Deals

Anheuser-Busch InBev reportedly has walked away from the €1.7 billion planned sale of its German beer brand Beck’s to Bain Capital. German magazine Wirtschaftswoche said that contracts were ready to sign and Bain had lined up financing.

Apax Partners has agreed to buy a majority stake in U.K. medical courier Marken, at an enterprise value of £975 million. Apax beat out rival bidder Hellman & Friedman.

Apax Partners, The Carlyle Group and KKR reportedly are among those interested in buying ICICI Group’s 27 percent stake in Indian IT firm 3i Infotech.

Apollo Global Management has completed its take-private acquisition of Midland, Texas-based Parallel Petroleum Corp. (Nasdaq: PLLL). The deal was valued at approximately $438 million, or $3.15 per share, including the assumption or repayment of around $351 million in debt. Apollo’s equity commitment was $283.2 million.

Barry Callebaut (Swiss: BARN), world’s largest chocolate maker, is hoping to sell its consumer business in 2010, according to comments from the company’s CEO.

BC Partners and KKR have expressed interest in acquiring Siemens AG’s hearing aids business, according to Bloomberg. The unit is expected to be valued north of €3 billion.

Beam Reach Education, a portfolio company of Summer Street Capital Partners, has acquired The Refrigeration School Inc., a Phoenix-based operator of career schools for heating ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration. No financial terms were disclosed.

Bridgepoint Capital and AXA Private Equity have offered to buy SNAI, a listed Italian gaming company, for approximately €600 million. For the first nine months of the year SNAI posted a net loss of €9.5 million on revenue of €407.3 million.

Brynwood Partners has acquired the Balance Bar Co. from Kraft Foods for an undisclosed amount.

Buyers Protection Group Inc., an Atlanta-based real estate services firm, has completed its purchase of two businesses from LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. No financial terms were disclosed for the deal, which included equity participation from The Stephens Group.

Cameron Holdings and Bush O’Donnell Capital Partners have acquired Henderson Enterprises Inc., a maker of heavy-duty truck equipment used chiefly by municipal customers for snow removal and ice control. No financial terms were disclosed.

Carlyle Group reportedly has offered to buy British waste management company Shanks Group PLC for £536 million.

China International Capital Corp. has shortlisted bidders for its auction of Morgan Stanley’s stake in the company to five U.S. private-equity firms and Taiwan’s Fubon Financial Holding Co. Ltd. The U.S. firms are Bain Capital LLC, Carlyle Group, General Atlantic LLC, KKR and TPG.

Clayton Dubilier & Rice has completed its recapitalization of JohnsonDiversey, a Racine, Wis.-based commercial cleaning company. CD&R invested $477 million for a 46 percent stake. Unilever, which bought a 33 percent stake in JohnsonDiversey seven years ago, retained a 4 percent interest.

Clear Channel Communications Inc.’s outdoor advertising business is in talks with lenders to raise as much as $2.5 billion in the high-yield market, according to the Wall Street Journal. Clear Channel was acquired last July in a $17.9 billion takeover by Bain Capital and THL Partners.

CyrusOne, a Houston-based enterprise data center co-location provider, has secured a new $150 million senior secured credit facility. The banking syndicate included TD Securities, RBC Capital Markets, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and SG Americas Securities. CyrusOne is a portfolio company of ABRY Partners.

EQT Partners is lining up more than £1 billion in leveraged financing, in order to make a run at German academic publisher Springer Science and Business Media. U.K. media group Informa PLC previously indicated interest in Springer, which is being sold by private equity owners Candover and Cinven.

GenNx360 Capital Partners has increased its acquisition offer for GVI Security Solutions Inc. (OTC BB: GVSS) from $0.38 per share to $0.3875 per share in cash. GVI is a Carrolton, Texas-based provider of video security surveillance solutions.

Global Infrastructure Partners has received European Commission approval for its £1.51 billion acquisition of Gatwick Airport.

Greatwide Logistics Services, a Dallas-based provider of third-party logistics services, has acquired the dedicated contract carriage division of YRC Logistics. No financial terms were disclosed. Centerbridge Partners bought Greatwide out of bankruptcy earlier this year.

Greenko PLC, an Indian renewable energy producer, has raised $46.3 million from the Global Environment Fund. Greenko develops, acquirers, builds and operates run-of-river hydro and biomass-fired plants.

