Deals

Access Industries is buying Warner Music Group in a $3.3 billion deal. Access, which is paying $8.25 a share, beat out a bid from the Tom Gores and Alec Gores firms Platinum Equity and The Gores Group. Access also trumped an offer from Sony, which partnered with Guggenheim Partners and investor Ron Perelman. Goldman Sachs and AGM Partners advised Warner, while Credit Suisse and UBS served as financial advisers to Access.

Alta Growth Capital, a provider of growth equity to middle-market companies in Mexico, has sealed a minority stake in marine oil distributor Bunker’s Group. Terms of the deal were not released. Bunker’s Group, formed in 1993, will use the cash infusion to increase its installed capacity.

Angelo, Gordon & Co. and publicly traded Pacific Office Properties Trust Inc. have teamed up on two joint ventures, formed to own two separate office properties: the City Square Office Towers in Phoenix; and the Pacific Business News Building, in Honolulu. The partnerships are the latest in a slew of joint ventures between the two firms. Together they have completed more than $950 million in acquisitions, the companies said in a written statement. Terms of the latest deals were not released.

Apax Partners has teamed up with Deficom Telecom to acquire certain assets of French cable operator Numericable. The two companies will pay more than €350 million ($493 million) for Numericable’s units in Belgium and Luxembourg. Deficom is based in Luxembourg.

Apax Partners has extended the offer it is making for Epicor Software Corp., which was set to expire. The firm is offering an additional week to Epicor, which will coincide with the expected closing of the related debt financing transactions. Apax previously announced plans to buy both Epicor and business management software company Activant and merge the two.

Apollo Global Management will acquire publicly traded CKx Inc., a company that owns the rights to the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley, among other entertainment properties. The deal is valued at about $510 million. Apollo will pay CKx shareholder $5.50 per share, a 40 percent premium over the company’s average closing price over the past six months. Goldman Sachs is providing debt financing for the deal.

Applied Merchant Systems West Coast Inc. has added $15 million in debt financing from Monroe Capital. The money will help Applied Merchant refinance existing debt, repurchase common stock and provide working capital. Applied Merchant Systems, based in Oxnard, Calif., provides products and services to the electronic merchant transaction processing industry. Monroe Capital provides senior and junior debt and equity co-investments to middle-market companies in the U.S. and Canada.

Arle Capital has led a buyout, with engineering group Stork Technical Services, of the Scotland-based oilfield services firm RBG, Reuters reported. Arle and Stork bought the company from private equity shop 3i Group, Reuters said. Financial terms of the deal were not released. Arle Capital spun out of the buyout house Candover last January. Candover, a private equity victim of the credit crunch, decided last year to wind itself down.

Washington, DC-based Arlington Capital Partners has recapitalized privately held Iron Data Solutions. Atlanta-based Iron Data develops software designed to assess, improve, manage and monitor challenging operational process issues for federal, state and local government clients, as well as private sector customers. No terms of the deal were released. Arlington Capital has roughly $1.4 billion of committed capital, and focuses on middle-market investment.

August Capital has invested an undisclosed amount in Conexant Systems Inc. Conexant is a maker of semiconductor technology for imaging, audio, embedded modem, and video surveillance applications. In April, the company was acquired by San Francisco-based private equity firm Golden Gate Capital. Terms of the August Capital investment were not released, though the firm said that August partner Andy Rappaport would serve on the Conexant board.

AXA Private Equity said Wednesday that it is taking a 30 percent stake in FrancEnergies Group, a French energy solutions specialist.

Bain Capital Partners and a subsidiary of Oaktree Capital Management teamed together to invest $1 billion in International Market Centers, with the intent of developing the showrooms assets. International Market Centers has locations in North Carolina and Las Vegas. Phil Loughlin, managing director, worked on the deal from Bain Capital. Kirkland & Ellis is counsel for Bain Capital, Paul Weiss is acting as legal advisor to the Oaktree entities, and Paul Hastings represents related companies.

BC Partners will buy Italian clothing retailer Gruppo Coin in a deal valuing the company at €930 million ($1.34 billion), Reuters reported. The firm will acquire 78.7 percent of Gruppo Coin, buying a large part of its a stake from PAI Partners, Reuters said. PAI Partners currently owns 69.3 percent of Coin.

Blackstone Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. are weighing up offers for France Telecom’s stake in Mobistar, Reuters reported. The firms are studying France Telecom’s 52.9 percent stake. A potential buyout could value Mobistar at more than €3 million ($4.29 billion), Reuters reported.

