Los Angeles-based private equity firm Transom Capital Group has invested an undisclosed amount in Ritz Camera & Image. Terms of the deal were not released. Washington, D.C.-based Ritz Camera operates roughly 300 stores across 34 states, and had been looking for an investor able to help “re-assert” its position in the photo market, the company said.
3 min read · 26 August 2011
Autodesk continued its summer shopping spree this week, buying Numenus GmbH, a software provider of high-end visualization technology used to render and review 3D datasets. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. This is the third acquisition by San Rafael, Calif.-based Autodesk in the last couple of months. The company snatched up Instructables.com earlier this month, and announced the acquisition of Pixlr in July.
2 min read · 26 August 2011
Anglo Irish Bank said that it has shrank its net loss in the first half of this year, as it hopes to complete the sale of its U.S. loan portfolio, and eventually wind down, Reuters reported. The bank – which faced a slew of scandals during the property crisis – plans to wind down by 2020. Blackstone Group and distressed debt and equity investor Lone Star Funds are among the bidders for the bank’s U.S. commercial real estate loan portfolio, valued at around $9.5 billion.
2 min read · 26 August 2011
Private equity shop Lovell Minnick Partners and financial services firm First Allied have teamed up to buy First Allied from its current owner, Advanced Equities Financial Corp. Terms of the deal were not released. Upon closing of the transaction, First Allied will become an independent company and continue to operate under the First Allied brand.
4 min read · 26 August 2011
Law firm Mayer Brown advised Indigo Capital on the mezzanine financing related to the buyout by private equity house Gilde of the European and Australian Spandex Group, the firm announced Friday. Gilde bought Spandex – a supplier of sign making and display products – from Gerber Scientific Inc. Mayer Brown advised Indigo Capital on the mezzanine financing and senior bridge commitments. Details of the financing were not released.
1 min read · 26 August 2011
CVC Capital Partners is arranging with a 300 million euro ($430.5 million) loan to fund its buyout of Raet, the biggest Dutch provider of payroll and human resources software, Reuters reported Friday. CVC has tasked mandated ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, ING, Lloyds and Rabobank to arrange the debt. CVC is buying Raet from Taros Capital and Advent International. The purchase price, though not released, is reportedly just south of 400 million euros.
2 min read · 26 August 2011
Online music service Pandora saw its second quarter revenue jump to $67 million, a 117% increase, after its first quarter as a publicly traded company. Despite the increase, Pandora posted a net loss of $1.8 million, or 4 cents a share. Advertising revenue was $58.3 million, a 118% year-over-year increase. Subscription and other revenue was $8.7 million, a 112% year-over-year increase, the company announced. The company also said that total listener hours had increased to 1.8 billion hours during the second quarter.
7 min read · 26 August 2011
Compass Diversified Holdings has acquired a controlling stake in CamelBack Products, paying $257.5 million. The price is based on a total enterprise value of $245.0 million and included $12.5 million of cash and working capital adjustments, the company said. CamelBak makes hands-free hydration systems.
2 min read · 26 August 2011
The chief executive of Indian private equity firm Milestone Capital, Ved Prakash Arya, died in a freak accident Thursday, Reuters reported. He died of injuries sustained when a coconut tree fell on him during a morning walk in Versova, an upmarket Mumbai suburb.
1 min read · 26 August 2011
SVB Financial Group, the parent company of Silicon Valley Bank, has added investor Garen Staglin to its board of directors. Staglin, a private equity and venture investor and owner of the Staglin Family Vineyard, currently holds board or advisory positions with Bottomline Technologies, ExL Services, Freerun Technologies and FTV Capital, among other companies.
2 min read · 26 August 2011
