South East-based law firm Cripps Harries Hall has been advising on the recommended offer for Kent-based marketing communications agency, WFCA, by Porta Communications. WFCA is a full-service marketing communications agency, delivering advertising, design, direct, digital and media solutions.  Valued at GBP1.49m, Tunbridge Wells-based WFCA will be acquired by Porta Communications, an international communications and marketing business, which is expanding through acquisition and start-up ventures. Lead partner Nigel Stanford (pictured) says: “We are delighted to have advised WFCA plc on this very exciting deal and to have had another chance to demonstrate our ability to provide pragmatic, responsive and cost effective

Preqin research indicates that buyout funds are still carrying many portfolio companies purchased during the record-breaking buyout boom period of 2006-2007, with just 28 per cent of deals made in 2006 and 19 per cent made in 2007, having been fully exited by general partners. Buyout GPs typically look to hold portfolio companies for three to five years in order to add value and then make a profitable exit for their investors, but the fact that many transactions made in 2007 and earlier are still not sold suggests that many GPs active during this period have held onto investments longer

HgCapital has sold Mercury Pharma, the UK-based speciality pharmaceutical company, to Cinven, the European private equity firm, for GBP465m. Following the sale of Mercury Pharma, 20 per cent of invested capital will have been realised by the HgCapital 2009 vintage fund, HgCapital 6. Since the start of the global economic downturn in Q3 2008, HgCapital has realised a total of 15 investments, returning approximately GBP1.6bn in proceeds to clients. HgCapital’s 2006 vintage fund, HgCapital 5, has already returned more than 120 per cent of invested capital to date, from only five full and one partial exit including SLV (4.0x original

Illinois Tool Works’ (ITW) Decorative Surfaces business is to become a new, independent company operating as Wilsonart International, backed by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R).   A fund managed by CD&R will invest USD395m in the new freestanding business to acquire a majority ownership stake.  ITW will retain an ongoing ownership stake. Wilsonart’s business units manufacture and distribute high pressure laminates (HPL) and other fine surfacing materials and components used in furniture, office and retail space, countertops, worktops and other applications. Its brands include a leading HPL brand in the US, Canada, Mexico and Germany and one of the best known

The gradual recovery in deal flow in private equity’s UK lower mid-market continued during the second quarter of 2012, as the Eurozone crises’ impact on confidence and the availability of leveraged debt continued to dampen the wider continental buyout market. According to Lyceum Capital and Cass Business School’s UK Growth Buyout Dashboard, the quarterly analysis of UK-headquartered private equity control deals in the GBP10m to GBP100m enterprise value range, a total of 25 deals completed across the segment during the first three months of the year with an aggregate value of GBP728m.   The figures represent a 25 per cent

Great Point Partners, a Greenwich, Connecticut-based private investment firm focused on the healthcare industry, has led a USD20m funding round in growth recapitalisation of Connecture.  Existing investor Chrysalis Ventures also co-invested in the financing. The investment will enable Connecture to meet the demand from states for the creation of health insurance exchanges mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). In addition, the investment will support Connecture’s ongoing investment in software innovation that benefits the health plan, broker and insurance exchange markets. In addition to projected growth in excess of 50 per cent for 2012, this investment adds

The Riverside Company has acquired the US food ingredients distribution business of Centerchem, a distributor of Capol products. Based in Elmshorn, Germany, Capol is a Riverside platform company that develops and manufactures polishing, anti-sticking and release agents used for confectionary applications. The new US operation, Capol LLC, is based in Northbrook, Illinois.   Capol sells to clients in more than 60 nations.   “Acquiring this business unit provides Capol with direct access to a large blue-chip customer base in the crucial North American market,” says Riverside principal Dominik Heer. “This add-on acquisition will drive growth and improve both top line