Western Europe

Qatari firm makes £12bn Sainsbury’s approach(3)

Qatar-based investment vehicle Three Delta has confirmed its preliminary bid approach to Sainsbury’s, the UK supermarket chain that rejected a £10 billion offer from a private equity consortium in April. The company’s share price soared this morning.

Lyceum buy and build nets early exit

Business services specialist Lyceum Capital has sold health and safety company National Britannia Group after two and a half years to asset manager Connaught. Jeremy Hand, managing partner, said there was considerable interest.

Great Circle buys $21.1m stake in Russian logistics firm

Stamford, Connecticut-based Great Circle has made its second investment in Russia with the injection of $21.1 million of growth capital into logistics company STS Logistics.

Virgin Media bids to come in September

The Virgin Media auction will come later than expected as problems in the debt markets have constrained leverage available to buyout firms.

Montagu buys hair styling business from LDC(3)

Lloyds Development Capital has made an exit from the company behind iconic hair-styling brand ghd after just 12 months, selling it to Montagu Private Equity for £160 million.

Greenhill joins JO Hambro for first UK deal(3)

The European buyout arm of US bank Greenhill has joined forces with UK fund manager JO Hambro for its first deal since closing a £106 million fund this year. The pair have bought UK snooker club operator Rileys.

Cerberus sells German residential portfolio for €1.6bn(3)

Pirelli RE and Deutsche Bank have agreed to buy German property group BauBeCon from Cerberus, in a transaction valued at €1.6bn.

Bank of Scotland buys LDC’s stake in property business(2)

Lloyds TSB Development Capital has sold its minority stake in UK property business Apollo Group to the Bank of Scotland.

Branson may join Virgin Media take-private bid(2)

The hotly contested auction for cable company Virgin Media may be facilitated by shareholder Sir Richard Branson, while the number of reportedly interested bidders continues to increase.

Electra picks up £52m Premier(2)

UK buyout firm Electra Partners has agreed a £52 million take-private bid for listed fund manager Premier Asset Management, and appointed an outside non-executive director to its board.