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An affiliate of Sun European Partners, the European adviser to Sun Capital Partners, Inc, has reached an agreement to acquire shares in German retail chain Strauss Innovation (Strauss) from The EQT Opportunity Fund. The Geringhoff family will also sell its stake. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.
Strauss is a private-label retail chain with approximately 100 stores in Germany and around 1,100 employees. The business has strong customer loyalty and is well known for its innovative assortment concept, combining interior decor with women’s and men’s apparel.
EQT Opportunity acquired Strauss in 2008 and has since executed
The Mezzanine team at AXA Private Equity has arranged and subscribed the financing for the acquisition of Unither Pharmaceuticals by Equistone Partners Europe. Unither is being acquired by Equistone, alongside historical shareholders ING Parcom Private Equity, CM-CIC Investment and Picardie Investment.
Unither Pharmaceuticals was originally purchased in 1993 from a Sanofi’s factory employing 17 people in Amiens, France. It is now a global manufacturer of unidose packaging for European pharmaceutical laboratories, and generic products, particularly eyewashes, saline solutions and anti-asthma drugs in sterile single-dose units and stick-packs.
With four industrial sites and an R&D centre, Unither generated revenues of
Patron Capital, the pan-European private equity group, has acquired, together with its new joint venture partner, Halcyon Hotels and Resorts, over 30% of the Von Essen Group portfolio from its administrators; the acquired assets formed a sub-brand within Von Essen known as the Luxury Family Hotels collection.
Four of the assets were owned until 2005 by Nigel Chapman, Halcyon’s Chief Executive, who together with Patron Capital is committed to returning them to their former glory and restoring the Luxury Family Hotels brand.
The seven hotels being acquired have a total of 211 keys, with a restaurant and spa/leisure facilities
The European Commission has published two proposals to further the Single Market on investment management on two specific fields: venture capital and social entrepreneurship.
The Commission notes that in the context of the current crisis, marked by a fall in lending to the real economy, it is increasingly difficult for SMEs to access loans. Therefore The Commission proposes a regulation to set uniform rules for the marketing of venture capital funds. Venture capital is an alternative source of finance to SMEs to invest and grow.
The Commission has also proposed a new "European Social Entrepreneurship Fund" label. Once
Figures issued this week show that the value of investment fund business in Guernsey fell by GBP3.4 billion (1.2%) during the third quarter of 2011.
This decrease follows eight consecutive quarters of growth and takes the net asset value of funds under management and administration in the Island to GBP271.1 billion at the end of September 2011. However, this is still a rise of GBP27.9 billion (11.5%) compared to the end of September 2010.
Peter Niven, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance – the promotional agency for the Island’s finance industry – says: “From the initial crisis point of 2008 we
Advent Software has appointed Hazem Elmalla as the new head of professional services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In this role, Elmalla will support Advent’s ongoing operation and be responsible for the professional services teams dedicated to clients in the region.
Advent Software has been engaged in the Middle East and North Africa and active as a member of the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) since 2004. More than 30 MENA-based clients today use Advent’s specific local solutions combined with its world-class investment management systems. As evidence of the company’s commitment to the region and to understanding
Vinci Partners, a Brazilian Investment Management firm headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, has selected SunGard’s Investran to help automate partnership accounting and performance reporting across its private equity investment portfolios.
SunGard’s Investrant supports the entire investment lifecycle, from fundraising through reporting and portfolio monitoring. It automates front-, middle- and back-office processes for private equity and alternative investment firms.
Investran will help Vinci streamline its back office operations by monitoring cash flows and tracking its portfolio performance, investor reports and investor capital account balances. It will also facilitate firm-wide reporting and be used for performance and exposure reporting for accurate and
The Boards of four Maven managed VCTs have announced their intention to raise further funds through top-up offers, which will close on 27 April 2012 and are available for subscriptions for the tax years 2011/12 and 2012/13. These are strictly limited offers, targeting GBP1.25m each (GBP5m in aggregate).
This opportunity is likely to appeal to income-seeking investors and those keen to maximise tax-efficient investments. The offers are structured to provide an immediate dividend stream from established VCT portfolios, alongside the 30% initial tax relief available on new VCT Shares.
There is an attractive opportunity to invest early and take advantage
DC Advisory Partners has appointed Joel Hope-Bell as Managing Director in its Business Services team. Based in London, Hope-Bell will join a team of twelve dedicated European Business Services bankers who have so far completed sixteen transactions in the sector in 2011.
Previously a Managing Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Hope-Bell has advised on a range of M&A, Capital Markets and Financing transactions. His fifteen year career in corporate finance has been Business Services focused since 2005 and includes five years with Morgan Stanley and a further five with UBS. Joel has actively covered and worked with a number of the key public and privately owned
Investment Management Group (IMG) has completed its acquisition of an approximately 70% per cent stake in a retail park to be built in Tver, Russia, on behalf of its Russia Development Fund.
The retail park, developed by Normal Asset Management (NAM), will be the largest modern shopping centre of its class to be built in Tver, a city located 134 km northwest of Moscow. The project will consist of two “big box” anchors: a hypermarket operated by Globus, a German retailer, and a DIY store operated by French group Leroy Merlin, which will be connected by a retail gallery. The
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