Deals

3i Group has agreed to acquire Civica, a UK-based provider of software, consulting and managed services to the public sector and regulated services markets. The deal values the entire company at £190 million, with Civica stockholders to receive 270 pence per share. That’s a 33.7 percent premium to where the stock closed on Friday, and a 39.8 percent premium to its six-month trading average.

3i Group has invested £50 million for a 20% stake in UK-based Hyperion Insurance Group.

3i Group is among several private equity firms in talks to acquire Italian luxury fashion group Mariella Burani, and its leather accessories subsidiary Antichi Pellettieri. The company had 2007 revenue of €701 million.

Abraaj Capital has offered to acquire listed Egyptian medical services company Al Borg Laboratory for approximately $186 million. The deal would value Al Borg shares at 225 Egyptian pounds each, and news of the offer sent shares up 5% to 134.40 pounds each.

Alpine Investors has acquired Lighting By Gregory, a New York-based retailer of high-end lighting products. No financial terms were disclosed.

AmeriCast Technologies Inc., an Atchison, Kansas-based maker of complex steel castings, has acquired A.G. Anderson Ltd., a Canadian maker of castings for the energy industry. No financial terms were disclosed, except that the combined company will have revenue in excess of $335 million. Castle Harlan bought AmeriCast in late 2006 from KPS Special Situations Fund for $110 million.

Apax Partners and LBO France have acquired a majority equity stake in Maisons du Monde, a French home decoration and furniture retailer. Company management will retain a 20% equity stake, while the senior debt was provided by Calyon, CIC and Natixis. Euromezzanine provided mezzanine financing. No pricing terms were disclosed.

Apax Partners reportedly is nearing an agreement to acquire Greek pay television platform Nova from Multichoice Hellas SA. It had been competing for the deal with telecom company Forthnet SA. No financial terms were reported.

Aureos Southern Africa Fund has acquired a 30% equity stake in Sandbox Holdings, a South African provider of electronic building management and security services and business software. No financial terms were disclosed.

AXA Private Equity has agreed to acquire the Active Ingredients and Specialty Chemicals unit of Atrium Innovations (TSX: ATB), for US$155 million. Lazard is advising Atrium on the sale.

Bison Capital has agreed to facilitate a plan to get shipping company Summit Global Logistics Inc. out of bankruptcy. The Los Angeles-based private equity firm will invest an undisclosed amount in the $56.5 million “merger” of Summit with an investment vehicle formed by senior members of Summit management.

Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: BFAM) announced that it will hold a shareholder meeting on May 7, to vote on a $48.25 per share buyout offer from Bain Capital. The total deal would be valued at $1.3 billion.

Candover has called off its £2 billion buyout of Bourne Leisure Holdings, a UK-based holiday park operator. The deal had recently received EU approval, but both sides notified regulators that the transaction would not go forward. Certain reports cite credit concerns. Candover previously owned a 28% stake in Bourne together with Legal & General Group, but divested it in 2004.

Candover reportedly has ceased talks to acquire a quarter of UK insurance broker Towergate, from Towergate founder Peter Cullum, due to uncertainties in the credit markets. Talk had begun spreading in late February that the two were in negotiations for a deal that would value Towergate at £3 billion, in preparation for an IPO.

Close Brothers Group has acquired two UK-based niche lending business — Commercial Acceptances Group and Amber Credit — for a total of £33 million.

Darby Overseas Investments has invested $25 million into Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Co., a Bangalore-based integrated coffee company.

Dufa Deutek, a Romanian decorative paints producer, has acquired Bengloss, a Romanian mortar and core adhesives maker. The €19 million deal was sponsored by Dufa owner Advent International.

Endless LLP reportedly is nearing a deal to acquire The Works, a UK-based bargain bookseller, for just £15 million. The Works went into administration in January, with Kroll managing a process that has seen the closure of 85 of the company’s 210 stores. Hermes Private Equity had funded a £50 million management buyout of The Works in 2005.

Engauge, a marketing agency owned by Halyard Capital, has acquired SpunLogic, an Atlanta-based digital marketing group. No financial terms were disclosed.

EPAM Systems, a provider of software development outsourcing in Eastern Europe and Russia, has acquired B2Bits Corp., a provider of software and consulting services to capital markets organizations within the financial services sector. No financial terms were disclosed. There also is a report that EPAM has agreed to buy Kazakhstan-based software development firm Plusmicro in an all-stock deal. EPAM raised $25 million in funding from Siguler Guff & Co. in 2006.

