Western Europe

LDC maintains run rate with twin deals

LDC, the captive private equity arm of Lloyds TSB Banking Group, has maintained its recent deal-making spree with two acquisitions, taking its deployed capital in 2011 alone to £163m.

3i banks 5.5x on Norma IPO

The private equity firm has partially exited its holding in Norma Group, which raised more than €386m in its IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Buyout pair postpones Edwards IPO

Two private equity firms have halted plans to float vacuum equipment maker Edwards on the London Stock Exchange.

KKR finds mezzanine deals with other managers

KKR’s mezzanine group, led by Fred Goltz, has been partnering with other private equity firms on mezzanine deals, but may put more focus into finding non-sponsored transactions this year.

Altus exits bridge parts maker for $96m

The mid-market firm had expected US stimulus dollars would boost its investment in D.S. Brown but saw 'very little benefit' from the stimulus. Still, revenues rose 35% over its investment period.

Fewer GPs say they expect carry

Nearly a quarter of UK-based private equity fund managers say they expect no carried interest from their current funds, a drop in confidence compared to late 2009, according to Investec.

KKR agrees $2.3bn pharmaceutical carve-out

The firm, which has agreed to buy Pfizer’s hard capsule manufacturer Capsugel, has completed numerous healthcare-related deals and also has ‘significant’ experience with ‘carve out’ deals.

EQT in €3.1bn cable exit

The Nordic firm has sold German cable provider Kabel BW, which it acquired from The Blackstone Group in 2006.

Trade sales to dominate Australian exits

Choppy public markets coupled with foreign buyer appetite for Australian assets will help drive M&A activity, according to a recent study.

BPE sells Converteam for $3.2bn

Barlcays Private Equity and LBO France have agreed to sell a 90% stake in power storage company Converteam to General Electric. BPE made a partial exit worth €1.6bn from Converteam in 2008.