Private Equity News & Analysis

Deal Round-up 15/05

Deals big and small from CVC, Providence, Carlyle, Barclays, Aberdeen Murray Johnstone, Quester and 3i.

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CVC and Amstelland revise purchase price

CVC Europe has agreed to pay E864m for Cementbouw Handel & Industrie, the trading arm of Dutch construction group Amstelland.

CVC was initially prepared to pay E908m for the assets, but negotiated a discount after Amstelland announced lower than expected first quarter earnings and a toned down revenue projection. According to Financial News, Amstelland blamed a slow-down in construction output for the need to renegotiate the disposal.

CVC will be paying E641m in equity and raise an additional E233m in the debt markets.

DigiPlex wins third round

Pan-European colocation facilities operator DigiPlex S.A. has raised an additional E55m in third round funding from its existing shareholders Providence Equity Partners and the Carlyle Group.

DigiPlex also announced it would draw down E40m from an existing credit facility underwritten by Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and CIBC.

The capital injection will the enable the completion of six fully fitted colocation facilities in London, Frankfurt, Geneva, Milan, Munich and Oslo, the company said in a statement.

Aberdeen Murray Johnstone invests in convenience stores

Aberdeen Murray Johnstone Private Equity has invested £6.2bn in the £20m buyout of Conveco Ltd., a chain of 53 convenience stores headquartered in Bristol and operating across the South West England, from Alldays Plc.

Conveco’s management team led by Allen Hutchby and Richard Tipper participated in the equity financing. Senior debt was provided by Barclays Capital, and Credit Agricole has put in place a mezzanine loan to finance the deal.

The funding provides Conveco with a small development fund which it plans to use to expand the business to around 100 stores within five years.

Quester and 3i light up Opsys

Opsys Limited, an Oxford-based technology company developing innovative flat graphic display screens, has won venture capital support for what it describes as a major expansion programme.

Quester (£2.5m) and 3i (£3m), investing in the business for the second time, are leading an £8m funding round. Other investors include Japanese venture capital provider NIF and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein which is investing via its Online Markets Instruments division.

Quester’s Andrew Holmes will take up a seat on the board of the company.