Expocrete Concrete Products Ltd., an Alberta, Canada-based concrete products maker owned by Tricor Pacific Capital, has acquired Weldon’s Concrete Products Ltd., a Saskatchewan-based masonry, hollow core and concrete pipe manufacturer. No financial terms were disclosed.

Extrumed, a Placentia, Calif.-based provider of medical device components, has completed a recapitalization. The only disclosed financial terms was that Golub Capital provided $29.5 million in one-loan debt financing. Extrumed is owned by Inverness Graham Investments and Wedbush Capital Partners.

ExxonMobil and Shell have retained JPMorgan to manage an auction for Infineum, a UK-based petroleum additives joint venture. The companies are hoping for bids of between €2 billion and €2.5 billion, with expected suitors to include Apollo Management, BC Partners, Cinven, Carlyle Group, KKR and Vestar Capital Partners.

First Reserve Corp. has invested an undisclosed amount in Kenersys, a wind energy company recently formed by Indian industrial conglomerate Kalyani Group.

FL Capital Partners of Ireland has acquired Cavan-based power tool manufacturer Tomsburg Group for around €25 million, according to The Independent. It is the firm’s third deal since launching in late 2006.

Ford Motor Co. has agreed to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover businesses to India’s Tata Motors for $2.3 billion. Private equity firm One Equity Partners had also been in the running.

Gala Coral, a UK gaming company, has raised £125 million in additional equity funding from existing shareholders Candover, Cinven and Permira. The new arrangement sees £82 million of senior debt being paid off and £42 million being placed on the balance sheet in return for an easing of covenants. Candover and Cinven have owned Gala since February 2003, when they backed a £1.24 billion buyout. In August 2005, Permira bought a 33 percent stake in the company ahead of its acquisition of Coral Eurobet

GB Merchant Partners and Crystal Capital have acquired Como Fred David, a maker of private label and branded women’s tops. No pricing terms were disclosed for the deal, which included leveraged financing from CIT Commercial Services.

Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq: GILT) has agreed to be acquired by a consortium that includes The Gores Group, Mivtach Shamir Holdings and DGB Investments. The total deal is valued at $475 million, with Gilat stockholders to receive $11.40 per share. There are no financing conditions on the deal. UBS served as exclusive advisor to Gilat, which is traded on both the Nasdaq and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

GS Capital Partners and Myers Industries Inc. (NYSE: MYE) have officially terminated their $1.07 billion buyout. The move was expected. Myers is an Akron, Ohio-based manufacturer of polymer products for industrial, agricultural, automotive, commercial and consumer markets.

HgCapital has acquired a 75 percent stake in a Swedish wind farm called the Havsnäs. The total deal is valued at €185 million, including a €127 million construction and term project finance loan from CommerzBank, ING Bank and NordLB. The remaining 25 percent equity stake will be retained by wind farm developer Renewable Energy Systems (RES).

HitecVision has acquired a 60 percent stake in Hitec Products Drilling, a Norway-based provider of customized drilling solutions and well intervention systems for the offshore oil and gas industry. No financial terms were disclosed. HitecVision and HPD are not related, despite the name.

Iceni Capital has acquired Mentor IMC Ltd., a London-based provider of human resources to the oil and gas industry. RBS provided leveraged financing for the transaction, while Mentor management will continue to hold a minority ownership position. No financial terms were disclosed.

Iceni Capital has sponsored a management buyout of Apollo Lifts, a UK-based independent lift contractor. No financial terms were disclosed.

Inflexion Private Equity has sponsored a management buyout of SMD, a UK–based maker of sub-sea vehicle systems. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which includes leveraged financing from Barclays and HSBC.

International Investment Bank of Bahrain has acquired an undisclosed equity stake in ARTES, a Tunisian distributor for Renault, Nissan and Dacia automobiles. No financial terms were disclosed.

JC Flowers & Co. has asked for talks with UK insurer Friends Provident PLC about its £3.48 billion buyout approach. Flowers said it requested ‘direct engagement’ with Friends and that it needed access to confidential information to carry out due diligence on the company, which rejected the proposal last week.

Jordan Health Services, a Mount Vernon, Texas-based provider of in-home Medicaid and Medicare services, has acquired CareLink, a provider of in-home Medicare services in Dallas. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which was financed via an additional equity investment from JHS owner Trinity Hunt Partners.