Bridgepoint and French financial holding company Eurazeo have acquired Foncia, the real estate unit of French bank Groupe BPCE, Reuters reported, citing a story by Les Echos.fr. Terms of the deal were not released. BPCE has recently been selling and spinning off non-core assets, Reuters said.

BuyWithMe Inc. acquired DealADayOnline, a group buying and social commerce company focused on the Chicago marketplace. BuyWithMe.com is a New York-based developer of marketing solutions. It is backed by Bain Capital and Matrix Partners.

BV Investment Partners, the former Boston Ventures, has completed the acquisition of Butterfield Fulcrum and FORS Ltd. Glenn Henderson will serve as CEO while Tim Calveley will be COO. Both Henderson and Calveley will retain significant ownership stakes, a statement said. Bermuda-based Butterfield is a fund administrator while FORS Ltd. provides accounting and reporting services.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board said that it paid €270 million ($386 million) for a 50 percent stake in CentrO Oberhausen, a German shopping and leisure center. CPPIB is buying the stake from Stadium Group, a private group of companies that specializes in retail properties, Reuters reported. In an unrelated deal, CPPIB also bought a 36.9 percent stake in Mayflower partnership, which owns a portfolio of 13 regional malls located in the United States, Reuters said.

Centerbridge Capital Partners and Leucadia National Corp. have launched a joint bid for Citigroup’s consumer lending unit, Reuters reported, citing a Bloomberg report. The size of the bid is not known. Citigroup has been selling assets as part of a move to simplify the company’s business. With their bid, Centerbridge and Leucadia join three other bids for the unit, which is known as OneMain, Reuters said.

Charlesbank Capital Partners has acquired DEI Holdings, the California-based maker of consumer electronics products, off the Pink Sheets in a $285 million deal. The deal includes a 35-day go-shop for DEI. Charlesbank has secured committed debt financing from General Electric Capital Corp. and OPY Credit Corp., an affiliate of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Greenberg Traurig LLP is acting as legal adviser to DEI Holdings in connection with the transaction. Goodwin Procter LLP is acting as legal adviser to Charlesbank.

Charterhouse

has acquired a majority stake in environmental consultancy Environmental Resource Management from rival buyout shop Bridgepoint, Reuters reported. The deal is reportedly valued at roughly $950 million. Charterhouse will take a 65 percent stake in ERM.

Investment firm Chicago Associates has recapitalized Genuine Scooters LLC and its parent company Scooter Works USA Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Chicago-based Genuine Scooters makes the Stella and Buddy brands of motor scooters. Investment banking firm Livingstone advised Genuine Scooters on the deal.

Credit Agricole, Goldman Sachs and Natixis are arranging a leverage loan worth up to €500 million ($719.6 million) to back Eurazeo and Bridgepoint‘s buyout of BPCE bank’s real estate arm Foncia, Reuters reported Wednesday. The acquisition will have a total size ranging from €900 million to €1 billion ($1.29 billion to $1.43 billion), Reuters wrote.

CVC Capital Partners paid 4.96 billion Philippine pesos ($115 million) for a 15 percent stake in Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Reuters reported. CVC will take two board seats with the company, which is the Philippines’ fifth-largest bank by assets. Proceeds from the deal will be used, in part, to buy up small and mid-sized banks in the Philippines.

Datapipe, a provider of enterprise IT services, said it closed on $176 million in equity and debt financing. The equity investment comes from ABRY Partners. The debt financing comes from a syndicate of lenders led by TD Securities as agent, joined by Brown Brothers Harriman, CapitalSource, Caterpillar Financial, CIT Group, GE Capital, ING and Raymond James Financial. Datapipe will use the new money for expansion. Datapipe is based in New Jersey.

General Atlantic has acquired a minority stake in Studio Moderna Holdings. Existing investors Insight Venture Partners, Templeton Strategic Emerging Markets Fund III and JH Partners also participated in the deal. Financial terms were not announced. Studio Moderna is an e-commerce and direct to consumer platform in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Turkey.

General Atlantic and Tiger Global Management participated in a growth capital investment in PeixeUrbano, a collective buying Web site in Brazil. PeixeUrbano plans to use the capital for recruiting, new marketing campaigns and geographical expansion.

Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Weston Presidio have invested an undisclosed amount in Apple American Group, an Applebee’s franchisee. Apple American’s management team also participated in the round, and retains a “significant ownership” in the company, according to a written release. Weston Presidio first invested in the company in 2005, and sold a portion of its stake to Goldman. Apple American is based in Independence, Ohio.

