Mid-market private equity firm GI Partners has sold its portfolio company, Plum Healthcare Group, to Bay Bridge Capital Partners. The sale of Plum generated a return of approximately three times invested capital for limited partners in GI Partners Fund II. Plum’s current portfolio consists of 50 skilled nursing facilities and five home health and hospice agencies located in strategic geographic clusters throughout California, Utah, and Arizona. Plum serves over 5,000 medically-complex patients every day. The company was acquired by GI Partners in 2006 and, during the firm’s six-years of ownership, has acquired and turned around 39 skilled nursing facilities. Under

Golden Gate Capital has completed its acquisition of Ex Libris Global Holdings, a provider of library automation solutions, from Leeds Equity Partners. Under the new ownership, Ex Libris will remain an independent business based in Jerusalem, run by the current management team. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “Ex Libris exemplifies the type of business in which we seek to invest,” says Prescott Ashe, managing director of Golden Gate Capital. “The company is a market leader in delivering cloud-based knowledge management applications with a best-in-class leadership team and significant growth opportunities. Golden Gate Capital’s perpetual fund structure will enable

KBC Private Equity has reached agreement with KeBeK I, a newly established private equity investment fund managed by KeBeK Management, regarding the sale of the major part of KBC PE’s remaining private equity portfolio. The deal is in line with the strategic refocus plan that KBC Group agreed with the European Commission, as announced at the end of 2009. KeBeK Management, a newly established management company consisting of four team members of KBC PE, will manage the assets of KeBeK I. At the same time, KeBeK Management aims to create a new private equity fund focusing on control investments mainly

Palamon Capital Partners has led a transaction to acquire a majority interest in beauty e-commerce specialist feelunique.com, one of Europe’s fastest growing online beauty retailers.  The transaction was agreed at a head-line enterprise value for feelunique of GBP26m.   feelunique is an online retailer of premium products in haircare, skincare, cosmetics and fragrances, selling full-permissioned stock from almost all of the major brands including Dior, Lancôme, Clarins, Guerlain, Yves Saint Laurent, Benefit and Kerastase. The company has built a strong reputation for its customer service and website editorial content, which is directed by Newby Hands, a beauty journalist and Harper’s

Vance Street Capital, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, has sold Micross Components, a provider of specialty electronic components, to Insight Equity, a private equity firm. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. Vance Street acquired a majority interest in Micross Components in 2009 and grew the company’s revenue both organically and through the integration of two acquisitions – Chip Supply in 2010 and Ditronix in 2011. These acquisitions bolstered the company’s capabilities, allowed it to enter new markets and provided significant cost-saving opportunities. During this time period, Micross also consolidated all of its sales and marketing efforts under

Affiliates of Apollo Global Management are to acquire Aurum, a luxury jewellery retailer in the UK, which includes the Watches of Switzerland, Mappin & Webb and Goldsmiths brands within its portfolio. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013 and is subject to customary closing conditions. Sanjay Patel, head of international private equity for Apollo, says: “Aurum is a leader within the luxury watch retail industry and it has established an enviable position in the UK driven by exceptional service and customer experience and strong partnerships with most of the world’s major watch brands. We look

High Road Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of Accurate Component Sales, the ninth platform company for its debut fund, High Road Capital Partners Fund I.  Based in New Brighton, Minnesota, Accurate is a distributor of industrial fasteners, hardware and components to manufacturers in the upper Midwest.    “Accurate’s consultative and service-oriented model helps small- and mid-sized manufacturers improve and streamline their production operations,” says Jeffrey M Goodrich (pictured), High Road partner. “Accurate is well positioned to benefit from US manufacturing growth and the trend toward tighter supply chain integration.”   Accurate’s co-founder and chief executive Jerry Moehnke will continue

Ongoing access to capital and financing, strengthened balance sheets and divestiture activity will continue to fuel deal activity in 2013, according to PwC US.  An acceleration of deals taking place during the final months of 2012 may result in a lull in activity during the first quarter; however, these sound deal fundamentals are creating optimism that the balance of 2013 will be a stronger year for US mergers and acquisitions (M&A). According to PwC’s US M&A outlook, dealmakers remain hyper vigilant on diligence during the M&A decision making process, analysing each outcome and the various impacts on investment and return

Private equity firm PAI Partners has completed the purchase of a 78.6 per cent stake in Marcolin, an Italian eyewear manufacturer, in a proprietary primary LBO transaction in one of its core investment sectors. The purchase has been carried out by Cristallo, a company indirectly controlled by certain investment funds managed by PAI Partners, which has purchased a stake of 48,842,131 shares representing 78.6 per cent of the share capital of Marcolin at a price of EUR4.25 per share for an aggregate total price of EUR207,579,056.75 from the parties to Marcolin’s shareholders’ agreement (Marcolin family and Della Valle brothers) and