Law firm Ropes & Gray has added Kiran Sharma as a partner in the firm’s London private equity practice. Sharma joins from DLA Piper, where she was a partner in the corporate group. She worked previously as a senior associate at Allen & Overy.
3 min read · 10 February 2011
Luggage maker Samsonite plans to meet with investment banks next week as it prepares for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, Reuters reported. The IPO is expected to be worth about $1 billion. Luxembourg-based Samsonite is owned by private equity firm CVC and the Royal Bank of Scotland. An IPO is expected to come during the last half of 2011.
1 min read · 10 February 2011
Hana Financial Group plans to raise 1.4 trillion won ($1.26 billion) through a new share issue to fund its $4.1 billion takeover of Korea Exchange Bank from U.S. private equity firm Lone Star, Reuters reported. The shares would be issued to 36 investors including Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Schroder Investment Management, Reuters reported.
1 min read · 10 February 2011
V3D, a developer of quality-of-service technology for smartphones, has raised 1 million euro ($1.36 million) from middle-market private equity investor SIPAREX Venture and investor Rhone-Alpes Creation. The company plans to expand its research and development and sales teams. V3D is based in Lyon, France.
3 min read · 10 February 2011
Private equity firms Bain Capital and Clayton Dubilier & Rice are among the final bidders for Emergency Medical Services, Reuters reported. It is not clear when final bids for the company are due, Reuters said. Emergency Medical Services provides healthcare transportation through its American Medical Response Inc unit, and provides physician services through its EmCare Holdings business, Reuters wrote.
2 min read · 10 February 2011
Wireless technology company Interop Technologies has added Fred Tannenbaum and Brian Rich to its board. Tannenbaum is a managing partner of the Chicago law firm Gould & Ratner LLP. Rich is a managing partner of New York-based firm Catalyst Investors LLC. Interop Technologies is based in Fort Myers, Fla.
3 min read · 10 February 2011
Private equity investor Haddington Ventures, through its fund Haddington Energy Partners IV LP, will buy the subsidiary Continental Gas Storage Deutschland GmbH from parent company Continental Gas Storage BV. Financial terms of the deal were not released. Haddington Ventures is based in Houston.
4 min read · 10 February 2011
Japanese beer maker Sapporo Holdings will pay 21.3 billion yen ($260 million) to take majority control of beverage maker Pokka Corp., Reuters reported. Pokka is owned by investors including private equity firm Advantage Partners and food and dairy firm Meiji Holdings. Sapporo will increase its ownership in the company to 85.5%, up from 21.4%, by buying shares from Advantage and Meiji, Reuters said.
1 min read · 10 February 2011
Mary Ma, an Asia executive at buyout shop TPG Capital, is leaving the firm to launch a new fund, Reuters reported, citing a story in the Financial Times. Ma will be running the fund with Louis Cheung, who is stepping down as president of Shenzhen-based Ping An Group in March, the newspaper wrote. No details about the new fund were released.
1 min read · 10 February 2011
Google Inc. and Facebook Inc. have both held "low-level" discussions with Twitter about a possible takeover, valuing the company at as much as $10 billion, Reuters reported, citing an article in the Wall Street Journal. The discussions were held in recent months, according to the Wall Street Journal, though the talks did not progress. In December, Twitter raised $200 million in financing in a deal that valued it at $3.7 billion, Reuters wrote.
2 min read · 10 February 2011