The Gores Group said it has acquired Sage Automotive Interiors. Financial terms weren’t announced. Azalea Capital was the seller. Greenville, S.C.-based Sage provides bodycloth for automobile makers and employs 1,200 people globally. Azalea, an investment firm based in Greenville, S.C., bought Sage from Milliken & Co. in September 2009.

Hertz, which is owned by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, The Carlyle Group and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, offered $72 a share, or nearly $2.1 billion, for the No.2 U.S. car rental firm, Dollar Thrifty. Last year, Avis made an offer for Dollar Thrifty, which has been awaiting antitrust clearance.

H.I.G. Europe, along with Bayside Capital, has acquired Silentnight, a bed and mattress manufacturer in the U.K. H.I.G. Europe is the European arm of H.I.G. Capital.

H.I.G. Capital portfolio company Surgery Center Holdings has completed its acquisition of publicly traded NovaMed. Surgery Center Holdings operates free-standing ambulatory surgical centers in partnership with physicians.

INC Research, which is backed by Avista Capital Partners and Ontario Teachers’ Pension, has agreed to buy Kendle International in a deal valued at about $232 million. JP Morgan Securities advised Kendle while Morgan Stanley served as financial adviser to INC Research.

Bahrain-based Investcorp has bought a majority stake in U.K.-based online booking company Eviivo Ltd, Reuters reported. The amount of its investment was not released, though the firm said the deal valued Eviivo at roughly £30 million ($49.2 million).

Investors including JAM Special Opportunities Fund II have put $12.5 million into Houston-based First Investors Financial Services Group Inc. The purchase of 1.7 million shares will occur across two tranches, the company said. The money will be used to fund growth in First Investors’ portfolio of automobile receivables and for general corporate purposes. Falconbridge Capital Markets LLC served as an adviser to First Investors.

New York-based J.C. Flowers won a bid to enter exclusive talks to buy Compagnie Europeene de Prevoyance, Reuters reported. Compagnie Europeene de Prevoyance is a French loan insurance broker. Financial terms were not disclosed. However, a source familiar with the matter said the deal with French private equity firm PAI Partners valued the company at more than €800 million ($1.16 billion).

With regulatory hurdles threatening to derail the $4.1 billion buyout of Korea Exchange Bank, South Korea’s Hana Financial Group and buyout shop Lone Star are working to extend the planned deal, Reuters reported. Before the deal can proceed, a court must meet to rule on stock price manipulation charges involving KEB’s current majority owner Lone Star.

Landsbanki has retained UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to evaluate a possible sale of its majority stake in British frozen-food retailer Iceland Foods, Reuters reported. The Icelandic bank began seeking advisers for the £1 billion ($1.59 billion)-plus sale in January. It owns 67 percent, Reuters said.

Littlejohn & Co., the Connecticut-based firm, announced that it has restructured Synventive Molding Solutions, a maker of components for the global injection molding industry. Terms of the transaction were not publicized. Littlejohn’s Robert Davis, managing director of distressed investments, Brian Ramsay and Antonio Miranda joined Synventive’s board and the company is now majority-controlled by Littlejohn.

Lion Capital LLP of London and Goode Partners LLC of New York signed an agreement to buy brand AllSaints Spitalfields, Reuters reported. Financial terms were not disclosed. AllSaints is a British fashion brand.

Marlin Equity Partners portfolio company Emptoris has bought Xcitec, a Munich, Germany-based provider of supply management services. Financial terms were not announced.

Mistral Equity Partners has acquired Worldwise, which supplies dog and cat products under the SmartyKat, PoochPlanet and Petlinks brands. Financial terms were not announced. New York-based Mistral Equity targets consumer, retail and consumer focused media sectors.

Boston-based Monitor Clipper Partners has acquired the assets of Pharmetics Inc., aside from the company’s Fort Erie manufacturing facility. Pharmetics, based in Quebec, produces vitamin, mineral and dietary supplements and has an over-the-counter drug operation. With its recent investment in prescription benefits manager ScriptSave, it’s likely that Monitor Clipper can find synergies between the two assets.

Navigation Capital Partners

portfolio company Metadigm Services, a provider of field and data management services to electric, water and gas utilities, has acquired Power Engineering Associates, a Cleveland, Tenn.-based utility consulting firm. Terms of the deal were not released. Navigation Capital is based in Atlanta.

