Duke Street posts double exit

Duke Street Capital, the UK-based private equity firm, has announced that it has sold its holding in French golf course owner and operator Blue Green European Holdings (BGEH) to Burggolf Investment Holding BV, a Dutch golf course operator.
 
The firm has also sold its stake in Swedish music distributor Education and Entertainment Nordic (EEN) to a financial consortium led by the company's management.

BGEH owns 19 golf courses in France and one in Belgium. Duke Street acquired a majority holding in the company for €25 million in 1997, investing alongside management, Kleinwort Benson European Mezzanine Fund II, LBO Croissance and Initiative et Finance Investissement.

The firm has now sold its investment to Burggolf Investment Holding for €40 million, generating a return of 1.6 times the original investment, according to a source close to the transaction. Kleinwort Benson, LBO Croissance and Initiative et Finance have also sold their positions.

In related news, Duke Street and its co-investor, Swedish private equity house Segulah, have also realised their investments in EEN, a Gothenburg, Sweden-based company that creates compilation CDs of chart hits for distribution to teenage music clubs.
 
The private equity firms invested€ 21 million in the company, then known as Mr. Music, in December 1999. Duke Street acquired a 54 percent stake, Segulah 16 percent, and the management led by CEO Anders Lauren, 30 percent. Since then, the company has expanded its operations into educational CD ROMs, audio books and DVDs.
 
The company has now been bought by a financial consortium including its management. Duke Street received €57 million on the sale, or 2.7 times the original investment, a source said. 
 
Duke Street is a private equity group with offices in London and Paris. It focuses on mid market leveraged buy-outs. Its recent acquisitions have included European marine recreation equipment provider Navimo, health and beauty business Accantia, and French budget hotel chain Galaxie.
 
Segulah is a Stockholm-based private equity firm focusing on mid-market MBOs in Scandinavia. Its stake in EEN was its last outstanding investment in its first fund, Segulah I LP, which is now fully exited. In September it announced the closing of its third fund, the €250 million Segulah III.