European Venture Capital Journal articles from April 2003

European Venture Capital Journal archives from April 2003

EVCJ Awards for 2002.
April 1, 2003... LBO financial sponsor of the year. Winner: Candover Highly commended: CVC Capital Partners Highly commended: L&G Ventures Mid-market financial sponsor of the year Winner: Bridgepoint Highly commended: Barclays Private...

Caledonia invests in Nova Capital. (News).
April 1, 2003... Caledonia Investments has acquired a 33 per cent stake in Nova Capital Group, a portfolio management company targeting under-performing and under-managed portfolios run by private equity and venture capital firms. Three corporate finance...

Greenpark's debut on target. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Greenpark Capital, the secondaries fund formed by three ex-Coller Capital executives, closed its first fund on target at $200 million. Greenpark International Investors I lives up to its name, having attracted capital from Europe, the Far...

SVIIT creates P123 for Permira. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Permira's biggest investor Schroder Ventures International Investment Trust (SVILT) has announced two new fund-of-funds offerings. Schroder Private Equity Fund of Funds II (SPEFOF H) will bc launched at the end of this month in conjunction with...

Permira goes Nordic. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Permira is opening an office in Stockholm to boost its activity in the Nordic region. Partner Kurt Bjorklund, who joined Permira in 1996, is heading the new office. The firm has also appointed Ole Oftedal as an industrial partner in the Nordic...

NESTech fund launch. (News).
April 1, 2003... NESTech, the North East of Scotland Technology Fund, was launched by the University of Dundee at this month's BioDundee conference. The [pound sterling]3 million fund, initiated by the UK Government's University Challenge Fund programme, aims...

UK must lead the way. (News).
April 1, 2003... The UK must set its stall out as the place to do business in Europe, said Michael Queen, outgoing chairman of the British Venture Capital Association at the annual BVCA chairman's dinner on March 25. Queen addressed Chief Secretary to the...

HotOrigin seeks [euro]10m. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... HotOrigin Software Ventures is hoping to raise in excess of [euro]10 million for its new fund, which will invest in early stage Irish technology companies. It has held a first closing at [euro]2.1 million, raised from private investors and...

Access wins FoF mandate. (News).
April 1, 2003... French fund-of-funds manager Access Capital Partners has been selected by AA Advisors, ABN AMRO's multi-manager group, to manage a 675 million private equity programme. Two private equity fund-of-funds will be offered to the bank's high net...

AXA reinforces German presence. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... At a time when many players are shying away from Germany, AXA Private Equity is boosting its activity in the region by increasing its commitments to direct investments. Stephen Illenberger, managing director of AXA Private Equity Germany,...

Changes at ECI. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... ECI Ventures Limited has unveiled a new name and corporate structure. The group, which has held its name for over a decade and was launched 27 years ago as Equity Capital for Industry, will be known as ECI Partners LLP. Ken Landsberg of ECI...

Unigestion to go private. (News).
April 1, 2003... Swiss alternative assets manager Unigestion is to delist from the main market of the SWX Swiss Exchange due to the lack of liquidity the listing offers its investors. Shares in the company have been thinly traded in recent years and the firm...

Simfonec supports start-ups. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Four of London's leading universities have launched Simfonec (Science Ideas to Market, Focused on Enterprise and Commercialisation). The project is aimed at the pharmaceutical, healthcare and biotechnology sectors and will focus on three main...

Beringea targets healthcare. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Beringea, formerly known as ProVen Private Equity (see people this issue), has started marketing for its second healthcare fund Beringea InvestCare Partners II, which will target investments in the UK and the US. The firm's first fund...

HSBC backs Montagu Capital. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Montagu Capital, part of the newly independent Montagu Private Equity, (formerly HSBC Private Equity, see news this issue), has announced a first close on its Growth Capital fund, following a cornerstone commitment of [pounds sterling]25...