North American Financial Holdings has agreed to buy a 90.1 percent stake in Green Bankshares for $217 million. NAFH is a is a “blind pool” that raised $900 million in 2009. Investors include Crestview Partners and Falfurrias Capital Partners. Green Bankshares, of Greeneville, Tenn., is parent of GreenBank, which has $2.4 billion in assets and 65 branches.

Novacap Industries, a Canadian buyout firm, has acquired Idaho Pacific Holdings, a unit of Otter Tail Corp. Financial terms were not announced. Idaho Pacific makes dehydrated potato products that are used in the industrial food and baking industries. News of the sale was disclosed by Harris Williams which advised IPH.

Onex Corp. plans to invest $675 million in JELD-WEN Holdings Inc., Reuters reported. It intends to pay $475 million to acquire a 39 percent stake in the Oregon-based door maker. Onex, of Canada, plans to invest $200 million through a convertible note that can be redeemed within 18 months.

Eight bidders, including Penta Investments and private equity firm EQT, will vie for the Polish assets of Swedish utility Vattenfall, Reuters reported, estimating the size of the deal at up to €1.5 billion ($2.1 billion). Other bidders include French utility GdF, Polish utility Tauron and gas monopoly PGNiG, Reuters wrote.

Private equity investor Piper has acquired a minority stake in UK-based Celtic Sheepskin, which sells sheepskin boots and natural clothing online and via direct mail. Financial terms of the deal were not released. The infusion of cash will be used for growth.

Australia’s Redflex Holding lost a third of its market value the day after it rejected a A$303 million ($327 million) takeover bid by The Carlyle Group and investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd, Reuters reported. Carlyle and Macquarie had raised their offer to A$2.75 from A$2.70 per share. Redflex manufactures and operates highway safety equipment such as digital speed and red-light cameras.

Schneider Electric SA is in talks with unnamed private-equity firms about partnering on a $30 billion-plus bid for Tyco International Ltd, Reuters reported, citing a story in the New York Post. Talks are in an early stage, Reuters said. Schneider is based in France.

Melbourne-based cleaning service company Spotless Group has rejected a conditional A$657 million ($705 million) bid from The Blackstone Group, Reuters reported. The offer, at $2.68 per share, was deemed too low by company directors, Reuters said.

TA Associates portfolio company Aurora Networks has acquired GoBackTV, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based stream-based video services firm. Aurora Networks is based in Santa Clara, Calif. Terms of the deal were not publicized.

TA Associates has sealed a minority stake in Tega Industries Ltd, a provider of products and services used in mining, mineral processing, screening, grinding and material handling. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Tega is based in Kolkata, India. Avendus Capital Private Ltd provided advisory services to Tega.

Thoma Bravo has agreed to buy Tripwire, a Portland provider of audit software for businesses and government agencies. Financial terms weren’t announced. Original investors include Advanced Technology Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, BA Ventures and Institutional Venture Partners. JP Morgan provided financial advice to Tripwire.

TPG Capital portfolio company Axcan Intermediate Holdings Inc. said it is changing its name to Aptalis Pharma following Axcan’s $583 million buy of Eurand earlier this year.

TPG Capital will buy Primedia Inc., a company that helps people find apartments and homes via print and Web publications such as Rentals.com. TPG will pay $7.10 per share in cash for the company, representing a transaction value of $525 million. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2011.

TSG Consumer Partners has bought Sexy Hair Concepts. Financial terms weren’t announced. Chatsworth, Calif.-based Sexy Hair, which markets hair care products, filed for bankruptcy protection in December.

Verto Partners, the performance improvement, restructuring and turnaround firm, has acquired Wavelength Strategies, a New York-based transaction services firm concentrating on life sciences, healthcare and technology. Terms were not publicized. Wavelength managing principals Duncan Steels and Greg Calaman join Verto as managing directors and will lead the New York office of Verto. According to its Web site, Verto counts among its clients TA Associates, Arcapita, Kleiner Perkins, Hicks Muse Tate & Furst, JP Morgan Chase, UBS Capital, the Bass family and New Enterprise Associates.

Kenyan telecom company Wananchi Group has raised $57.5 million from investors including Liberty Global Inc., Oppenheimer Funds and Sarona Asset Management, Reuters reported. The infusion of capital is aimed at helping the company expand its fiber infrastructure and launch a satellite pay-television service across eastern Africa. Wananchi Group is owned by venture capital firm East Africa Capital Partners.

Mid-market shop Waud Capital Partners has acquired Chicago-based Revenue Cycle Solutions, a patient account resolution company serving hospitals, hospital-based physician groups and other health care facilities. Financial terms of the deal were not released.