Deals

3i Infrastructure has competition for UK renewable energy company Novera Energy, which 3i is in talks to buy for £112 million. The new suitor is Infinis, a gas landfill operator backed by Terra Firma. No details of Infinis’ approach were disclosed.

Advent International has acquired Romanian generic drug company LaborMed Pharma from its founders. No financial terms were disclosed. LaborMed was formed in 1991, and has 2007 revenue of approximately €29 million.

Alchemy Partners has entered talks with the creditors of portfolio company Buckingham Bingo, and soon is expected to decide whether to hand the company over or invest additional equity. Alchemy acquired the UK bingo hall operator in December 2005 for £101 million, but it generated profits of just £3.5 million on sales of £37 million.

Axcelis Technologies Inc. (ACLS) has rejected a $6 per share buyout offer from TPG Capital and Sumitomo Heavy Industries, which would have valued the company at approximately $630 million. The move comes less than a month after Axcelis rejected a $5.50 per share bid from the same suitors. Axcelis makes ion implantation devices for chip makers.

Baring Private Equity has acquired a 12 percent stake in Mumbai-based brokerage Sharekhan, according to The Economic Times. The deal is valued at around $59 million, and includes both new equity and shares being sold by CVC, which at last check held a 75 percent stake.

Cerberus Capital Management may offer to buy Siemens AG’s Siemens Enterprise Networks unit, according to German magazine WirtschaftsWoche. No financial terms were disclosed, except that the unit’s 2007 sales fell 10 percent to €3.2 billion.

CHAMP Private Equity, the Australian affiliate of Castle Harlan, has acquired Golding Contractors Pty Ltd., an Australian mining and public infrastructure project company. No financial terms were disclosed. Golding had 2007 revenue in excess of A$350 million, and A$50 million in EBITDA.

Clearview Capital has acquired Berthoud, Colo.-based Mayo Welding Services Inc. as its third add-on acquisition for Hettinger Welding LLC, a provider of facilities construction, pipelining and welding services for customers building natural gas infrastructure in the Rocky Mountain region. No financial terms were disclosed.

Cumulus Media Inc. (NASDAQ: CMLS) said in an SEC filing that its lenders have approved a credit agreement amendment that would permit the consummation of its $1.3 billion buyout by Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity and Cumulus CEO Lewis Dickey.

Dynamic Offshore Resources LLC has acquired a 75 percent interest in SPN Resources LLC, the oil and gas subsidiary of Superior Energy Services Inc. (SPN), for $165 million. SPN will retain the other 25 percent. Dynamic was formed earlier this year to acquire and develop oil and gas producing properties in the Gulf of Mexico. It was backed by $50 million from company management and $450 million from The Carlyle Group and Riverstone Holdings.

ECI Partners and Indigo have agreed to acquire Premier Research, a UK-based provider of clinical outsourcing services that trades on London’s AIM. The deal is valued at £60.1 million, with Premier Research stockholders to receive 100 pence per share.

FishNet Security Inc., a Kansas City–based provider of enterprise IT security solutions, has raised an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from Lake Capital. FishNet was founded in 1996, and last year generated over $200 million in revenue.

Jana Partners won its case against CNet Networks in Delaware Chancery Court, which means that it can nominate a slate of seven directors at CNet’s upcoming shareholder meeting. Jana unveiled a plan in January to seize control of the CNet board, in partnership with Spark Capital, Velocity Interactive Capital, Sandell Asset Management Corp and Paul Gardi of Alex Interactive Media.

Kinetics Group, a UK-based social housing services company, has acquired The Lord Group, a provider of fabric maintenance services to the Greater Manchester social housing sector. No financial terms were disclosed. Kinetics Group was acquired in March 2007 by Sovereign Capital.

KRG Capital Partners has acquired Tronair Inc., a Holland, Ohio-based maker of ground support equipment for business, regional and commercial aircraft. No financial terms were disclosed. Dresner Partners advised Tronair on the deal.

Lovejuice, a UK-based smoothie and juice bar operator, has acquired Barefoot Juice, a juice bar chain operating in Northern England. No financial terms were disclosed. Lovejuice is a portfolio company of Smedvig Capital.

Marathon Acquisition Corp., a blank check acquisition company, has agreed to acquire a 66 percent stake in UK-based Global Ship Lease Inc. from a subsidiary of French shipping container company CMA CGM SA.

Mason Wells has acquired Coating Excellence International LLC, a Wrightstown, Wis.-based maker of flexible packaging for paper reams and food and industrial products. No financial terms were disclosed. Senior financing was provided by M&I Bank, Associated Bank, MB Financial, US Bank and Zions Bank. Mezzanine financing was provided by Prudential Capital Partners.

Nordic Capital has offered to acquire listed Nordic IT services company TietoEnator Corp. for €1.1 billion, or €15.50 per share. The official bidder is Nordic Capital portfolio company Cidron Services, which already has amassed a 5 percent stake in TietoEnator. Leveraged financing for the buyout has been committed by Nordea Bank Finland, Pohjola Bank and Swedbank. If successful, Nordic Capital would install former TeliaSonera CEO Harri Koponen as chairman.

