arena, indicating a continued uptick in deal flow throughout the year.
As a result, more US executives are planning to maintain and pursue new joint ventures and business alliances in 2014 as they seek new ways of collaboration to accelerate growth and to capture innovative and disruptive technologies even faster. As companies continue to seek new ways
Funds managed by HgCapital are to acquire a majority stake holding in the parent company of Zenith Vehicle Contracts Group from Morgan Stanley Global Private Equity (MSPE), subject to regulatory approvals.
The contract hire and leasing company was recently ranked 12th in the FN50’s list of the UK’s top 50 contract hire companies, with a risk fleet of 27,300 vehicles.
Tim Buchan, chief executive officer, says: “We thank MSPE for their contribution and are pleased to welcome HgCapital as our new partner. We look forward to working together on our long term strategy of continued investment in product and
The total number and value of deals in the UK private equity lower mid-market surged in the second half of 2013, according to Lyceum Capital and Cass Business School’s UK Growth Buyout Dashboard.
The research, which analyses private equity control deals in the GBP10m to GBP100m enterprise value range, found that the total value of buyouts reached GBP1.84bn in the final six months of 2013 – the highest since H1 2011 (GBP1.90bn) and the second largest half yearly total since the study began in 2008.
This figure represents a 68 per cent increase on the GBP1.10bn value recorded in
Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe portfolio company Quest Diagnostics is to acquire Solstas Lab Partners Group and its subsidiaries for a total transaction value of approximately USD570m.
Solstas is a full-service commercial laboratory company based in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company operates in nine states throughout the south-eastern US, including the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.
"This acquisition represents an exciting opportunity for Quest and Solstas as well as our patients and customers in the region. Solstas has excellent client relationships and local presence in the Southeast, and we expect to build on the value of these assets with
Tikehau Investment Management has arranged, alongside European Capital, the EUR65m unitranche financing backing the acquisition of Asmodée by Eurazeo Capital.
Created in 1995 by Marc Nunès, Asmodée is an independent publisher and distributor of games and trading card games in Europe with operations in eight countries including the UK, Benelux, the US, and France where it is a key player.
The acquisition was completed in compliance with the terms disclosed on 12 November 2013, following approval from the European competition authorities. On one side, the transaction structure comprises equity, primarily provided by Eurazeo together with Asmodée’s management and founders
Hutton Collins has signed an agreement to invest EUR50m in Italian healthcare IT systems company Dedalus Group.
The investment will be made through a subordinated loan and a minority equity interest.
In addition, co-investors with Hutton Collins have invested EUR15m.
Dedalus Group, which has its head office in Florence, is currently the largest healthcare IT business in Italy, with revenues of around EUR70m and EBITDA of EUR17m. The company does business in 12 countries worldwide and has strengthened its position in recent years, creating an Italian healthcare ICT hub, bringing together over 30 companies in Italy and the
European Capital has received proceeds of EUR45.8m from Gilde Buy Out Partner's sale of Hofmann Menu Manufaktur to Partners Group on behalf of its clients and the existing management team.
The proceeds relate to a mezzanine facility provided to support Gilde's buyout.
In addition, European Capital also co-invested in the equity alongside Gilde and the management team.
European Capital realised a money multiple of 1.8x and IRR of 11.9 per cent not including the return on its equity investment.
Hofmann Menu is a German provider of customised cook and freeze products to small business canteens and
Kareo, a provider of cloud-based medical office software and services for small medical practices, has secured USD29.5m in growth capital.
This latest financing was led by Greenspring Associates and joined by OpenView Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank.
The new capital will be used to invest in sales and marketing to accelerate growth, further enhance the company's cloud-based software platform, and scale its revenue cycle management operations.
"We are thrilled to continue our successful partnership with investors Greenspring Associates and OpenView Ventures and welcome the new investment by Silicon Valley Bank," says Dan Rodrigues, CEO and founder of Kareo.
Mid-market advisory firm Clearwater Corporate Finance has advised on four deals in the first three weeks of the New Year.
This builds on a landmark 2013 for Clearwater, which saw the company complete 27 transactions with a total value of GBP750m – more than a 50 per cent increase on 2012.
The deals closed in 2014 comprise:
· The cross-border sale of UK kitchenware supplier Kitchen Craft (formerly known as Thomas Plant) to New York-listed supplier Lifetime Brands;
· The sale on behalf of ISIS Equity Partners of workplace vending supplier Kafevend, to European water and coffee provider
Venture capital investor Albion Ventures has invested GBP3.1m in partnership with Perth-based developer Green Highland Renewables (GHR) to fund the development of a single 1MW hydropower scheme on the Allt Gharagain, near Achansheen in the Scottish Highlands.
The scheme will benefit from the feed-in-tariff regime and it is expected to generate its first electricity in Q4 2014.
The installation is forecast to generate an average 3.1GWh of electricity per year, enough to power up to 850 households.
This investment is Albion’s tenth investment into renewable energy and the third investment into a hydroelectric scheme.
Christoph Ruedig, investment
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