KPS Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of Robert Bosch’s global automotive foundation brakes business, through a newly-formed affiliate, Chassis Brakes International Group. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.    Lazard Freres & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor, and Hengeler Mueller as legal counsel, to KPS and its affiliates.

Activa Capital, the French mid-market private equity firm, is merging Armatis and Laser Contact (a spin-off of Laser – itself a subsidiary of BNP Paribas and Group Galeries Lafayette), two major French call centre companies, to create the leading independent French onshore call centre company with combined sales of over EUR200 million and 14 call centres. Activa Capital will become lead majority shareholder of the combined group alongside CM-CIC LBO Partners, Omnes Capital, CDC Entreprises, Ouest Croissance and Multicroissance. The management team will be headed by Denis Akriche, CEO of Armatis, and will benefit from the complementarity of the two

Symington’s Ltd, the convenience food manufacturer and Intermediate Capital Group plc (ICG), the FTSE 250 alternative investment firm and Asset Manager, have announced a new private equity partnership to support a management buy-out of the food manufacturer.    The move follows after a five year investment period with current private equity partner Bridgepoint.  ICG are investing junior debt and equity, and will hold a minority stake of 49.9% in the food company, with the existing management team taking 50.1%.   The partnership with ICG will also see Symington’s replace their funding package from Yorkshire Bank with banking support from a

Hutton Collins Partners has sold portfolio company Windsor Limited, a leading Lloyd’s specialty insurance broker, to Hyperion Insurance Group Limited. The sale remains subject to FSA approval. Hutton Collins backed the management and employees of Windsor in a public to private buy out in 2007. A GBP15m preferred equity investment from Hutton Collins Capital Partners II LP, alongside Windsor’s management and employee equity reinvestment, enabled the team to increase their shareholdings from 10% to 78%, with Hutton Collins holding the remaining 22%. Against a lacklustre market backdrop, this concentration of team ownership helped fuel a five year period of sustained

Leonard Green & Partners has closed the firm’s sixth private equity investment fund, Green Equity Investors VI, LP (GEI VI). GEI VI substantially exceeded its original target, closing at its hard cap of USD6 billion in limited partner commitments along with USD250 million from affiliates of LGP. Investors in GEI VI include a diverse group of domestic and international pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, foundations and family offices. LGP engaged no intermediary to assist in the raising of the Fund. LGP’s philosophy is to invest in middle-market companies with market-leading franchises and defensible competitive positions, attractive growth prospects

UK based private equity investment trust, Candover Investments (Candover) has outsourced its back office operations to Ipes, a fund services provider specialising in private equity. The decision to outsource the back office was a strategic one, based on Candover’s need to match its operating model to a revised investment policy which now focuses on returning cash to shareholders. Malcolm Fallen, Chief Executive for Candover, says: “Our number one priority is delivering value for our shareholders and we therefore needed to find an efficient and cost effective solution for managing our back office requirements. After analysing various options, we decided to

GCP, a provider of blended equity and debt to the UK’s small to medium sized businesses, has invested in Iglu.com, an online ski and cruise agent, in a deal valued at GBP19 million, to help the business expand into Europe. GCP is taking a significant minority stake in the business and will join the existing board. GCP underwrote the entire transaction, providing the debt and equity on the deal that was a buyout from Matrix Private Equity Partners. Simon Jobson, partner at GCP, says: “Iglu has capitalised brilliantly on the huge increase in the popularity of online travel, especially in

Dunedin the UK mid-market buyout house has sold Capula to Dutch quoted company, Imtech. This is the second exit for Dunedin within ten days following the sale of WFEL to KMW, a German land defence systems provider. Under Dunedin’s ownership both businesses have seen significant growth, attracting a number of bids from overseas buyers. Capula, the UK’s market leading independent provider of IT systems that control operations and real time information at power stations, nuclear facilities and water networks has reported record order intakes under Dunedin’s ownership, of over GBP75 million in the last two years. Since Dunedin’s initial investment

Clairvue Capital Partners has completed investing Clairvue Capital Partners Fund I, a USD200 million fund launched in April, 2010. According to Jeff Giller, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer: “The preponderance of Clairvue I’s capital was invested in real estate vehicle recapitalisations where the proceeds advanced by Clairvue were used to help resolve debt maturity issues and other capital needs. The seven investments in Clairvue I’s portfolio create broad diversification with exposure to assets located throughout the United States and Europe, to office, retail, industrial, hotel and multi-family property types, to vehicles with vintage years from 2004 through 2008, and