Legrand

Profits and net asset value rose at the French family-owned investment company Wendel Investissement on the back of its flotation of Legrand, an electrical equipment company.

The flotation of the private equity-backed French electrical equipment maker forced a temporary suspension of the Euronext Paris market today amid frenzied demand for shares.

The Paris-based investment house will have €1bn available for acquisitions following the upcoming flotation of Legrand and its purchase of Materis.

The Wendel Investissement and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts-owned electrical retailer is expected to carry out one of France’s largest flotations of recent times.

Schneider has finally decided to sell Legrand to KKR and Wendel Investissement, ending the French group's prospects for becoming the world's largest equipment manufacturer.

The European Commission's mergers taskforce was already very badly bruised. After Schneider-Legrand, it looks crippled. Comment from Breaking Views.

KKR’s E5.1bn acquisition of French electronics firm Legrand has been thrown into question following an annulment of the original blocking of the Schneider-Legrand merger in 2000.

The US private equity firm is in advanced talks regarding the purchase of several engineering units as it closes the E3.7bn acquisition of Legrand.

Strong partnerships are critical to developing businesses at scale throughout key markets in Europe, say Marco Herbst, Greg Laï, Christian Rochat and Eric Rouzier at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.

Private equity fund administrators are fighting for digital supremacy as investors demand an ever-wider range of data points.

Investors in private equity worry about many things. For instance: will the mounting wave of money kill returns in the asset class? Or: have I picked the right funds? Or: what are management fees doing to manager motivation? And: are club deals good or bad?

Based on some of the recent press coverage of the industry, it would be easy for the casual observer to get the impression that private equity is the root of all evil.

Frédéric Lemoine embraced a tough challenge when he took over as chief executive at Paris-listed investment group Wendel Investissement earlier this year. Having invested aggressively during the boom, the firm has been hit by poor performance at certain portfolio companies, a declining share price and a credit rating downgrade. As he goes about seeking to restore the firm's fortunes, Lemoine can see a profitable – and less controversial – future

Despite having seen its private equity assets decline by about $7bn last year, KKR told investors its dry powder, new business lines and products have it poised for growth.

The French investment firm could have profited even further were it not for hedging costs relating to its stake-building in Saint Gobain, which has dropped in value by nearly 30 percent.

For most of its 30 years in business, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has been a dominant force in the private equity market. Following some intense introspection and retooling in the late 1990s, the New York-based firm is poised to again become the industry's heavyweight champion as it expands product lines, offices and head count around the world. David Snow takes a measure of the firm that invented, and reinvented, the big buyout.