Lake Capital raises $500m fund. (News).
April 1, 2003... Lake Capital, a transatlantic private equity firm, has raised $500 million for its first formal institutional fund. The firm has a proven track record in the business services industry and the new fund will continue to make investments in this...

CalPERS votes for transparency. (News).
April 1, 2003... CalPERS (California Public Employees' Retirement), the largest pension fund investor in the US with over $130 billion of assets, is to disclose the performance of all its private equity investments in a move that could see other public...

HSBC PE reverts to Montagu name. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... HSBC Private Equity has finally closed the deal that secures its independence from its parent banking group. To mark the separation from HSBC, the firm is reverting to the Montagu Private Equity name, which it used between 1994 and 1996. The...

Fourth Level Ventures launches. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Fourth Level Ventures has been set up by Irish financial services firm Dolmen Securities. It will invest in seed and later stage university spin-outs in Ireland and internationally. The team, led by two business angels Dennis Jennings,...

Biotech fund exceeds target. (News).
April 1, 2003... The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) Technology Fund has closed with commitments of [euro]25 million, exceeding its original target by [euro]8 million. EMBL, which initiated the fund, said the demand from potential investors...

Intralinks connects GPs and LPs. (News).(expands online solutions)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Intralinks, a US-based provider of online solutions for the alternative investment community, is expanding its services into Europe. The group aims to improve communications between private equity firms and their limited partners and has...

ABN AMRO ditches mezz portfolio. (News).(Rothschild buys ABN AMRO)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Rothschild has acquired a portfolio of UK mezzanine investments from the ABN AMRO Causeway Mezzanine Partnership. The size of the portfolio both in terms of value and volume has not been disclosed. ABN AMRO made the decision to wind down its...

EVCA publishes guiding principles. (News).(European Venture Capital and Private Equity Association)
April 1, 2003... As part of its ongoing push to professionalise the venture capital industry in Europe, the European Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (EVCA) launched the "Governing Principles and Sound Practice for the Establishment and Management...

TLG lasts just 15 months. (News).(Tenon Livingstone Guarantee completes management buyout)
April 1, 2003... The management team at Tenon Livingstone Guarantee (TLG) has completed its own management buyout, as part of the restructuring process of the corporate finance business of quoted financial services group Tenon. TLG is a UK-based corporate...

Intramezzo launches support services. (News).(investment support services)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Intramezzo has launched a range of investment support services for private equity firms, fund managers, business incubators and angel investors. Intramezzo's chairman is Michael Mills, a former investment director of Apax. Mills says: "Our...

Anyone for private equity? (News).(U.S. private equity market)
April 1, 2003... Pension funds remain cautious when it comes to private equity, according to Kerrin Rosenberg of Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow, a global outsourcing and consulting firm. At the Alternative Investment Summit conference in London in March he said:...

Tax and legal issues hold back PE. (News).
April 1, 2003... A fragmented tax and legal environment in Europe is hindering development of the private equity industry, according to a benchmark paper published by the European Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (EVCA). The study, titled European...

Kennet goes it alone. (News).(Kennet Venture Partners sold from HSBC Private Equity and DB Capital Partners)
April 1, 2003... Kennet Venture Partners is the most recent VC firm to break free from its parent, following the likes of HSBC Private Equity, now Montagu Private Equity, and DB Capital Partners. Kennet's three managing directors, Michael Elias, David Carratt...

BVCA survey makes pre-Budget statement. (News).
April 1, 2003... Ahead of the UK Chancellor's Budget this month, the British Venture Capital Association has issued the first of a new series of quarterly surveys assessing members' views on current market conditions and topical issues. The results of the...

Electra sells B&S stake. (News).(Electra Partners Europe, B and S Private Equity Group)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Electra Partners Europe has sold its 10 per cent stake in Italian buyout house B&S Private Equity Group, formerly known as B&S Electra, to management. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Electra bought its stake in B&S...

