Florida-based Empire Investment Holdings completed the sale of portfolio company VITEC Solutions to Vitec Partners, a holding company run by a private investment group. Terms of the deal were not publicized. KPMG Corporate Finance LLC acted as the exclusive advisor to Empire during this process.
Scrip Products Corp., which is backed by Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Co., has bought Allegro Medical. Financial terms weren't announced. Allegro is an internet-based distributor of medical equipment and supplies selling direct to consumers and businesses throughout the U.S. Beeken Petty is a Chicago PE firm. News of the deal was disclosed by Livingstone, an investment bank, which advised Scrip.
AXA Private Equity and Resource Partners have together bought a majority stake in SIA Baltkom, Latvia's largest cable TV operator. Financial terms weren't announced. The deal is the first joint investment by AXA and Resource, according to a statement. Resource, of Poland, is PE firm that targets Eastern Europe.
Lynx Equity Limited, a Canadian manager of private equity funds, has acquired Techni-Lite Systems Inc., a Peterborough, Ontario, manufacturer of lighting systems and illuminated sign boxes. Financial terms of the deal, which closed on March 11, were not released.
Consumer goods packager Silgan Holdings Inc. said it will pay $1.3 billion in cash and stock to acquire smaller rival Graham Packaging Company Inc., Reuters reported. Private equity firm Blackstone holds a 61% stake in Graham Packaging. The acquisition, valued at $4.1 billion including debt, will help Silgan boost the number of manufacturing facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia, Reuters reported.
Buyout shop Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. has backed out of the race for Polish mobile operator Polkomtel, Reuters reported. The company is expected to be valued at up to 18 billion zlotys ($6.6 billion). Last month Polkomtel shortlisted seven bidders, including private equity firms Apax Partners, Providence Equity Partners, Bain Capital and KKR.
British online payment company Skrill has pulled its planned London initial public offering, blaming poor market conditions, Reuters reported. The company, which is majority owned by private equity group Investcorp Technology Partners, had planned to had planned to sell 80 million pounds of new shares in the offering to help fund its expansion into new products and locations, Reuters wrote.
Private equity shop Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. will pay $159 million for a 10% stake in Vietnam's Masan Consumer Corp, Reuters reported. The deal is the largest ever private equity investment in Vietnam. The deal values Masan Consumer, a unit of Masan Group and Vietnam's leading producer of fish, soya, chili sauce and branded noodles, at $1.6 billion, Reuters said. KKR's investment comes from its $4 billion Asian Fund L.P., which closed in 2007 and is now around 65 percent invested.
Blackstone Group has bought about $600 million in debt on a group of industrial properties, Reuters reported, citing a Bloomberg story. Blackstone bought the mezzanine debt on the U.S. portfolio CalWest from a number of financial institutions, including Barclays, Bloomberg reported.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen is bidding for a minority stake in the New York Mets baseball team, Reuters reported, citing a story in the Wall Street Journal. The team is attempting to raise roughly $200 million to cover losses and pay down debt, Reuters wrote. Other bidders for the stake include Marc Spilker, president of private-equity fund Apollo Global Management LLC.