Brad Meikle

TVM-Techno Venture Management, Biotechnology Investments Limited (BIL) and the company’s founders have provided DM4 million (ecu 2 million) of early-stage funding for Virgene, a Munich-based company which is developing a new approach to the treatment of infectious diseases. The deal was BIL’s first investment in Germany. Virgene was established by Dr Axel Ullrich with seed […]

The Electra Fleming/AB Asesores joint venture AB Asesores Electra (story, page 10) in January led a Pta 3 billion (ecu 18 million) buy-in of Ei System, a leading Spanish personal computer assembler and retailer. The company was acquired through New PC Holdings, established for the purpose, with backing from the newly quoted Dinamia private equity […]

Cork Industries, the company formed through a Candover-backed buy-in of three groups of engineering businesses in July 1996, has completed two further acquisitions. These purchases, of Bird Precision Bellows and Hunt Power Drives, and three acquisitions made by Cork between November 1996 and March 1997, have expanded the group’s portfolio of businesses to 14. From […]

Procuritas Partners acquired three transport and service businesses from BTL’s specialist division in a December deal with an estimated value of SKr 350 million (ecu 40 million). The three businesses, all with strong market positions in the Nordic region, have been brought together in the Nordic Specialist Group (NSG), which will have around 600 employees […]

Vimercati, an Italian company specialising in the design, development and production of electromechanical and electronic components for the automotive industry, was the subject of an L51.3 billion (ecu 26 million) buyout in December. The deal was led by GE Capital’s Equity Capital Group and co-led by 3i Italy. Vimercati provides a classic example of a […]

Apax Partners & Cie announced four new investments between early December and early January. The most recent was the buyout of Groupe Lehmann, a distributor of building materials and industrial fixtures. Groupe Lehmann, founded early this century, is market leader in the Alsace region’s building products sector and generated a turnover of over FFr 500 […]

Gilde Investment Management made five investments totalling $10 million (ecu 9.2 million) in the business applications and Internet sectors between October and February. According to Gilde, the five investments reflect the group’s “underlying vision of investing in companies that have the potential to dramatically change the effectiveness of the core business processes of their customers […]

CapMan Capital Management, Finland’s dominant independent private equity house, rounded off an exceptionally active year by finalising five new investments between November and January. In all, CapMan completed 12 domestic investments and four Eastern European deals in 1997, ending the year with a 50-strong portfolio. The latest additions to the CapMan funds’ industrially diverse portfolio […]

Granville Private Equity Managers has invested an undisclosed sum for a 31% holding in SII, a French IT services company operating in the utilities, automotive, aerospace and telecoms sectors. The December investment was announced shortly after the opening of Granville’s office in Germany and its first German investment, Elmeg (EVCJ December 1997/January 1998, page 7). […]

3i Cambridge and Alta Berkeley in December led an investor syndicate which provided more than GBP4.3 million (ecu 6.5 million) of funding for Onyvax, a UK start-up founded in early 1997 to develop vaccines for a range of cancers. SR One, SmithKline Beecham’s venture capital arm, and Alberville Investments, controlled by the Peter Sager Wallenberg […]