European Venture Capital Journal articles from March 2007

European Venture Capital Journal archives from March 2007

The party is over: the aftermath of the EVCJ awards.(European Venture Capital Journal )(Editorial)
March 1, 2007... I awoke this morning to London's perma-grey with the quality of hangover that is only achieved at a truly brilliant party. You know the ones I'm talking about, created by the perfect alchemy of cold champagne and brandy. "Can't be seen as...

The British are coming: both CVC and 3i have recently opened offices in the US, while BC Partners are thought to be considering a similar strategy. So what is it that is attracting UK/European houses to the US, and are they intending to take on the American houses in their back yard?(NEWS ANALYSIS)
March 1, 2007... In January both CVC Partners and 3i made separate announcements that they were opening offices in New York. BC Partners are also believed to be recruiting a US team. The moves have subtly different aims, with 3i aiming to compete for domestic...

Taxing takeovers: the Danish government is threatening tighter tax treatment of companies with heavy borrowings, while in last autumn's Swedish election campaign there were calls for state pension funds to stop investing in overseas buyout funds. Do these rumblings suggest a politicisation of private equity in the Nordic region?(NEWS ANALYSIS)
March 1, 2007... Curiously, it is a centre-right government in Denmark that is proposing tax changes that some in the market see as an attack on private equity and perhaps even an attempt to discourage foreign buyout firms acquiring Danish companies. The...

CVC wants to try something new today: private equity bid looms for Sainsbury's.(NEWS ANALYSIS)
March 1, 2007... Buyout giants CVC, Blackstone and KKR have been linked with a joint bid for the UK supermarket, and more recently a possible rival bid has emerged from a syndicate consisting of Cinven, TPG, Permira and Bain Capital. With a price tag somewhere...

Princess makes first buys.(INVESTMENT)
March 1, 2007... Princess Private Equity Holding. the fund-of-funds advised by Partners Group, has made its first direct investments since its formation last year. The first of the investments is a 50m [euro] commitment to Partners Group Direct Investments...

3i sells venture investments.(SECONDARY)
March 1, 2007... UK secondaries venture investor Shackleton Ventures has acquired four investments from 3i. Investing through the Shackleton Secondaries LP fund, the companies purchased operate in the information technology, communications and healthcare...

Foreign buyers flock to UK: investment levels rise by 50%.(TAKEOVERS)
March 1, 2007... Foreign companies acquired 242 UK businesses last year, equalling the record held by 2005 and the highest since 1999, according to findings by UK corporate finance firm Grant Thornton. Non-UK companies invested 75.5bn [pounds sterling] in...

SVG hedges its PE bets: crossover continues.(LISTING)(SVG Investment Managers)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... SVG Investment Managers has launched a hedge fund on the Irish Stock Exchange that will use private equity techniques to invest in European public equity markets. SVG European Absolute Return Fund is structured as a European long/short...

3i wants to be a part of it.(EXPANSION)
March 1, 2007... New York, New York American invasion 3i, the UK venture and buyouts firm, has opened up an office in New York City for its growth capital business, hiring a staff of nine to lead the assault on the US private equity market. The US...

Media M&A activity hits six year peak: PriceWaterhouseCoopers records 75% increase in 2006.(RESEARCH)(Statistical data)
March 1, 2007... The deal value of M&A activity in the European media industry rose to 43bn [euro] in 2006, a 75% increase, with the Continent alone accounting for 37bn [euro], a figure not seen since the media boom of 2000. These statistics are the latest...

UK businesses fight private equity: with a 198bn [pounds sterling] warchest.(ANALYTICS)
March 1, 2007... Britain's top quoted businesses will generate 198bn [pounds sterling] in surplus cash between 2006 to 2008, money it will need, says KPMG's Cash Counter, to defend itself from private equity takeovers. The Cash Counter is the UK financial...

Franklin Templeton closes fund-of-funds: US firm raises 210m [euro].(CLOSURE)
March 1, 2007... Franklin Templeton Institutional, the US investment management company with over 124bn [euro] under management, has closed Franklin Templeton European Real Estate Fund of Funds 209.5m [euro]. The fund, which is managed by Franklin Templeton...

Abingworth raises Europe's largest biotech fund: UK venture firm closes on 455m [euro].(ASSETS)
March 1, 2007... Abingworth, the UK life sciences VC house, has raised Europe's largest ever venture fund dedicated to life sciences. Abingworth Bioventures V (ABV V) has 455m [euro] at its disposal, well over the target size of 380m [euro]. The fund...

