Although 2009 is certainly a year to forget - Unquote

European round-up
unquote
Benelux unquote”
June may have been rather sedate, but the Benelux region could soon witness its biggest deal in years. TPG and Goldman Sachs’
private equity wing are closing in on a 1.2bn deal to buy Belgian nappy maker Ontex from Candover. The bid originally
stumbled when Goldman Sachs’ initial partner withdrew from the sale. However, TPG’s involvement put it back on track and the
sale should be completed in the coming weeks.
News was otherwise scarce on the buyout front; Apax Partners agreed to acquire BNP Paribas’s Belgian personal finance arm for
an undisclosed amount. Meanwhile, Barclays Private Equity bought MPS Meat Processing Systems in a secondary buyout from
Steadfast Capital.
In the Netherlands, Gilde Buyout Partners closed its Gilde Buyout Fund IV on 800m. Launched in March 2009, the vehicle
will make equity investments of 25-200m in mid-market companies across a wide range of industries, with a core focus on the
Benelux, German-speaking and French economies.
Last but not least, all eyes could turn to Amsterdam if reports of an AlpInvest sale were to materialise. Owned by Dutch pension
funds ABP and PGGM, AlpInvest is one of the largest European private equity firms. With more than 40bn under management,
it specialises in fund investments, secondary investments, co-investments and mezzanine transactions.
Deutsche unquote”
The DACH region has seen a steady increase in activity across the board. Fundraising has seen its first recorded activity in a
few months with Swiss-based SAM Private Equity holding a first close on its cleantech fund-of-funds. Buyout activity has been
reasonably prevalent, with a number of deals being closed in the last few weeks. HgCapital’s acquisition of Teufel Speakers from
Riverside is a recent significant transaction.
Another secondary buyout, Nordic Capital’s acquisition of German company SiC Processing, was one of the more prominent
investments for the region. The value of the deal was not disclosed, but the acquisition gave exiting investor Frog Capital a 3x
return on investment. Other deals of note include NORD Holding’s MBO of Uhlig Rohrbogen GmbH and Chequers Capital’s
66m acquisition of Versatel Kabel.
Early-stage and expansion deals in the DACH region have been highly active, with Earlybird accounting for three investments,
in CrowdPark, B2X Care Solutions and ubitricity. Additionally, WHEB Ventures provided 4.4m in expansion funding for
VIA Optronics.
The exit window, which seems to have opened lately, has seen a few more deals close. Apart from the two exits included in the
secondary buyouts already mentioned, Permira, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and SV Life Sciences exited Cognis in a trade
sale to BASF. The exit gave a reported 3x return on investment for Permira.
Nordic unquote”
The Nordic market has once again proven to be a strong source for private equity activity. The number of deals has continuously
grown in the first half of the year, as the Nordic region prepares for the summer holidays. There have been two fund closures in
the last few weeks, with CapMan Buyout IX and the secondaries fund Cubera V reaching final close. Both funds will focus on the
Nordic region.
Chalmers Innovation led the increase in early-stage and expansion investments recorded by unquote”. A total of five investments
have been reported by the investor in recent month. Other early-stage deals include Vækstfonden’s investment in biotech company
EntomoPharm and Norinnova’s backing of VIVision Roller. The largest expansion deal was for NOK 52m in resort operator
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