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EQT Opportunity Fund is selling its stake in German retail chain Strauss Innovation to Sun European Partners. Minority shareholder the Geringhoff family will also exit the company. Terms of the deal were not released. EQT Opportunity acquired Strauss in 2008.
An investor group led by private equity firm Thoma Bravo will buy Internet-monitoring gear maker Blue Coat Systems Inc. for about $1.3 billion in cash, Reuters wrote Friday. The deal values Blue Coat at $25.81 a share, roughly a 48% premium to Thursday's close.
Andrew Chung, a partners at Khosla Ventures, has joined the board of engine developer EcoMotors. Established in 2008, EcoMotors is based in Allen Park, Mich., and backed by Khosla Ventures and Bill Gates.
Jeffrey Goldstein has rejoined Hellman & Friedman as a managing director. Goldstein returns to the private equity firm after serving as Under Secretary of the Treasury for Domestic Finance and Counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury from 2009 to 2011. He will be based in the firm’s New York offices and will resume his investment focus on the financial services sector, the firm said.
Los Angeles-based private equity firm Gores Group has completed its acquisition of Alpheus Communications, one of the largest fiber network and data center operators in Texas. Terms were not released. The firm plans to combine Alpheus with First Communications, an existing Gores portfolio company. Genesis Park and El Paso Corp. are the sellers.
Private equity firm Sycamore Partners' $3 a share bid for Talbots Inc. is "opportunistic and a very low offer," a top investor in the retailer said, according to a Reuters report. Sycamore, which owns 9.9% of Talbots, offered to buy it for about $212 million on Tuesday. Talbots has struggled recently, with its stock price dropping 82% this year. On Tuesday, when Sycamore made its offer, Talbots was worth about $110.3 million.
Shaner Capital has acquired Pittsburgh-based Metal Foundations, a company specializing in the design, engineering and installation of metal foundations for building. Terms of the deal were not released.
Advent International, Carlyle Group, Charterhouse, Avista and Clessidra all submitted second round bids for Italian drugs company Rottapharm, Reuters reported Thursday. The company is hoping to be valued at up to 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion), Reuters wrote.
Avenda Systems, a network security company backed by OVP Venture Partners, has been acquired by publicly traded Aruba Networks Inc. Terms of the deal were not released. Avenda employees join Aruba at its campuses in Sunnyvale, Calif., and Bangalore, India, the company said.
Alibaba Group is seeking up to $4 billion in debt financing, in a deal expected to help the Chinese e-commerce giant buy back a 40% stake in the company owned by Yahoo Inc., Reuters wrote Thursday. As Alibaba Group is private, there is no public figure on what Yahoo's stake is worth, though some analysts say its worth at least $9 billion, Reuters reported.