Private Equity
Private equity firms are moving into east Africa, Reuters reports, with 26 private equity and venture capital firms actively working in the region. One firm, Catalyst Principal Partners, will launch a $100 million east Africa fund in January, focusing on opportunities in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Zambia. The firm will invest in the consumer, services and industrial sectors, Reuters said.
3 min read · 09 December 2010
Communication Intelligence Corp., which trades on the over-the-counter Bulletin Board, has raised $2.2 million in working capital from investors including existing shareholder Phoenix Venture Fund. Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Communication Intelligence provides biometric and electronic signature technology for business process automation in the financial industry. Phoenix Venture Fund focuses on publicly traded companies in North America.
4 min read · 09 December 2010
MasterCard will buy the card program management arm of UK-based foreign exchange group Travelex for 290 million pounds ($459 million), Reuters reported. Travelex is majority-owned by private equity firm Apax Partners. The deal is expected to be valued at several hundred million pounds, Reuters said.
1 min read · 09 December 2010
Relational Investors and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System are pushing Charles River Laboratories to put itself up for sale, Reuters reported, citing an article in the Wall Street Journal. The two groups hold a 6.1% combined stake in that clinical research company. The Wall Street Journal reported that Charles River Laboratories – which has two main segments: preclinical services, and research models and services – could draw interest from private equity investors.
1 min read · 09 December 2010
The majority owners of Denmark’s TDC will earn up to $3.7 billion in a partial exit from the company, Reuters reported. Private equity firms Apax Partners, Blackstone Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Permira Advisers and Providence Equity Partners plan to sell a third of the telecoms group, through a share buyback and public offering. The private equity consortium will raise $2.19 billion from the sale, provided an overallotment option is exercised, Reuters said. The firms will raise an additional $1.5 billion through a share buyback by TDC.
3 min read · 09 December 2010
Retreating from Japanese equities, New York-based fund Steel Partners has cut its stake in brewer Sapporo Holdings, Reuters reported. The fund reduced its stake to 7.88%, from 13.14%, but remains the largest stakeholder in Sapporo.
1 min read · 09 December 2010
The Carlyle Group has agreed to buy UK-based testing and inspection company Velosi for roughly 87.8 million pounds ($138.9), Reuters reported. The deal, at 165 pence per share, represents a 61% premium over Wednesday’s closing price.
1 min read · 09 December 2010
Buyout shops Cerberus Capital Management, Lone Star and Fortress Group are among the firms planning to bid on Japanese consumer lender Takefuji Corp., Reuters reported. The deal is valued at more than 60 billion yen ($716 million), Reuters said, adding that the first round of bidding will close on December 15. Takefuji filed for bankruptcy in September, owing 433 billion yen.
2 min read · 09 December 2010
Los Angeles-based Caltius Equity Partners has invested an undisclosed amount of growth capital into personal care company Kiss My Face. The company, formed in 1981 in New York’s Hudson River Valley, sells its natural soaps, lotions, lip balms and other products online and through retailers across the US. No financial terms of the deal were released.
2 min read · 08 December 2010
Salesforce.com will pay as much as $249 million to buy venture-backed cloud computing start-up Heroku. Salesforce will pay $212 million in cash for the company. It also plans to issue $27 million in stock to Heroku employees, and an additional $10 million in cash for unvested Heroku shares, Reuters reported. San Francisco-based Heroku is a cloud-software platform company which charges developers to host applications written in the Ruby programming language, Reuters said. Formed in 2007, Heroku is backed by investors Redpoint Ventures, Ignition Partners, Baseline Ventures, Harrison Metal Capital and Y Combinator.
2 min read · 08 December 2010
