Western Europe

Lightyear lines up Lloyd’s membership for its first UK acquisition(3)

Lightyear Capital has acquired the UK operations of German insurance company Württembergische Versicherung, after ensuring the company could become a member of Lloyd’s of London.

Lion looks to private bidders for Wagamama(3)

Lion Capital, the European buyout firm, has called off a planned listing for Japanese restaurant chain Wagamama because a trade sale will fetch a better price as it looks to exit after two years ownership.

GP Investments matches Latin American fund record(3)

The quoted Latin American firm GP Investments has closed its fourth fund on $1.3bn with partners in the firm contributing almost a third of the capital to equal Advent International's record breaking Latin offering.

UK venture firms back vibration harvesting technology(2)

A trio of VCs have clubbed together in a series B-funding round of Perpetuum, which is developing a clean tech generator to capture energy from small vibrations and convert it to electricity.

Graphite completes turnaround of heating company(2)

Graphite Capital, the UK mid-market private equity firm, has sold Applied Energy, having grown sales at the business by 38 percent after buying it nearly six years ago from a joint venture owned by Marconi and GE.

KKR signs Turkey’s largest deal(3)

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the US buyout firm, has bought UN Ro-Ro in its first transaction in Turkey, making it the latest firm to gain exposure to the country and the neighbouring MENA region.

Pantheon and Nova pick up laboratory group for £75m(2)

Pantheon Ventures and secondary investor Nova have bought the scientific laboratory business of Barloworld as it looks to grow the business overseas.

Oakley holds first close on €140m(2)

Peter Dubens, a UK-based entrepreneur, has taken a first step towards his €550 million target for his debut fund, using proceeds from an AIM flotation and capital from external investors and his team.

Bridgepoint partially exits training company after eight years(4)

European buyout firm Bridgepoint has sold vocational skills company Protocol Skills to Close Brothers Private Equity. This represents a partial exit for Bridgepoint after eight years invested in parent company Protocol Group.

LPX launches UK-listed PE index(2)

LPX, a private equity data provider, has published an index of the largest liquid UK investment vehicles. LPX’s Michel Degosciu said the listed private equity returns shown by the index will encourage more firms to embrace transparency.