At press time… –

….At press time, Cinven, the major European buyout investor, with offices in London, Paris and Frankfurt, announced that its third Cinven has reached a final close with commitments from over 100 international institutions totalling over more than EURO4.3 billion. The final closing -which was achieved within the fund’s original timescale – has significantly exceeded its EURO3.5 billion target.

The amount committed at final closing compares with the previous Cinven fund of EURO2.4 billion raised in 1998, which is now fully invested. The larger size of fund reflects the growing number and size of opportunities in the large buyout market across the whole of Europe, according to the firm.

The fund has already completed its first two investments. In December 2001 the firm purchased Klckner Pentaplast, a global leader in rigid film for packaging based in Germany. In March 2002, Cinven completed the buyout of the Unique Pub Co., one of the U.K.’s largest pub groups.

In addition, earlier in April, Cinven announced the acquisition in France of the health care and business publishing activities of Vivendi Universal Publishing (“VUP”) which is expected to complete in June 2002. The $1.2 billion deal also involved The Carlyle Group and Apax Partners.