cnolan
Australian investor Macquarie is planning to launch a fourth European fund focused on infrastructure deals, Reuters reported. The fund, which will likely exceed 1 billion euro, is expected to launch in the first half of 2011. The firm’s first three infrastructure funds amounted to 1.5 billion euros ($1.98 billion), 4.6 billion and 1.2 billion, Reuters said.
Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital plans to raise 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) for its second yuan-denominated fund, Reuters reported. The firm will invest across industries including pharmaceuticals, energy and financial services. Hony currently has more than 30 billion yuan under management, Reuters said.
Beating out bids from rival buyout shops, Apax Partners is now in exclusive talks to buy Danish cleaning company ISS, Reuters reported. ISS is currently owned by Goldman Sachs and Swedish private equity firm EQT. The deal, valued at about $8.5 billion, could become Europe’s largest buyout since the credit crisis, Reuters said. ISS is one of the world’s largest facilities services companies, with more than 500,000 employees.
The Carlyle Group is seen as a likely buyer for Dutch buyout shop AlpInvest, Reuters reported, citing Dutch financial daily Het Financieele Dagblad. A sale of AlpInvest is expected by the end of the year. At the end of 2009, the Dutch firm had 29 billion euros ($38.3 billion) invested for its owners, Dutch pension managers APG and PGGM, Reuters said.
Citigroup Venture Capital International, Partners in Life Sciences and Greek private equity firm Global Finance are looking to sell Turkish drugmaker Biofarma, Reuters reported. Citigroup Venture Capital and Partners in Life Sciences bought the copycat drugmaker for $200 million three years ago, and later sold a stake to Global Finance. Reuters reported that the firms have begun an auction for Biofarma, and that JPMorgan is managing the sale.
Private equity investor Partners Group, along with DLJ South American Partners, have invested an undisclosed amount in Brazilian watchmaker Technos da Amazônia. Technos assembles and distributes wristwatches in Brazil, and has a roughly 36% share of that market. The investment is designed to help Technos expand its international partnerships and expand the company’s reach.
Buyout shop Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. plans to invest as much as $625 million in a partnership with El Paso Corp., an energy company, Reuters reported. The deal will focus on developing natural gas processing plants and pipelines. The private equity firm will pay $125 million for a 50% stake in El Paso's Altamont gas gathering and processing assets, Reuters said. The firm will spend up to $500 million more for future projects.
Japan's Daikin Industries, an air conditioner manufacturer, is in talks to buy its U.S.-based rival Goodman Global Group from private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, Reuters said, citing a Bloomberg report. The buyout shop has rejected one proposal for the company, valued at $3.6 billion, though the two firms are now negotiating a revised proposal, Reuters reported. San Francisco-based Hellman & Friedman agreed to pay $1.8 billion in cash for Goodman Global in October 2007.
Private equity firm Sun Capital Partners has bought the pork processing business of Canadian company Maple Leaf Foods. Financial terms of the deal were not released. Based in Burlington, Ontario, the pork processing operation is the largest such facility in Ontario. It’s not the first food processing deal for Sun Capital: the firm has previously invested in Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef and Toronto-based CanGro Foods, among other deals.
LHP Hospital Group, which is backed by private equity firm CCMP Capital Advisors, has named Paul Kappelman division president, and added Vance Reynolds as CEO of its Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Kappelman is the former CEO of Northwest Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. Reynolds was previously CEO of Mississippi-based River Region Health System. LHP Hospital Group is based in Plano, Texas.