Swedish VC reaches maximum fund size in first close: Creandum raises 82m [euro] for technology investments.(CLOSURE)
March 1, 2007... Technology VC Creandum has closed its second fund on 82m [euro], attracting investment from the European Investment Fund (EIF), the Sixth Swedish National Pension Fund, Skandia Liv, Argentum and Finnish Industry Investments. The fund will...

3i Infrastructure fund on LSE: UK firm to could raise up to 1.3bn [pounds sterling].(LISTING)
March 1, 2007... UK venture capital and buyouts firm 3i is to list an infrastructure fund on the London Stock Market with the intention of raising between 700m [pounds sterling] and 1.3bn [pounds sterling]. Incorporated in Jersey, 3i Infrastructure is a...

Braveheart secures uni partnership: intellectual property the name of the game for 12m [pounds sterling] fund.(LAUNCH)
March 1, 2007... UK VC Braveheart has set-up a 12m [pounds sterling] fund in partnership with the University Of Strathclyde. Called the Strathclyde Innovation Fund (SIF), it is first of its kind in a UK higher education institution. It will have the...

Henderson raises 859m [euro] for PFI: secondary fund closes 16 months after predecessor.(CLOSURE)
March 1, 2007... Henderson Equity Partners, the UK investor in Government-sponsored infrastructure projects, has closed its second PFI fund, Henderson PFY Secondary Fund II, on 859m [euro]. The fund will focus on buying equity stakes in the secondary market...

Alfred McAlpine takes Enviros: ECIs 2001 MBO pays off.(TRADE SALE)
March 1, 2007... ECI Partners, a UK mid-market buy out specialist, has sold Enviros, the UK's largest independent environmental consultancy business, to Alfred McAlpine for 30m [pounds sterling]. This represents a money multiple of over 2.6x ECI's investment....

Sawiris takes on another telecom company: the powerhouse partnership of Apax and TPG are in the money.(SECONDARY)
March 1, 2007... The US$20bn private equity house, Apax Partners and the even larger US$30bn house of TPG have sold TIM Hellas Telecommunications, the third largest mobile phone carrier in Greece, to Weather Investments which is controlled by the Sawiris family...

HealthCap, Advent Venture Partners & Co. cash in: Oslo Stock Exchange the new home of Algeta.(IPO)
March 1, 2007... Algeta, a Norwegian therapeutics company, applied for a listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company is taking this step to accelerate the late-stage clinical development of its lead product--Alpharadin. Those investors most likely to...

Eurazeo parks up in APCOA: Investcorp sells Greman parking operator for 885m [euro].(SECONDARY)
March 1, 2007... Investcorp, the Bahrain-based investment bank, is to sell its investment in APCOA, a German parking services company, for 855m [euro] to French buyouts specialist Eurazeo, making a reported 10x return. The deal is subject to regulatory...

Apax exits Swedish healthcare business: Molnlycke bought by Investor.(SECONDARY)
March 1, 2007... UK buyouts giant Apax has sold its controlling stake in Molnlycke Health Care Group of Sweden to fellow private equity players Investor AB and Morgan Stanley Principal Investments for 2.85bn [euro]. Investor will acquire a 65% share of the...

End of the ride for Advent: Candover pays full fare for Spanish amusement park.(SECONDARY)
March 1, 2007... Advent International has sold its three year old stake in Parques Reunidos, a Spanish leisure park operator, to UK buyouts firm Candover for a reported price of around 900m [euro] is subject to regulatory approval. The equity funding is to...

TowerBrook's first foray into luxury goods: Lion Capital's Jimmy Choo boots are made for walking.(SECONDARY)
March 1, 2007... The London-based US$2.5bn private equity firm, TowerBrook, has taken a step in the right direction with the acquisition of Jimmy Choo, the luxury shoe manufacturer from Lion Capital for an enterprise value of 185m [pounds sterling]. Towerbrook...

YFM doubles money: UK small cap firm sells Tekton.(SECONDARY)(YFM Group)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... YFM Group, the UK private equity investor aimed at smaller businesses, has made a 2.23x return on the sale of a slice of its stake in Tekton, a Manchester-based business which specialises in construction software. The sale comes as a part...