Electra sells pub group. (Exits).(Electra Partners Europe sells Spirit Group company Tom Cobleigh )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Electra Partners Europe has sold Midlands-based pub company Tom Cobleigh to Spirit Group for [pounds sterling]106.4 million. Electra backed the management buy-in of Tom Cobleigh in September 2000 from Rank acquiring a 78 per cent stake for...

Bridgepoint out of the cold. (Exits).(sells Huurre Group to Kaupthing)
April 1, 2003... Bridgepoint has sold refrigeration specialist Huurre Group in a secondary buyout to Nordic investment bank Kaupthing, which is backing the company's management team. Senior bank loan facility for the transaction, reported to be worth around...

ISIS makes gain on Tricom. (Exits).(ISIS Equity Partners sells Tricom Group to BSS)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... ISIS Equity Partners has realised its investment in Tricom Group, which has been sold to BSS for an enterprise value of [pounds sterling]31.8 million. The deal generated an annual rate of return of over 50 per cent and 4.3 times the original...

3i expects further write-downs. (Exits).(3i Group PLC future financial results)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Further write-downs look likely for 3i when the firm publishes its annual results in May. In its pre-close briefings the firm stated provisions for companies that may fail are likely to be higher in the second half of the year than in the six...

Speedy exit from WLAN. (Exits).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... At a time when many firms are struggling to realise early stage investments, WLAN has been a successful exit for its three investors. Less than a year on from an initial round of seed financing from Target Partners the business has been sold to...

Cinven's [pounds sterling]431m blockbuster. (Exits).(Cinven sells Odeon Cinema group)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Cinven has sold the Odeon Cinema group, which it acquired two years ago, to a consortium led by WestLB and The Entertainment Group in a deal worth [pounds sterling]431 million. Richard Munton, a director at Cinven, said: "Odeon has been a very...

Botts exits Yxlon. (Exits).(Botts and Company Ltd. sells Yxlon International Holding shares)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Botts & Co has realised its investment in German explosive detection specialist Yxlon International Holding. US-based InVision Technologies acquired the company for 638.6 million. The transaction is funded with cash and InVision will make...

Mobistar increases free float. (Exits).(sells GIMV shares)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Listed Belgian VC firm GIMV has sold its remaining shares in Mobistar, the Belgian GSM mobile phone network operator, realising a capital gain of [euro]34.7 million. The deal will increase the company's net asset value by [euro]11.5 million or...

LMS acquires Sparrows. (Exits).(London Merchant Securities buys Sparrows Offshore International Group Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... London Merchant Securities (LMS) has acquired Aberdeen-based Sparrows Offshore International Group Limited for [sterling pounds]25.6 million. LMS holds 93 per cent of the equity and Sparrows management holds seven per cent. The transaction...

ECI exits Holiday Autos. (Exits).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... UK mid-market buyout house ECI has realised its eight-year investment in leisure car rental broker Holiday Autos in a deal worth [pounds sterling]39.7 million. The business has been sold to the European independent travel and leisure web site...

Bridgepoint exits Lloyd Werft. (Exits).(sells stake in Lloyd Werft)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Bridgepoint has sold its majority stake in Lloyd Werft, a German-based specialist in ship repair and conversion, to management. Bridgepoint backed the [euro]31 million buyout of the company in 1998. Financial details of the sale have not been...

Are fees spiralling out of control? (Buyouts).(Panel Discussion)
April 1, 2003... "On a completed deal fees include things like stamp duty, legal work, accounting and advisory fees relating to the financial due diligence, tax, pensions, and working capital reviews. It's almost inevitable that people will undertake some sort...

LBO syndications arranged in March. (Buyouts).
April 1, 2003... Bonna Sabla Mandated lead arrangers CIC (bookrunner) and KBC Bank are in the market with a [euro]92.5 million senior debt supporting AXA Private Equity's MBO of Bonna Sabla from Vivendi Environment, which completed in December 2002. ...