North Castle Partners has acquired the assets of International Fitness Inc. (a.k.a. World Health Club), an operator of fitness facilities in Alberta, Canada. No financial terms were disclosed.

Ocwen Financial Corp. (NYSE:OCN), a mortgage servicing firm, said that it was unable to reach an agreement to be acquired by an investor group that included Oaktree Capital Partners, Angelo Gordon & Co. and Ocwen chairman and CEO William Erbey. The group had bid $7 per share in January, which would have valued Ocwen’s total equity at around $438 million. Ocwen had retained Evercore Group to advise on the offer.

Pangaea Asset Management, a Chicago-based asset management firm focused on leveraged loans, has raised an undisclosed amount of private equity funding from Norwest Equity Partners.

Patron Capital Partners has acquired a 29 percent stake in Powerleague Group PLC, a publicly-traded operator of 5-a-side football centers in the UK, for £23.1 million. Powerleague was acquired by company management from 3i Group in 2003, and went public on London’s AIM in May 2005.

Performance Transportation Services Inc., an auto-hauling company controlled by Yucapia Cos., plans to reorganize itself under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, after canceling plans to auction itself off. Black Diamond Management will sponsor the reorganization. Fellow Yucaipa portfolio company Allied Systems Holdings last year offered to buy Performance Transportation for $67 million, but withdrew the bid after complaints from creditors.

PlattForm Holdings Inc., an Olathe, Kansas-based provider of Internet marketing and enrollment solutions to the post-secondary education industry, said that it will rename itself Ad Venture Interactive and reorganize into three business units. The company is backed by Arlington Capital Partners.

Red Acre Capital has acquired Personal Care Inc., operator of the Hair’s Boston chain of family salons. No financial terms were disclosed.

Senior Care Centers of America, a portfolio company of Clearview Capital, has acquired Preston House Adult Day Care, a provider of care to elderly and disabled adults in the Hartford, Conn. area. No financial terms were disclosed.

The Blackstone Group has acquired a minority stake in Indian railway freight wagon manufacturer Titagarh Wagons Ltd., according to The Economic Times. The pre-IPO placement was 0.23 million shares at 672 rupees per share. Other Titagarth shareholders include GE Capital Infrastructure, JPMorgan, 2i Capital and ChrysCapital.

The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is in talks to acquire a 50 percent stake in the Prague Airport, in partnership with France’s state-owned airport operator Aéroports de Paris. No financial terms have been disclosed surrounding the discussions, which were first reported by the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Triton Pacific Capital Partners has acquired a majority interest in AssetPoint, a Greenville, S.C.–based provider of enterprise asset management software. No financial terms were disclosed.

Tulcan Private Equity Investors has recapitalized The Dyson Corp., a Painesville, Ohio-based maker of metal fasteners and forgings for domestic manufacturing and large infrastructure projects. No financial terms were disclosed. RSM EquiCo Capital Markets advised Dyson on the deal.

US Renewables Group and Riverstone Holdings have agreed to provide an undisclosed amount of development capital for the Newberry Geothermal Project, an Oregon-based effort aimed at producing renewable energy to satisfy a 20-year, 120 megawatt contract with PG&E of California. The project is being managed by Davenport Power LLC.

Vector Capital has offered to buy data archive services company Captaris Inc. (CAPA) for $4.75 a share, which represents a 36 percent premium over the previous trading day’s closing price. The deal would be valued at about $126.8 million. Earlier, the Bellevue, Wash.-based company said that it had retained RBC Capital Markets to help it evaluate strategic alternatives, replacing Credit Suisse. Vector, which already holds a 10.2 percent equity stake in Captaris, suggested that the move was a “delaying tactic.”

Warburg Pincus has completed its take-private acquisition of LifeCore Biomedical Inc., a Chaska, Minn.-based maker of dental and medical devices. The deal was valued at approximately $239 million, with LifeCore stockholders receiving $17 per share. Lifescore has delisted from the Nasdaq, where it had traded under ticker symbol LCBM. Get more info.

Wincove Capital has acquired Connect-Air International Inc., a Seattle-based distributor of low-voltage wire and cable products in the United States. No financial terms were disclosed.

WL Ross & Co. has agreed to acquire the mortgage loan services unit of Option One Mortgage Corp. from H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB). The deal is valued at $1.1 billion. H&R Block last year had agreed to sell all of Option One to Cerberus Capital Management, but the deal later collapsed.

Wynnchurch Capital has acquired a majority interest in The Surepoint Group, an Alberta, Canada-based provider of industrial instrumentation and electrical services to the oil and gas, forestry, pulp and paper, and chemical manufacturing industries. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which included financing from Scotiabank.

York Label, a labeling solutions company owned by Wind Point Partners, has made two acquisitions in Chile: Etiprak SA and a 50 percent interest in Etiquetas Industriales Ltda. No financial terms were disclosed.