Clothing company Jones Group is among the bidders for private-equity-backed shoe maker Jimmy Choo, Reuters reported, citing a piece by Dow Jones. Bahrain-based Investcorp and Germany’s Labelux Group have made a joint offer for Jimmy Choo, Reuters said, while U.S. private equity firm TPG is also in the process, according to the Dow Jones report. Buyout firm TowerBrook Capital Partners bought Jimmy Choo in 2007.
2 min read · 20 April 2011
Jones Energy Holdings, which is backed by private equity investor Metalmark Capital, has acquired all the producing properties owned by Southridge Energy LLC and Pablo Energy. The company has also entered into a joint venture with the two energy companies to develop the remaining undrilled locations on the properties. Financial terms of the deal were not released. Jones is an energy exploration and production company headquartered in Austin, Texas.
3 min read · 20 April 2011
PwC US said that it has named Dwight Grant managing director in its transaction services practice. Grant will be based in San Francisco, and will advising corporate clients on financial instruments, as well as oversee professional standards and technical training for the practice, the firm said in a written release. Grant most recently served as the global practice leader of financial engineering at Duff and Phelps.
3 min read · 20 April 2011
Private equity firm EQT will buy Restaurant Technologies Inc. from Parthenon Capital Partners and ABS Capital Partners. Financial terms of the deal were not released. RTI is a provider of cooking oil management services to the foodservice industry. The investment comes out of EQT Infrastructure, a 1.2 billion euro fund launched 2008 by EQT.
4 min read · 20 April 2011
British supermarket group Tesco has acquired a majority stake in UK-based video-on-demand company Blinkbox, Reuters reported. Tesco acquired the 80% stake from private equity firms Eden Ventures and Nordic Venture Partners for an undisclosed sum. No terms of the deal were released. Blinkbox is a movie-streaming service that has built up a catalogue of over 9,000 Hollywood films, as well as television series, Reuters reported.
2 min read · 20 April 2011
InterWest has added Keval Desai as a partner, and promoted Bruce Cleveland to general partner. Desai is the former director of product management for Google. Most recently, he worked as vice president for product at Digg. And earlier in his career he worked at venture funds ONSET Ventures and Morgan Stanley Venture Partners. In his time at InterWest, Cleveland has focused on cloud computing, analytical applications and mobile infrastructure companies. Cleveland's current active investments include, Aria Systems, Cloud9, Doximity and Signal Demand.
5 min read · 20 April 2011
German broadcaster ProSieben, which is owned by buyout shops Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Permira, has sold its Belgian and Dutch assets to a consortia led by Finnish media group Sanoma, Reuters reported. The company will use the proceeds of the $1.8 billion sale to pay down debt. Cleaning up its balance sheet is seen as a precondition to a potential exit by owners KKR and Permira, Reuters reported.
3 min read · 20 April 2011
Partnering with the Russian company Rusnano and the government of Perm, Nanostart AG plans to launch a nanotechnology-focused investment fund in Russia. The fun, Kama Fund First, will invest roughly 50 million euros ($72.6 million). Nanostart will invest up to 25% of the fund volume, 12.5 million euros, as well as manage the fund.
4 min read · 20 April 2011
Bank of America plans to spin off its last large private equity fund, BAML Capital Partners, which has more than $5 billion in assets, Reuters reported, adding that the bank has no plans to make new buyout investments. The newly spun-off fund will manage the banks private equity assets for a fee, and will wind down the positions over a period of time, Reuters said.
2 min read · 20 April 2011
Seed-stage investor DFJ Mercury has promoted Russ Lebovitz to venture partner, and added Dan Janiak as an associate. Both Lebovitz and Janiak will work on developing and originating science-based investment themes and startup opportunities, the firm said in a written statement. Lebovitz, previously a venture advisor with DFJ Mercury, is currently the CEO of Marval Biosciences Inc. and the founder and Chairman of Imagnx, Inc. – both DFJ Mercury portfolio companies. Janiak was previously an associate in the Physical and Biological Technologies practice at In-Q-Tel. DFJ Mercury is based in Houston.
4 min read · 19 April 2011
