Duke Street Capital, the pan-European fund management group, has appointed Michael Fabich and Bernd Aundrup as chairman of the new German advisory board and operating partner, respectively. These new appointments complement the establishment of the new Duke Street private equity team, focused on the German Market and headed by Ervin Schellenberg Fabich has over 20 […]
Addleshaw Booth & Co continues to expand its London corporate finance practice with the arrival of partners Stephen Houston from Manchester and Simon Pilling from Leeds. The partners join a team of 14 to accelerate the growth of the practice, generate new work and develop opportunities for existing clients. Houston has been with the firm […]
ABN AMRO Capital has completed the secondary buyout of specialist photographic retailer Jessops, following clearance from the European Competition authorities. The GBP116 million deal sees ABN AMRO Capital acquire the company from private equity firm Bridgepoint Capital, which has backed Jessops since the original management buy-in / buyout in 1996. Jessops operated 70 stores at […]
The European Commission has approved the acquisition of US-based fast-food chain Burger King by US investors TPG Advisors III, The Goldman Sachs Group and Bain Capital Fund VII. The transaction will bring Burger King into the same group as Domino’s Pizza, but Burger King will continue to face competition from a wide range of rival […]
CIBC World Markets and Morgan Stanley have launched syndication of the EURO825 million leveraged recap facility for Xerium, the Apax Partners-backed paper-making machine parts company formerly known as BTR Paper. The facility comprises a EURO350 million seven-year term loan A at 225bp over Euribor, a EURO150 million eight-year term loan B paying 275bp over Euribor, […]
UK bingo and casino operator Gala Group is the latest European firm to seek a leveraged recapitalisation, after Focus Wickes and Lecta. There had been talk this summer that the CSFB Private Equity-backed Gala was planning a GBP1.3 billion IPO. However, in the face of the deteriorated stock markets, those plans were shelved. In addition […]
Cal-IT, held in London on October 21 & 22, saw 55 CEO’s and senior executives make their 15-minute pitches to interested delegates in two parallel sessions. The 15 minute pitches, while interesting, are not the primary means for assessing investment potential. This year the organisers allocated 15 meeting rooms, which were used to hold pre-arranged […]
Danish investment company Axcel has realised its investment in furniture manufacturer Fvling Mbelfabrik, part of which was sold in 2000, by merging it with former competitor Harry Iversen Mbler. The new group will be known as Astralis (Latin for star) and will have a turnover of over DKr600 million. Axcel and a number of Axcel […]
Captive or semi-captive private equity houses continue the march to independence. September brings news that Gresham is the latest firm to break free of its parent, in this case Zurich Financial Services (see NEWS this issue). Last month HSBC Private Equity was reported to have reached an agreement with the bank, although no timetable for […]
Duke Street Capital’s acquisition of Invicta Leisure has provided Electra Investment Trust and RIT Capital Partners with an exit. Esporta Group, the vehicle Duke Street Capital set up for the recent public-to-private of Esporta, has bought the company for GBP140 million. RIT Capital Partners (the successor to the Rothschild Investment Trust) initially backed Invicta, which […]