Western Europe

Duke Street draws first blood in dentist battle

UK-listed Oasis Healthcare’s board has accepted Duke Street Capital’s £76.9 million offer for the company. However, the deal could yet come under threat, after trade rival ADP Healthcare Services said it may submit a competing offer.

BofA, Oak Hill in complex $1.9bn Euronext venture

Bank of America, Oak Hill, along with CalPERS and Harvard have created a unique, megafund-sized pool of permanent capital to be traded on the Euronext. The vehicle, Conversus Capital, is structured like a collateralised loan obligation with private equity fund interests as the underlying assets.

Blair says tax breaks for private equity raise ’real issues’(3)

As senior buyout firms go before the UK Parliament’s Treasury Select Committee, UK prime minister Tony Blair has pledged a review into the taxation of private equity to be published at the time of the Pre-Budget Report.

Boots chairman: let regulator decide on pensions(2)

Alliance Boots chairman Sir Nigel Rudd thinks the UK Pensions Regulator should be allowed to decide the appropriate level of funding for the pension schemes of companies involved in buyout deals.

Hellman & Friedman taps Intuit exec

San Francisco-based Hellman & Friedman is furthering the trend for private equity firms to hire partners with operations backgrounds.

Tax changes would hit smaller firms hardest(3)

Lyceum Capital chief executive Philip Buscombe has weighed into the row over the tax treatment of carried interest, suggesting that changes to the rules will affect the ability of smaller buyout and venture capital firms to attract talented managers from the corporate world.

Newmark warns Gordon Brown over tax on carry(3)

Brooks Newmark, Conservative Member of Parliament and former buyout partner, said the UK Chancellor seemed set on increasing tax paid on carried interest, but warned that he should tread carefully.

Sovereign completes latest Kinetics bolt-on

Sovereign Capital has continued its buy-and-build strategy for Kinetics Group, the maintenance business it created earlier this year, with the £7.25 million bolt-on acquisition of gas maintenance company TA Horn.

British breakthrough on Web 2.0(3)

Last week’s acquisition of London-based web start-up Last.fm for $280m could herald a new era for UK internet companies. Dave Keating reports.

CD&R sells Brakes to Bain for £1.3bn

US buyout firm Bain Capital has won the race to buy Brake Bros, a UK food distribution business, from Clayton Dubilier & Rice, in a deal thought to be worth about £1.3 billion.