HgCapital shown the right signal: German business Hirschmann Automation sold for 245m [euro].(TRADE SALE)(Hirschmann Automation and Control )
March 1, 2007... London-headquartered mid-market firm HgCapital has made a partial realisation of its investment in Hirschmann Group through the sale of Hirschmann Automation and Control (HAC) for 245m [euro]. A German-based business, Hirschmann Automation...

Bairds brush sale: UK firm sells Hahl.(TRADE SALE)(acquisitions of Baird Capital Partners Europe)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Hahl, a German maker of monofilaments for synthetic brushes, bristles and canvas, has been acquired by Lenzing Plastics after being sold by UK mid-market house Baird Capital Partners Europe for an undisclosed sum. The sale marks the end of...

CapMan blown away by Moventas: Industri Kapital takes stake in wind turbine specialists.(SECONDARY)
March 1, 2007... Nordic private equity firm CapMan has sold the majority of its stake in Moventas, a Finnish manufacturer of industrial and wind turbine gears, to fellow buyouts house Industri Kapital. A transaction price has not been disclosed, but CapMan...

VCs team up to clean the world: German environmental technology targeted.(EARLY STAGE)
March 1, 2007... German venture capital firm TVM Capital has founded a special interest group to encourage and support the growth of businesses specialising in clean technologies. TVM, in conjunction with the Munich Network, a technology business network...

Who's on first: the UK leads Europe in the amount of VC.(RESEARCH)
March 1, 2007... With conflicting statistics coming out of Europe's private equity and VC researchers every other day it is beginning to feel like an Abbott and Costello skit. With the latest research putting the UK back in first position. The UK leads...

USA IPO OK: overseas companies still flocking to US exchanges.(DATA ROOM)
March 1, 2007... Since the advent of Sarbanes-Oxley and the continuing success of London's AIM market, it has become fashionable to talk of the decline of the American public markets as a listing destination. This talk of a migration of public offerings away...

Awards 2006.(Awards list)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Mattia Caprioli, KKR Financial Sponsor of the Year--Large Fund Sr partner, Ian Lobley, 31 VC House of the Year--Technology CEO Ian Armitage, HgCapital Financial Sponsor of the Year--Mid-sized Fund MD Calum Paterson,...

Thirteen not unlucky for Advent.(PEOPLE)(promotions at Advent International PLC)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Advent International has unveiled a platform of promotions, with 13 employees looking forward to a new job title and probably a better pay packet. Beginning with the Western European investment team, in London Tim Franks has been promoted...

Bridgepoint takes a first step East.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... The UK private equity firm Bridgepoint has appointed Advent International's Poland head Khai Tan as head of its new Central and Eastern European team, to be based in Warsaw. Tan joined Advent in Poland in 2003 having previously worked for...

Advisory firm launched in Paris.(PEOPLE)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Axonia Partners is the name of a new advisory boutique which has launched in France and which will provide M&A and private equity consultancy services. The three founders are Alexandre Alfonsi, former manager of Alternal Financial...

Beer's top two.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... Beer & Partners, the UK's largest business angel network, has appointed Michael Weaver as chief executive and Robert Iggulden as chairman. The appointments are part of a restructuring of the business, following the sudden death of its founder...

PA Consulting ventures on.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... PA Consulting Group, the UK based management systems and consulting firm, has named Martin Stapleton as its new head of ventures. Stapleton will lead and manage the venture programme as it enters a new phase of investment and growth. He...

Two more for Waterland.(PEOPLE)(Niek Jan van Kesteren and Michael Krall join Waterland Private Equity Investments B.V)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Dutch private equity firm Waterland Private Equity Investments has appointed Niek Jan van Kesteren as industry expert to advise the investment team with its investment decisions. Van Kesteren is currently the general manager of VNO-NCW, the...

Grant Thornton also hires two.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... Grant Thornton has a new head of transaction services in the form of David Grundy, a partner at Grant Thornton since 2000, leading the northern transaction services team within the corporate finance group. His principal focus has been advising...

CVC makes Boughton managing partner: eight bumped up.(PROMOTION ROUND)(Marc Boughton)(Hugh Briggs)(Inaki Cobo)(Jose Antonio Torre de Silva)(Gregor Hilverkus)(Pietro Masera)(Alex Ossola)(Michael Smith)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... UK private equity powerhouse CVC has made a whole raft of promotions to kick off 2007. First up is Marc Boughton, who has been elevated to the position of managing partner of CVC Capital Partners Group, where he will be responsible for CVC's...