Kohlberg & Co. has completed its $85 million acquisition of SM&P Utility Resources Inc. from The Laclede Group (NYSE: LG). SM&P provides underground facility locating and marking services.

Lake Pacific Partners and Wingate Partners have acquired Cal Pacific Specialty Foods, a strawberry products processor. No financial terms were disclosed. J.H. Chapman Group advised Cal Pacific on the deal.

Lakeside Energy LLC, a Chicago-based energy company backed by American Securities, has acquired a 150 MW natural gas-fired power plant in Hazleton, Pa. from an affiliate of Williams (NYSE: WMB). No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which included new equity provided by American Capital.

LDC has invested £9.1 million to sponsor the management buyout of Ego, a UK-based Mediterranean-style restaurant group. Ego currently operates six restaurants, and plans to roll out another 36 outlets.

LexisNexis has sold its local legal, tax and regulatory publishing operations in Argentina, Chile and Mexico to Palmfund Management. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, on which Palmfund partnered with an industry management team that will run the newly-independent company.

Logitrade, a French non-strategic industrial procurement company, has acquired smaller rival Achats Services Industries. No financial terms were disclosed. Logitrade is a portfolio company of Activa Capital.

Lone Star has agreed to acquire 1,300 real estate properties from German logistics company Deutsche Post World Net, for approximately €1 billion. Deutsche Post will lease back the main properties from Lone Star, once the assets change hands on July 1.

Lovell Minnick Partners has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Mercer Advisors Inc., a Scottsdale, Ariz.–based provider of financial planning, asset management and practice management consulting services to dental and medical professionals. No financial terms were disclosed. Cambridge International Partners is advising Mercer on the deal.

Macquarie Group and MBK Partners have completed their acquisition of a 65% stake in C&M Co., a South Korean cable television company. The deal was valued at approximately $1.48 billion. Following the news, Standard & Poor’s said that it lowered its long-term corporate credit rating on C&M Co to ‘B’ from ‘BB+’ with a stable outlook and removed the rating from negative watch.

Macrovision Corp. (Nasdaq: MVSN) has completed the sale of its software business unit to Thoma Bravo for approximately $200 million. The newly-independent company will be known as Acresso Software, with former Macrovision software unit chief Mark Bishof serving as CEO.

Mapeley, a listed property investment and management outsourcing company, said that it has ended discussions about being taken private. The company had announced an approach in late February, which was reported to be a £19 per share offer from Fortress Investments.

Mediobanca may be part of an upcoming consortium bid for Italian airline Alitalia, according to La Stampa. Other group members would include Eni and the Benetton and Ligresti families. Alitalia had originally received interest from private equity firms like TPG, but currently is in line to be acquired by Air France-KLM, which the Italian government named as its preferred bidder.

Norwest Equity Partners has acquired Shock Doctor Inc., a Plymouth, Minn.-based provider of sports protection products like mouth-guards. No financial terms were disclosed. Wachovia Securities advised Shock Doctor on the sale.

Numonyx BV was launched as a flash memory joint venture between Intel Corp., STMicroelectronics and Francisco Partners. Intel contributed its NOR assets for a 45.1 percent stake, STM contributed its NOR and NAND assets for a 48.6 percent stake and Francisco invested $150 million for a 6.3% stake.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan disclosed iin its annual report that it would be responsible for up to C$587 million of the C$1 billion breakup fee associated with a failure of the C$52 billion BCE buyout. OTPP has repeatedly said, however, that it expects the deal to close.

Parthenon Capital has made a “significant investment” in Captive Media Holdings, a provider of advertising and marketing opportunities to national brands through US health clubs. Captive Media’s management team and employees will remain with the company.

Pennington Allen Capital Partners has acquired Mathey Investments Inc., maker of various tools and equipment for the pipeline and welding industry. No financial terms were disclosed. Mathey is based in Tulsa, but also has a manufacturing facility in Milan, Italy.

PMG Partners, a provider of medical billing and collection services, has acquired Medibis, an Oklahoma City-based provider of Web-based reporting, analysis and benchmarking software for ambulatory surgery centers. No financial terms were disclosed. PMG is a portfolio company of Bertram Capital.

Post Danmark, a portfolio company of CVC Capital Partners, has agreed to merge with Sweden’s Posten, in order to form a $7.5 billion Nordic postal company.

