Barry Whyte

Private equity firm GenNx360 Capital Partners has appointed Matthew Guenther as a partner. Guenther has been at GenNx360 since 2007, prior to which he was at Walden Capital Partners. GenNx360 is focused on small, business-to-business companies with $50 to $500 million in revenues.

Ryan Harper and Edward Sobol have been appointed vice presidents at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, the New York private equity firm. Harper was previously vice president at Summit Partners, while Sobol is a former vice president at Bain Capital. Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe focuses mainly on information/business and healthcare, manages $20 billion in capital, and has a current portfolio of over thirty companies.

Indian shipbuilder Pipavav Shipyard Ltd said today that some of the private equity firms, which combined account for 100 million shares in the company, are selling out after a lock-in period to hold shares ended. New York Life Insurance, Trikona Capital, Indus Capital, Standard Chartered Private Equity and Citadel all hold shares in Pipavav, but Nikhil Gandhi, the chairman of the company, did not know who was selling out. The details are expected to be available on Monday.

AZ Electronic Materials, which makes certain chemicals for use in flat panel computers, is planning to raise about $400 million in an initial public offering in London, the company announced. AZ Electronic Materials is backed by private equity firms Carlyle Group and Vestar Capital Partners, with each holding 41.8 percent. The company said it will use the funds to repay debt and realize funds for its investors.

British Smaller Technology Companies VCT 2 plc, the British-based venture capital firm, has appointed Peter Charles Waller as non-executive director of the company, to replace PS Cammerman, who stepped down on September 22. Waller is a non-executive director and chairman of Corero plc and was previously a director of Biotrace International plc.

Norwegian private equity firm Pareto is set to buy Orkla Finans, a rival Norwegian private equity firm, Pareto announced. The details of the deal were not disclosed. Pareto has more than 400 employees and equity capital of close to NOK 3.3 billion ($564 million). Pareto will buy all the shares in Orkla Finans.

The European Union has given regulatory approval to U.S. buyout firm TPG and the private equity unit of Goldman Sachs to buy Belgian diaper maker Ontex from Candover, another private equity firm. The deal will cost EUR1.2 billion ($1.64 billion), making it the largest European buyout this year.

Alfa Laval, the Swedish engineering group, has raised its offer for Munters, a Swedish manufacturer of pumps and heat-transfer products, in an attempt to trump a private equity offer for the company by Cidron, which is backed by private equity fund Nordic Capital VII Limited. The new bid is worth 5.55 billion Swedish crowns ($821.7 million) – more than Cidron’s previous offer of 5.4 billion crowns ($787 million). Alfa Laval said that the Munters board has decided to recommend that shareholders accept the offer.

Huntsman Gay Global Capital, a middle market private equity firm, has taken a majority holding in iQor Holdings, a New York-based outsourcing company, the private equity firm announced. The details of the deal have not been disclosed. iQor claims more than $350 million in revenue for 2009, with 11,000 employees in 21 locations in North America, Europe, India and Asia.

Private equity firm CVC is expected to receive bids of between EUR1 billion to EUR1.2 billion ($1.4 billion to $1.6 billion) for Mivisa, the Spanish food-can maker. Fellow private equity firms Blackstone, Carlyle , and Apollo are said to be circling, according to a Reuters report. First round bids are expected on Friday.