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LBO France, via its Hexagone III fund, has acquired an 80 per cent stake in Payot, a French cosmetics and skincare laboratory, alongside a new management team led by Italian entrepreneur Andrea Surliuga. Payot was created in 1920 by dermatologist Nadia Payot. The company became part of Spain-based Puig in 2001.   In 2013, Payot had over EUR25 million in revenues, 70 per cent of which came from outside of France.   Surliuga is the former CEO and owner of Dibi Cosmetics, which was sold to a large Italian cosmetics group in 2009.   Surliuga says: “This is a major
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Alternative asset manager LFPI Group has reached a conditional agreement to acquire a majority stake in Ergalis Group, a specialist in the French recruitment process outsourcing sector. With a turnover of EUR160m and comprising 69 regional agencies specialised by businesses, Ergalis employs nearly 4,000 daily temporary workers to more than 4,500 corporate clients.   LFPI becomes the majority shareholder of the group alongside the Ergalis management which will be reinforced as part of the operation. Ergalis Group is chaired by Frederic Noyer, former CEO of Randstad in France.   LFPI intends to support the development of Ergalis Group, in particular
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Omnes Capital is selling its stake in Legoupil Industrie to a consortium of investment funds led by Bpifrance and Capitem. Since it was founded in 1976, Legoupil Industrie has been based in the Vire region of France, and it specialises in designing, making, renting out and selling industrial buildings used for storage and production purposes, along with modular buildings. The group also operates in the interior fittings market.                                                                 
Delta Partners Corporate Finance has acted as sole strategic and financial advisor on transactions worth more than USD1 billion during the course of 2014, helping telecom operators on the execution of their digital strategy. These transactions resulted in collaborations between the telecom operators and Rocket Internet, one of the largest internet groups outside the US and China. Rocket Internet has launched more than 100 businesses in over 40 countries to date ranging from e-retailing and online marketplaces to e-payments and finance technology.   The partnerships with the telecom operators will open up many new e-commerce business opportunities in emerging markets.
Oakley Capital Investments, through OCPE II Master LP, has acquired a majority stake in Facile.it, Italy’s largest car insurance broker and price comparison website.  Fund II will invest alongside Facile’s founders who will re-invest part of their proceeds.   Originally established in 2008 to provide consumers with access to the best car insurance premiums, Facile has subsequently built a diversified range of products to broaden its revenue base including gas and electricity, broadband internet services, bank accounts and mobile phones. It now helps 1.5 million Italians a month compare prices on key elements of their household expenditure.   The business had
AIM-quoted investment group Adamas Finance Asia (ADAM) says its improved interim financial results provide the foundation for a reshaped strategy. ADAM plans to sell off its private equity asset portfolio to provide cash reserves for redeployment into income-generating investments.    ADAM chairman John Croft says: “There is no doubt that the six-month period to June 2014 was the most eventful and potentially significant since the company’s arrival on AIM in 2009.  I am confident this will enable the board to meet its long-term objective of re-positioning ADAM as a credit finance operation generating strong and predictable returns for shareholders.”  
Equities First Holdings (EFH) has acquired Meridian Equity Partners Limited in the UK. Its operations will continue under the name Equities First (London) Limited.   Equities First Holdings specialises in shareholder finance with offices in London, Indianapolis, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Sydney and Perth.   “Today’s acquisition is transformational for our company and brings our services and brand to a new, global level. With seven offices to serve clients in Europe, Asia, Australia and the US, we are able to offer liquidity at attractive levels against publicly traded shares to individual investors, businesses, and executives of public companies around the
GEMCORP, a new financial firm focused on investments in emerging markets, is now open for business. Atanas Bostandjiev, formerly a partner at Goldman Sachs and more recently UK and international CEO of VTB Capital, has been joined by group of experienced emerging markets investment professionals at GEMCORP.    The firm has so far raised USD500 million from European institutional investors with a lock-up period of five years.   Bostandjiev says: “We want to position ourselves as the access point for institutional investors when it comes to investing in emerging market sovereign and private sectors. We see a significant gap where
Glennmont Partners, an investment manager dedicated to clean energy in Europe, has commenced operation of the 38MW Sleaford straw-fired renewable energy plant. The plant was built by a consortium of Burmeister & Wain Scandinavian Contractor A/S and Burmeister and Wain Energy A/S.    Glennmont purchased 100 per cent of the equity in the project in December 2011, and financed the construction through a debt package provided by NIBC Bank NV, RBS, Siemens Bank GmbH and Unicredit Bank AG.    Sleaford will generate enough electricity to power 65,000 homes as well as providing free heat to local sports clubs and community
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Mid-market advisory firm Clearwater International completed 13 deals in two months over the summer, worth a combined value of GBP410m. Five of the transactions have been led out of the UK.   The deals include advising on the sale of Burnt Tree, one of the UK's largest providers of commercial vehicle rental, to Enterprise Rent-A-Car; and the sale of out-of-home digital advertising firm Signature Outdoor to LDC-backed Ocean Outdoor.   The UK arm has also advised gym chain Gymbox on its GBP10m investment from Business Growth Fund.   The Danish part of Clearwater International has also enjoyed a busy period

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