Landsbanki makes it six of the best: Zhivka, Joyce and Mandt.(BANKING)
March 1, 2007... Landsbanki Commercial Finance (LCF), the asset based lender and structured finance provider, has made six new hires. First up, Paul Bowerman has been appointed as cash management officer. Prior to joining Landsbanki Commercial Finance,...

Walker in at GE Real Estate.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... GE Real Estate UK has expanded its business development team with the appointment of Ben Walker as director of business development. His responsibilities will include sourcing and delivering on a wide range of major property transactions on...

CVC lands in NY.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... CVC has opened its first office in the US, in New York. Christopher Stadler will be joining the firm as managing partner and head of the US office. Since 2001, he was head of private equity, North America for Investcorp, after joining as...

CIL get their Bean.(PEOPLE)(appointment of Martin Bean)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... CIL, a UK commercial due diligence and market strategy consultancies, has appointed Martin Bean as a director based in their London office. Previously a partner with Burlington Consultants, where he co-led their private equity practice, Bean...

Sovereign's investment manager.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... Sovereign Capital, the UK private equity buy-and-build specialist, has added George Williams to its team as investment manager, bringing the investment professionals total at the firm to 18. Before Sovereign, Williams worked for eight years...

New frontier for Charlie Parker.(PEOPLE)(appointments at Frontiers Capital)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Frontiers Capital, the UK telecoms and technology private equity fund manager, has appointed Charlie Parker as a director in the investment team. Parker joins from the Boston Consulting Group where he concentrated on the technology and telecom...

Hans Sikkens reaches Summit.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... Summit Partners, the US private equity and venture capital firm, has promoted Han Sikkens to vice president in its London office. Sikkens joins from was Scotia Capital and IBM Corporation. His investments include IGEFI Group S.a. r.1 and...

Cobalt appoints Williams partner.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... Cobalt Corporate Finance, the UK-headquartered corporate finance adviser to technology, media and telecoms (TMT) companies, has recruited Chris Williams, former corporate finance partner and global head of TMT at Deloitte, as its newest...

Kaye Scholer makes City move.(PEOPLE)(Kaye Scholer L.L.P. relocates and appoints Guilherme Brafman, Timothy Spangler and Berwin Leighton Paisner)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... US law firm Kaye Scholer is relocating its London office to 140 Aldersgate Street, London, EC1A 4HY. Telephone number for the new residence is +44 (0)20 7105 0500 and the fax number +44 (0)20 7105 0505. Kaye Scholer's London team is headed...

Linklaters nabs rising star.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... UK law firm Linklaters has added Clifford Chance private equity partner Ian Bagshaw to its growing private equity practice. He has nine years experience in corporate finance, with a speciality on private equity including domestic and cross...

Close Bros promotes Wells.(PEOPLE)(promotions of Henry Wells at Close Brothers Corporate Finance)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Close Brothers Corporate Finance has appointed a new director to its leisure and retail sector group. Henry Wells has been with the firm in its leisure and retail group since 2000, and has advised a wide range of clients on a variety of...

Knights arrive at SQW group.(PEOPLE)(appointments of Sir Michael Lyons and Sir William Wells)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... SQW Group has added two new faces to it board with the appointment of Sir Michael Lyons and Sir William Wells as non-executive directors. The latest additions will help SQW to develop two new business areas focused on healthcare and the...

Index appoints Skype VP.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... UK headquartered VC Index Ventures has hired serial entrepreneur Saul Klein as a venture partner. Klein, who will be based in Index's London office, joins from Skype, the company acquired by eBay in 2005 to become European venture capital's...

TRG sets up asset management business.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... TRG, the US distressed situations specialist, has formed an asset management practice dedicated to managing distressed and sub-performance private equity investments. This new practice has been appointed as investment advisor and fund manager...

Nomura builds clean tech team.(PEOPLE)
March 1, 2007... Nomura International has appointed Whitney Rockley as principal of New Energy and Clean Technology Ventures. Rockley joins from TEC Edmonton in Canada where she provided financial oversight, coached early stage technology companies and provided...

Ex-Post Office head moves home.(PEOPLE)(David Mills joins My Home Move)(Brief article)
March 1, 2007... Smedvig Capital, the London-based development capital investors, has named David Mills as the non-executive chairman of portfolio company My Home Move, a home conveyancing company. Mills was most recently chief executive of the Post Office,...

