Western Europe

Enterprise rejects 3i bid

3i suffers another setback as £462m Enterprise buyout deal is rejected.

Investcorp buys industrial materials business

Investcorp, a Bahrain and London-listed alternative assets manager, will buy Armacell International, an insulation manufacturer, for an undisclosed amount, in its second acquisition in the industrial sector this year.

Esprit takes eight percent in pharma merger(3)

Venture capital firm Esprit Capital Partners has acquired a Canadian drug company to merge with its existing portfolio business Kiadis Pharma.

August Equity sells windows business for £42.3m(2)

August Equity has sold a windows manufacturer in its third exit of the year.

Hg sells off German transmission division for five times return

Hg has realised a five times return on its investment in the Hirschmann Group, a signal transmission business, after selling one of its divisions to US rival Belden for €245 million.

Litorina completes two deals in a week

Nordic private equity firm Litorina Kapital has bought a Swedish waste management company, in its second deal this week.

Kennet makes third exit of 2006

Kennet Partners, a private equity firm, has sold a risk management business to IBM in its third exit in 2006.

3i to buy VNU Business Media Europe for €320m(3)

3i will buy VNU Business Media Europe from VNU, an information and media company, for €320 million, bringing the number of media businesses in the private equity company’s portfolio to eight.

Macquarie and BC Partners join for Techem

Macquarie Bank has teamed up with rival BC Partners to takeover Techem in Germany’s first ‘hostile’ public-to-private.

Phoenix makes eleventh investment this year(3)

Phoenix Equity Partners has bought a media monitoring business from 3i for £42 million in its eleventh investment this year.