RAG Stifung reportedly is in talks with four private equity firms about selling its 25 percent stake in German energy and chemicals group Evonik Industries. The stake is valued at around €2 billion, while the interested firms are Bain Capital, KKR, Blackstone Group and CVC Capital Partners. RAG Stiftung called off a planned IPO of Evonik earlier this week.

Riverstone Holdings and power company AES Corp. announced a $1 billion joint venture to invest in global solar projects. Each firm will commit $500 million over the next five years.

SafeNet Inc., an information security company owned by Vector Capital, has completed its acquisition of Ingrian Networks Inc., a Redwood City, Calif.–based provider of enterprise data protection and privacy solutions. No financial terms were disclosed. Ingrian has raised over $57 million in VC funding since 2000, from firms like Prism VentureWorks, Globespan Capital Partners, Menlo Ventures, Jafco and HighBAR Ventures.

Sharda Worldwide Exports Pvt. Ltd., a Mumbai, India-based agrochemical company, has raised $21.5 million in private equity funding from Henderson Equity Partners. Sharda was advised by Ernst & Young India.

Shelter Bay Energy Inc., an energy exploration and production company focused in the Bakken light oil play in southeast Saskatchewan, announced plans to raise Cnd$625 million. It already has raised an undisclosed part of that amount from Riverstone Holdings, Kelso & Co., Crescent Point Energy Trust, Goldman Sachs and Trafelet & Company.

SK Capital Partners has acquired Aristech Acrylics, a Florence, Ky.-based supplier of acrylic sheets and solid surface products that are used in a variety of building and industrial applications. The seller was Mitsubishi Corp., while Wells Fargo Foothill provided leveraged financing. No pricing terms were disclosed. SK Capital is an affiliate of The Valence Group, a newly-formed merchant bank focused on the specialty chemicals and materials sectors.

Skylight Capital has acquired Bonney Plumbing Inc., a provider of plumbing services to residential and commercial customers in the greater Sacramento area. No financial terms were disclosed. GW Equity advised Bonney Plumbing on the deal.

Stone Point Capital has acquired a minority stake in Cyprexx Services LLC, a provider of property preservation, inspection and repair services nationwide to residential mortgage lenders and real estate asset management firms. No financial terms were disclosed.

Sun Capital Partners has acquired Timothy’s Coffees of the World Inc., a Toronto-based operator and franchisor of a retail chain of 166 coffee shops. No financial terms were disclosed.

Sun Capital Partners has acquired Worsley Operating Cos., an operator of 124 convenience stores/gas stations in North and South Carolina. No financial terms were disclosed. In related news, Sun has agreed to acquire substantially all the assets of Li’l Cricket Food Stores Inc., which operates 88 convenience stores/gas stations in South Carolina. Morgan Keegan & Co. advised both Worsley and Li’l Cricket on the deals. Prior to these acquisitions, Sun already had a portfolio company called Village Pantries Holding Corp., which operates 190 convenience stores throughout Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.

Sun Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of a 51 percent stake in German mail order company Neckermann.de from Arcandor AG. No financial terms were disclosed.

Superior Capital Partners has acquired Laurinburg, N.C.-based Rostra Precision Controls, and also sponsored recaps of Wixom, Mich.-based OEM Components and USA Switch. No pricing terms were disclosed for the deals, which included leveraged financing arranged by Bank of Montreal.

The Riverside Co. has acquired a majority interest in Advanced Education Systems (a.k.a. TrainingPro), a Hunt Valley, Md.–based provider of education and compliance solutions for the mortgage sector. No financial terms were disclosed. Citi Capital Strategies advised AES on the deal.

Thomas H. Lee Partners and Goldman Sachs have completed their recapitalization of MoneyGram International Inc. (MGI). The deal included a $760 million investment in exchange for a 79 percent stake, while Goldman Sachs Company provided $500 million in debt financing.

TouchPoint Print Solutions Corp., a printing company acquisition platform sponsored by Huron Capital Partners, has acquired Berman Printing. No financial terms were disclosed. Berman is a Cincinnati-based provider of sheet-fed commercial printing, dimensional packaging and fulfillment services for clients ranging in size from small businesses.

TPG is planning to lead a $5 billion investment in Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE: WM), according to The Wall Street Journal. The Seattle-based S&L has been hit hard by the subprime mortgage situation, having lost 74 percent of its value over the past year. It market cap was less than $9 billion as of market close Friday.

Transom Capital Group has acquired Blue Microphones, a Westlake Village, Calif.-based provider of microphones for the professional audio and consumer markets. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, in which Blue’s co-founders will retain an equity position.