Refinancings. (Buyouts).(in the venture capital industry)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... A Friedrich Flender German gear and gearbox maker A Friedrich Flender has completed a [euro]223.9 million refinancing, via Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. The facility refinances the borrowers's [euro]250 million senior debt package of...

ProVen becomes Beringea. (People).(ProVen Private Equity changes name to Beringea Limited)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Following its merger with US private equity and investment banking firm Beringea - see evcj September 2002, page 3 - ProVen Private Equity has changed its name to Beringea Limited. There will be no significant changes to the business as a...

New MD at Matrix. (People).(Matrix Private Equity names Helen Sinclair managing director)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Matrix Private Equity has appointed Helen Sinclair as managing director. Sinclair joined Matrix in 2000 as a director to co-found the private equity group. Prior to this she worked for 3i in their London office between 1991 and 1998. Her...

ISIS adds to team. (People).(ISIS Equity Partners names Gary Davis assistant director and Andy Gregory investment director)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Following the appointment of Pete Clarke and the opening of the Manchester office at the beginning of this year, ISIS Equity Partners (ISIS) has announced TWO further additions to its Manchester-based team. Andy Gregory joins as investment...

Hewitt to the DTI. (People).(Liz Hewitt joins UK Department of Trade and Industry for 18 month period)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... 3i's director of corporate affairs, Liz Hewitt is joining the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) on an 18-month secondment. 3i has appointed Patrick Dunne as group communications director and Ali Erfan as marketing director. Hewitt will...

Greenwood to Lehman. (People).(Lehman Brothers names James Greenwood managing director)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Lehman Brothers has appointed James Greenwood as managing director and co-head of European leverage finance. Greenwood, who has 15 years of leverage finance experience, joins from Merrill Lynch, before which he worked at DLJ and Bankers Trust....

Permira goes Nordic. (People).(opens office in Sweden)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Permira has opened an office in Stockholm to cover the Nordic region. Kurt Bjorklund, partner, who joined Permim in 1996, is heading the new office. In addition, Permira has announced the appointment of Ole Oftedal as an industrial partner...

Irit Rapaport joins Vertex. (People).(as venture partner)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Israeli venture capital firm Vertcx has announced the appointment of Irit Rapaport as venture partner. Rapaport, formerly chairman, CEO and founder of Pelican Security Ltd, will be responsible for identifying investment opportunities in...

CapMan adds to team. (People).(appoints four employees)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... CapMan has added a Danish senior advisor and three Swedish investment professionals to its team. Peter Langkjaer is now senior advisor to the CapMan buyout business unit based in the firm's Copenhagen office. Langkjaer is chairman of the...

Judy Marsden goes solo. (People).(starts Private Equity Research company)
April 1, 2003... Judy Marsden, a former director of Electra Partners Europe, has left to set up a new business called Private Equity Research. The new business will undertake research designed to give clients insight into their market position and allow them to...

Gresham promotes. (People).(names Andy Tupholme investment director)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Gresham has promoted Andy Tupholme to investment director. He helped set up Gresham's regional office in Manchester in September 2001.

CIBC Euro lev fin. (People).(company names Edouard Pilot and Philippe Bonnet associates and analysts)
April 1, 2003... CIBC has made a number of hires to further strengthen its European leveraged finance group. Philippe Bonnet and Edouard Pilot join as associate and analyst, respectively, from JP Morgan and Nils Bennemann joins as an analyst from Lehman...

Northzone adds to team. (People).(Northzone Ventures appoints Par-Jorgen Parsson and Gregers Kronborg)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Northzone Ventures has appointed two new partners, Gregers Kronborg in Denmark and Par-Jorgen Parsson in Sweden. Kronborg (40) previously worked as a management consultant, before he co-founded the Danish technology company Cocom A/S in 1995....

Candover appoints director. (People).(Candover Investments PLC names Piers Dennison investor relations director)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Candover has appointed Piers Dennison as investor relations director. Dennison joins Candover from the Boston Consulting Group and will be responsible for co-ordinating Candover's fund raising activities with third parties, and managing...

