Invest-IQ

PE firm Penta Investments and asset managers Eastbridge have now raised their bid for Polish retail company Empik Media & Fashion to PLZ 10.38 per share. The first offer, pegged at PLZ 410 mln for a 40-percent stake in the company, was rejected in favor of a higher bid, which seems to have come through. [...]

Leading Russian internet-centric VC firm Fast Lane Ventures has decided to sell its Shopping Live stake to Home Shopping Europe, a German company. Shopping Live was one of Fast Lane’s earliest and most successful portfolio companies to date, and marks Fast Lane’s second successful exit bid. Home Shopping Europe (www.hse24.de) Home Shopping Europe (HSE24)is a [...]

The EUR 2.65 bln sale of Starbev to Molson Coors by CVC is the latter’s second largest PE deal of this year.  Two and a half years ago, CVC bought StarBev for EUR 2.23 bln; the Eastern European brewer now has nine different facilities that account for EUR 700 mln each in annual revenues and [...]

JP Morgan’s PE offspring, One Equity, has found a buyer for its 34.5 percent stake in Austrian aluminium and aluminium products supply company, Austria Metall (AMAG). Private investor Ronny Pecik has shown interest in the EUR 220 mln share currently owned by One Equity. In possibly related news, the supervisory board of AMAG has sanctioned [...]

Eugene Kaspersky, the Russian tech entrepreneur who runs the world’s fourth largest and Europe’s largest antivirus company, will buy back the shares of Greenwich, Connecticut based private equity firm General Atlantic. Kaspersky Labs had sold a 20 pc stake a year ago for USD 200 million to General Atlantic when it was planning to launch [...]

Former investor in the Russian Union and Eastern Europe, Salford Capital Partners, has quit the dairy business in the form of an exit from Imlek and Mlekara Subotica. Salford’s stake in the dairy producers will be bought out by Dutch group FrieslandCampina according to the memorandum of understanding signed between the two parties. Imlek’s 79 [...]

British insurance major Aviva has sold its life insurance and pensions business in Romania and life insurance business in Hungary and the Czech Republic to MetLife Inc. The businesses had combined assets of EUR 57 million at the end of H1, 2011. The deal is expected to be completed before the end of 2012, subject [...]

UAE-based investment house Abraaj Capital  has divested its 50 percent stake in Turkish healthcare services provider, Acibadem. The divested shares are being transferred to Khazanah Nasional, the investment wing of the Malaysian government, as well as Integrated Healthcare Holdings. Acibadem, formerly owned fully by the Aydinlar family, will take its holdings down to 25 percent, with [...]

Ciceksepeti – a Turkish online gifts and flower start-up, has sold a minority stake to online retail giant Amazon. The Istanbul-headquartered company sells toys, flowers, jewelry, gourmet products and other gift items to customers across the country. Ciceksepeti (www.ciceksepeti.com) Founded in 2006 by CEO Emre Aydin, the 160 employee firm had earlier raised funding from [...]

The Baltic SME Fund – an investment vehicle advised by leading private equity investor BaltCap, has sold its significant minority stake in Estonian textile rental and laundry service provider Tallinna Pesumaja to local private investors. The Baltic state’s leading PE fund had provided capital for setting up a new laundry facility and development of the [...]

Strategic Value Partners – a US based distressed assets investment specialist, has exited Polish personal care chain operator Polbita, five years after it had acquired Polbita’s parent company IWP International. The Polbita sale marks the third and final round of divestment of the IWP portfolio. The US alternative investment group had invested EUR 90 million [...]

Advent International-backed animal nutrition leader Provimi Pet Food has sold its French factory to rival company ATM. Following the sale, Hungary-based Provimi will operate from seven production units in Europe, with expansion plans underway for Germany, Romania and Poland. ATM (www.hery.fr) ATM, founded in 1980, is headed by Eric Charles. Héry Laboratoires is one of [...]

Maxim Integrated Products has acquired SensorDynamics, a micro-electro-mechanical systems and wireless semiconductor manufacturer, after buying out stakes held by five significant stakeholders.

Polish telecom provider ASTER Sp. z.o.o. has been sold to US cable operator Liberty Global, Inc. (LGI) in a 100 percent equity transfer agreement between LGI and British private equity firm Mid Europa Partners LLP. The deal, which was announced in December 2010 and expected to be closed by June 2011, has only recently been [...]

Investor Genesis Capital is seeking to exit its investment in Czech designer clothing brand Pietro Filipi. Genesis had acquired a 58 percent stake in the fashion brand for Kč  63 million in 2004. Michaela Bakala’s Luxury Brand Management is rumored to have evinced interest in acquiring the stake. Pietro Filipi (www.pietro-filipi.com) The Pietro Filipi fashion label can be [...]

Quadriga Capital sold its 35% stake in Speech Technology Center to Gazprombank. Gazprombank also acquired more shares of the company from the founders, making Gazprombank the largest shareholder of the company. Speech Technology Center (speechpro.com) Speech Technology Center is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia and has subsidiaries in Germany, United States and Mexico. The company [...]

Unilever, a Dutch-Anglo consumer goods company has announced that its South Central European Division has acquired Darko from the Balkan Accession Fund (BAF). Darko is the second largest ice cream maker in Bulgaria. Final approval from the Commission on Protection of Competition is all that is left to close the deal. Darko (www.darko.bg) Darko was [...]

Edipresse, a Swiss media group, has taken over a majority stake in Pomocini, a Polish online marketplace. Edipresse acquired all the shares held by BMP Media Investors AG (17.24%), as well as the shares held by angel investors and other small holding companies. Pomocini (www.pomocini.pl) Pomocini was established in 2008, and offers a large variety [...]

Fama Serdika, a Bulgarian milk and dairy company, was sold to Fermer 2006, by Spanish equity fund GED. Fermer 2006 has ties to the large Bulgarian food company Bella Bulgaria. As of May 20, 2011 the company lists a new owner and board of directors for the company. Fama Serdika (www.fama-serdika.bg) Fama Serdika is the [...]

BC Partners, a United Kingdom private equity firm, has sold SOK, a Turkish discount grocery chain, and subsidiary of Migros Ticaret, Turkey’s largest supermarket chain. Gozde Finansal and Bizim Toptan acquired the chain for USD 380.1 million. Murat Ulker is the leading shareholder in both of these firms and is also associated with Ulker group, [...]