Benelux unbundled.(BENELUX)
March 1, 2007... These two countries are often lumped together in the Benelux but the Netherlands and Belgium have different cultures and economies. The Netherlands is a much larger outward looking economy. There are numerous Dutch international companies such...

Belgium-climbing the rankings: but high taxes could put a spanner in the works.(BENELUX)
March 1, 2007... While Belgium is a much less developed private equity market than the Netherlands, it is becoming increasingly attractive, according to an EVCA study. The EVCA's 2006 benchmarking study draws comparisons between tax and legal environments...

All for one: private equity has always traded on one key tenet: that the interests of limited partners, general partners and portfolio company managers are all aligned. But with ever larger funds being raised and a war for private equity talent, how is the model adapting to ensure that everyone is working towards the same goal?(ALIGNING INTERESTS)
March 1, 2007... The private equity industry has changed beyond all recognition over the last 20 or so years, developing from a cottage industry into a multi-billion dollar force in the global economy. But one thing hasn't altered in all that time: the...

Managing portfolio companies: alignment of interest in private equity doesn't just stop at the relationship and terms between limited and general partners. The other main part of the jigsaw is ensuring that portfolio company management is working to add the most value it can to the business the team is running.(ALIGNING INTERESTS)
March 1, 2007... The most compelling means of achieving this is equity participation in the deal. As with GP commitments to their funds, management teams investing their own money in the company can be an effective tool for focusing the mind. "To structure...

Competition concerns: FTC complains about Carlyle's Kinder Morgan purchase to prevent higher gas prices.(LEGAL AND REGULATORY)
March 1, 2007... It is a sign of private equity's ubiquity that barely a month can go by without some governmental or regulatory body across the globe making intimations that it is considering introducing new legislation or taxation explicitly or implicitly...

LP's say '07 is the year for European VC: but will words become deeds?(LP ANALYSIS)
March 1, 2007... Understanding investor sentiment is surely the key to raising the right kind of funds successfully and raising quality repeat funds, but not every limited partner is that swayed by the hype that has cloaked the heated private equity markets...

LBO syndications arranged February.(BUYOUTS)
March 1, 2007... Alimak Hek TARGET NATION: SWEDEN DATE ANNOUNCED: 14/12/06 DEAL TYPE: LBO ACQUIRER(S):TRITON TOTAL VALUE: 238M [euro] MANDATED ARRANGER(S): CIBC WORLD MARKETS, SVENSKA HANDELSBANK FINANCING:220M [euro] CIBC...

Refinancing.(BUYOUTS)
March 1, 2007... Bodybell TARGET NATION: SPAIN DATE ANNOUNCED: 20/01/07 SPONSOR(S): NMAS 1 MANDATED ARRANGER(S): CALYON FINANCING: 182M [euro] Bookrunner BNP Paribas and mandated lead arranger Calyon are arranging a 182m [euro]...

Private equity-backed takeovers subject to EU competition law.(BUYOUTS)(Company overview)
March 1, 2007... Attendo PRIVATE EQUITY BACKER(S): INDUSTRI KAPITAL BUSINESS DESCRIPTION: CARE COMPANY FOR OLDER AND DISABLED PEOPLE DEAL VALUE: UNDISCLOSED NOTIFIED: 08/12/06 PROVISIONAL DEADLINE: N/A CLEARED: 23/01/07 The EU...

Seeking buyers.(List)
March 1, 2007... Seeking buyers includes listings of all European companies that have announced plans since January 20, 2007 until February 14, 2007 to sell divisions, stakes or their entire company. It also includes purported sales efforts that have appeared...

Announced deals.
March 1, 2007... Announced deals includes listing of private equity and venture capital transactions involving European targets announced between January 20, 2007 to February 14, 2007. The listings are ordered by target nation, and alphabetically and have been...

Keeping abrest of all of the industry's upcoming events.(CALENDAR)(Calendar)
March 1, 2007... The EVCJ comprehensive calendar MARCH 1-2 MARCH Intellectual Property Rights Master Class Brussels www.evca.com 5-7 MARCH Asset Allocation Summit Star City, Sydney, Australia ...

AIM--the international market of choice.(COMMENT)
March 1, 2007... Of the 2,200 companies that have been admitted to AIM, formerly the Alternative Investment Market, over 280 are non-UK domiciled. These non-UK domiciled companies hail from 22 different countries and represent 33 different business sectors, and...