Deals
BlackFin, a private equity firm dedicated to financial services SMEs, has acquired the insurance comparison website HyperAssur.
BlackFin plans to group its financial aggregators in France – www.MisterAssur.com, www.DevisMutuelle.com, www.Mutuelle-Conseil.com, www.KelAssur.com, and www.Kredity.com – under the new brand Comparadise. Each aggregator will retain its own brand, website and positioning.
Hyperassur is a major player of the insurance online comparison market, thanks to its broad panel of insurers, mutual insurance companies and brokers. HyperAssur offers internet users a large range of insurance policies such ascar, motorbike, health, home and life.
The acquisition of Hyperassur allows Comparadise to strengthen its position
ECI Partners, the UK growth-focused mid-market private equity firm, has acquired a minority stake in Harvard Engineering, which designs and develops control products for the lighting industry.
The details of the transaction are not being disclosed.
The investment will allow Harvard to further build on its strategic growth plans, which includes increasing employee numbers from 300 to 500, enhancing the company’s range of products and building a new R&D and manufacturing facility.
The company’s product range includes LeafNut, the wireless control and monitoring system for street lighting, and the CoolLED range of switchable drivers for LED lighting. More
KKR is to acquire The Brickman Group for USD1.6bn from Leonard Green & Partners and other shareholders.
Founded in 1939, Brickman is a provider of landscape maintenance and snow removal services in the US. With nearly 10,000 employees nationwide, Brickman serves a diversified base of over 10,000 clients.
Andrew Kerin, chief executive officer of Brickman, says: “We are very pleased to partner with KKR, a leading investment firm with extensive experience in service businesses and an outstanding track record. With our partner, we are well positioned to accelerate our growth, further enhance the quality of services we provide to
UK mid-market private equity specialist Graphite Capital has sold Park Holidays UK, Britain's fourth largest operator of static caravan parks, to Caledonia Investments, a UK investment trust company, for GBP172m.
The sale brings the total value of disposals made by Graphite since October 2012 to over GBP1bn. Graphite has sold seven companies over this period realising GBP579.3m of equity proceeds from an initial cost of GBP202.3m and generating a total return of 2.9x cost.
Park Holidays UK owns 21 freehold and two leasehold caravan parks with nearly 9,000 pitches in southern England. The group sells caravans to owners and
CCS Healthcare has entered into an agreement with Merck Sharp & Dohme (Sweden) to acquire the pharmaceutical skin care product and trademark Propyless.
Propyless is a lotion, based on active substance propylene glycol, used for dry skin, atopic dermatitis and psoriasis. Introduced in the late 1980s it is a well-known registered trademark in the Swedish market.
“Propyless is a leading product in its niche on the Swedish market and fits well with our targeted growth strategy. It complements well our current pharmaceutical and skin care offering,” says Jonas Nilsson, CEO of CCS Healthcare.
With sales of approximately SEK500m
The Honest Company has secured USD25m in a financing round led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) and joined by ICONIQ Capital, with participation from existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst Partners.
The new round of funding adds to USD27m raised previously and will accelerate growth initiatives including international expansion, new product development and innovation, enhanced distribution capabilities, and greater accessibility to the brand.
“The overwhelmingly positive response to both our recent launch in Canada and the availability of Honest products from our retail partners is a testament to the vast unmet global need for safe everyday family
Grifols is expanding its portfolio by acquiring Novartis' diagnostic products for transfusion medicine and immunology in a deal worth USD1.675bn.
The deal, which will be structured through Grifols' diagnostic division and a newly created 100 per cent Grifols-owned subsidiary, includes Novartis’ NAT technology (Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques), instrumentation and equipment for blood screening, specific software and reagents.
The assets acquired include patents, brands, licenses and royalties, together with the production plant at Emeryville (California, US) and commercial offices in US, Switzerland and Hong Kong (for the Asia-Pacific region) among others.
Grifols estimates pro-forma total annual revenues to approach
Equistone Partners Europe has completed the sale of Yorkshire-based glass container manufacturer Allied Glass, which sees CBPE Capital reacquire a former portfolio business.
Equistone’s Fund III supported the management team when it acquired a majority share in 2010 as part of a GBP75m management buyout.
The company, which employs over 660 people across two factory sites in Leeds and Knottingley, is the UK’s fourth largest glass bottle manufacturer by volume and a leader in specialist bottle serving the high-end global spirits industry. Allied specialises in the production of complex bottles and supplies containers to world-leading brands including Johnny Walker,
Paul Hastings advised Astorg Partners in connection with the sale of OGF, a French funeral services company, to funds managed by Pamplona Capital Management, an investment company.
This transaction was the second-largest LBO acquisition in France in 2013.
Astorg Partners is an independent French capital investment firm that manages EUR2bn and invests in manufacturing or service companies, very often family-owned, with high growth potential.
Astorg Partners was also advised by Ashurst and Cravath Swaine & Moore on financing issues.
Pamplona was represented by the Paris and London Offices of Allen & Overy, and the management of OGF, which
Alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group has completed the acquisition of the Red Oak power generation facility located in Sayreville, New Jersey.
The acquisition was executed in conjunction with Cogentrix Energy Power Management, which was acquired by Carlyle funds in late 2012, and brings the total number of power generating facilities acquired since then to 11 with an aggregate enterprise value of more than USD1.2bn. Financial terms were not released.
Robert Mancini, Carlyle managing director and chairman of the board of Cogentrix, says: “This acquisition is a great opportunity to create value for our fund investors by taking advantage
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