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Nova Polonia Private Equity Fund and Financierings-Maatschappij Voor Ontwikkelingslanden have agreed to sell an 84 per cent stake in Centrum Filmowe Helios, a cinema operator, to the publisher Agora.
Both Agora and Helios are based in Poland.
The purchase consideration of EUR25m could be increased by EUR1.06m depending on the outcome of the test by an external expert in liabilities of Helios.
Nova Polonia Private Equity Fund is a Poland-based private equity fund, while Financierings-Maatschappij is a Netherlands-based entrepreneurial development bank.
Agora intends to reduce dependence on the newspaper advertising market. The acquisition of shares of Helios would be in
Catterton Partners, a consumer-focused private equity firm, has sold Liberty Safe and Security Products, a seller of full-size residential safes in the US, to an affiliate of Compass Diversified Holdings.
Since investing in Liberty Safe in 2005, Catterton Partners has worked with the Liberty Safe team to implement a number of manufacturing, sales and marketing initiatives that have enabled the company to increase sales by approximately 15 per cent per annum and more than double its earnings.
Over this period, Liberty Safe has transitioned from a manufacturing to a sales orientation. In addition, the company has expanded its distribution footprint
The number of mergers and acquisitions transactions fell during quarter one but the total value of them increased, according to data from Experian.
By comparison, the total number and value of deals decreased in Europe as a whole.
The UK saw an 18.1 per cent decrease in the number UK M&A and ECM transactions announced during Q1 2010 compared to Q4 2009 from 1,131 deals to 926 deals.
GBP68.9bn worth of transactions was announced in the UK in Q1 2010 – up by 4.5 per cent on Q4 2009.
Rothschild was the best performing financial adviser by volume with
OFI Private Equity Capital has acquired a 21.61 per cent stake in Dessange International, an operator of hair care and beauty salons.
Both the parties involved in the transaction are based in France.
The acquisition was financed by the current shareholders of Dessange along with Groupe Banques Populaires and Credit du Nord.
Following this transaction, OFI, other shareholders and the management of Dessange International will control 100 per cent of the share capital of Dessange.
Earlier in 2008 OFI acquired a 65 per cent stake in Dessange.
Dessange generated revenues of EUR53m in 2009.
Offshore law firm Appleby acted as Cayman counsel for Fook Woo Group in relation to its listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 31 March 2010.
The proceeds from the global offering amounted to HKD1.426bn.
The Hong Kong public offering was 422 times over-subscribed.
Appleby also provided BVI legal advice to Fook Woo’s BVI subsidiaries in the transaction.
The Appleby team was led by Hong Kong-based corporate partner Judy Lee (pictured), assisted by Chris Cheng.
Fook Woo is a waste paper management services provider and the largest vertically integrated paper recycler in the PRC as
Microfinance, infrastructure finance and service providers to financial services firms are among the favourite sectors of Indian private equity and venture capital investors within the banking, financial services and insurance industry, a survey by research firm Venture Intelligence reveals.
Private equity and venture capital investors are viewing investments in BFSI companies as an attractive entry point into the two key themes driving their investments in India: rising domestic consumer and infrastructure spending.
“PE investments in microfinance continued to grow right through 2008 and 2009 even as investments in other sectors witnessed a steep decline. So much so that almost all
Private equity-backed companies weathered the recession significantly better than comparable businesses, according to a study released by the Private Equity Council.
The study found that the annualised default rate for the more than 3,200 private equity-backed companies acquired between 2000 and 2009 and held through 2008-2009 was 2.8 per cent during the two-year recession.
That compares to a 6.2 per cent annualised default rate for similarly-financed businesses.
“This study is an important contribution to an informed discussion about private equity ownership,” says PEC president Douglas Lowenstein (pictured). “The low default rate is another indicator that undercuts popular myths about private
Law firm Dechert is hiring Jonathan Angell as a partner in its corporate and securities practice in London.
Prior to joining Dechert, Angell was a partner in Ashurst’s London office.
Angell will focus his practice on advising companies – both listed and unlisted – and equity finance providers on large and complex cross-border and multi-jurisdictional transactions and joint ventures, especially in the private equity and energy sectors.
His expertise in the energy sector extends to downstream oil and gas, coal bed methane, solar, carbon credits and energy regulation. He also has extensive experience advising clients on fund structures.
Angell is
European private equity investor Silverfleet Capital has hired Joanna Smith as head of marketing across Europe.
Smith, who will be based in the London office, joins from Bridgepoint Development Capital.
Neil MacDougall, managing partner, says: “Joanna’s appointment is part of Silverfleet Capital’s strategy to raise its profile across Europe. With only ten per cent of our new fund invested we want to ensure the market is aware that not only have we money to invest but that we are very actively looking for new investment opportunities.”
Before working at Bridgepoint, Smith was head of global private equity marketing at KPMG
Villani Advisors has signed an agreement to advise and originate special private placements and private equity investments with several alternative investment groups.
Combined the group represents over USD6bn and has completed more than 250 transactions in over 45 countries.
Villani Advisors’ investment partners usually fund between USD2m and USD100m per transaction, do not require control and usually close within 45 days.
The firm seeks direct equity investments into listed and private companies with a capital-funding requirement to expand business growth and Ebitda.
Enzo Villani says: “Since launching in January 2010, we’ve established some key relationships to originate and advise several
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