VC award for Quester. (People).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Quester has been presented with the award for venture capital firm of 2002 at the UK Technology Partnering and Investment Forum awards dinner. The awards rewarded those individuals and companies that have made an exceptional contribution to the...

Bates to TaylorWessing. (People).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Dr Malcolm Bates has returned to life sciences and biotechnology law firm TaylorWessing as a partner. Dr Bates spent two years in-house at the Paris headquarters of Genset having previously been an intellectual property associate at...

Lewis advises Carlyle. (People).(Duncan Lewis joins Carlyle)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Duncan Lewis, former CEO and president of GTS/Ebone Inc. joins Carlyle as senior advisor to its global telecommunications and media group. He is based in the London office where he will assist Carlyle in developing strategy and identifying...

Bumper crop of French deals. (Data Room).
April 1, 2003... AFIC, the French Venture Capital Association, has published preliminary investment and performance figures for the French market in 2002. The data show an increase in investments, mainly driven by a number of large buyouts, and in realisations,...

Prelim Euro performance figures. (Data Room).
April 1, 2003... As is now tradition Venture Economics and the European Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (EVCA) unveiled the annual private equity performance figures for European funds at EVCA's annual investors conference in Geneva in March. The...

Prelim Euro fund figures. (Data Room).
April 1, 2003... Preliminary European fund raising and fund investment numbers were presented by the European Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (EVCA), Venture Economies and PricewaterhouseCoopers at EVCA's annual investors conference in Geneva. ...

Israeli VC struggling. (Data Room).(Industry Overview)
April 1, 2003... The Israeli venture capital market is feeling the squeeze in a tough economic and political environment. In 2002 only $63 million was raised compared to $4.6 billion during the period 2000-2002, according to the IVC Research Center. The amount...

Counting the cost of secondaries. (LP Corner).
April 1, 2003... Interest in sales of secondary private equity interests is at an all time high as specialists raise record funds for investment in this niche of the private equity market, but do secondary deals offer fair value to limited partners with assets...

Czech LBOs: waiting to happen. (Legal & Regulatory Exchange).
April 1, 2003... Structuring of leveraged buyouts in the Czech Republic is virgin territory. But even though LBOs are thin on the ground, a model, similar to the structure used in a number of other European jurisdictions is beginning to develop. In spite...

European public-to-privates: a country-by-country review of the legal and regulatory issues affecting public-to-privates in Europe. (Overview).
April 1, 2003... Austria There may be less than 100 companies listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange but Dr Thomas Zottl, a partner in the corporate finance department in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's Vienna office, believes there are many...

Investors look for silver lining: the collapse of Ahold, harsh capital markets and recession could spell good times for the Dutch private equity and venture capital markets. (Cover Story: The Netherlands).(Cover Story)
April 1, 2003... The collapse of Ahold, the Dutch supermarket chain, following allegations of false accounting could prove to be the best thing that has happened to the Dutch private equity industry since the Internet boom. Ahold has mandated Goldman Sachs and...

Structural subordination struggle. (Cover Story: European High Yield).(long-running conflict between Europe's high yield bond and senior debt investors over structural subordination has come to a head)
April 1, 2003... The long-running conflict between Europe's high yield bond and senior debt investors over structural subordination has come to a head. If unresolved, the issue could endanger the financing feasibility of larger LBOs and the growth of the high...

Seeking Buyers March.(European companies planning to sell divisions, stakes or the entire company)
April 1, 2003... Seeking buyers March Seeking buyers includes listings of all European companies that have announced plans since February 24, 2003 until March 28, 2003 to sell divisions, stakes or their entire company. It also includes purported sales...

Announced March Deals.(private equity and venture capital transactions involving European targets)
April 1, 2003... Announced March deals Announced deals includes listings of private equity and venture capital transactions involving European targets that were announced from February 24, 2003 to March 28, 2003. The listings are ordered by target...