GTCR Golder Rauner has agreed to buy BIT Systems Inc., a company that designs software for the government intelligence agencies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Henry Schein Inc. (Nasdaq: HSIC) has agreed to merge its U.S. animal health business with Butler Animal Health Supply, a portfolio company of Oak Hill Capital Partners and The Ashkin Family Group. The combined animal health distribution company would be renamed Butler Schein Animal Health, and would have had around $850 million in revenue over the past 12 months. Henry Schein will hold a 50.1 percent stake in the newly formed entity, with Butler owners holding the other 49.9 percent.

H.I.G. Capital completed an investment in National Asset Recovery Services, a St. Louis, Mo.-based provider of accounts receivable management and outsourcing services. Terms were not disclosed. Greenberg Advisors represented H.I.G. Capital in this transaction.

Honiton Energy Group, a Beijing-based wind power developer, has retained Morgan Stanley to help it sell a minority ownership position. Reuters reported that the company already has received first-round bids from several private equity firms, which value Honiton between $200 million and $250 million.

IkaSystems Corp., a Southborough, Mass.-based provider enterprise-level, Web-based technologies for the health care payer market, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Providence Equity Partners.

Infinis Energy, a portfolio company of Terra Firma Capital Partners, has sweetened its bid for U.K. renewable energy company Novera Energy (LSE: NOEN). The new offer values Novera at £108.6 million, which is 20 percent higher than its original bid.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Wendel Investissements will cut their stakes in French electronics company Legrand from 61 percent to 50 percent, via a private placement to institutional investors. The 11 percent stake is valued at €572 million.

Maxam Opportunities Fund Limited Partnership launched an all-cash offer to acquire C.A. Bancorp Inc., a publicly-traded Canadian merchant bank and alternative asset manager, at a price of $1.22 per share.

MBK Partners has reportedly been named a preferred bidder for Korean rental car company Kumho Rent-A-Car. The deal would be valued at approximately $260 million.

Mid Europa Partners has completed the first part of its acquisition of Invitel Holdings AS (AMEX: IHO), a fixed-line telecom and broadband Internet services provider in the Republic of Hungary. The total deal involves three separate transactions: Mid Europahas paid $10.8 million to TDC AS for its 64.6 percent stake in Invitel; Mid Europa will next purchase all of TDC’s rights and obligations under a €34.1 million subordinated PIK loan (which would be increased up to €91.4 million); and Mid Europa will launch a tender offer for the outstanding €125 million floating rate senior PIK notes due 2013 (held by Invitel).

Mill Road Capital has increased its takeover bid for Canadian advertising company Cossette Inc. (TSX: KOS), from $7.87 per share to C$8.10 per share (total of C$135.3 million). Mill Road has been competing with Cosmos Capital for the deal.

Montagu Private Equity has ended exclusive talks about selling Survitec to Permira, leaving Warburg Pincus in pole position to acquire the company. Survitec is a Belfast-based maker of life rafts and life jackets, and is being valued at a minimum of £280 million by Montagu.

New Markets Venture Partners and Slate Capital Group have acquired Ecoast Sales Solutions Ltd., a Rochester, N.H.-based provider of outsourced sales and channel solutions for technology companies. No financial terms were disclosed.

New Silk Route reportedly is looking to merge portfolio company Aster Infrastructure, a Hyderabad, India-based tower leasing company, with India’s Essar Telecom Infrastructure. New Silk Route is an Asia-focused private equity firm.

Oakley Capital Investments has acquired a 51 percent stake in Verivox Holdings Ltd., an online consumer price comparison business for energy and telecom services. Oakley bought 49 percent of Verivox from Independent News and Media PLC for €16 million, and a further 2 percent interest from the company’s founders.

Olympus Partners has sponsored a $110 million recapitalization of existing portfolio company K-Mac Enterprises Inc., the nation’s second-largest Taco Bell franchisee. The deal included a $59 million dividend for existing shareholders and $2.7 million in bonuses to 25 K-Mac employees. The remainder will be used as working capital.

Palamon Capital Partners, a U.K.-based private equity firm, has acquired a majority stake in Associated Dental Practices for £136 million, according to European Venture Capital Journal.

Patron Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of Powerleague, an owner and operator of 5-a-side football centers in Europe. The deal includes more than £50 million in equity, at an enterprise value in excess of £80 million.

Resilience Capital Partners has acquired Victor Oolitic Stone Company, a Bloomington, Ind.-based provider of limestone. This transaction marks the first acquisition under Resilience’s previously announced industrial minerals platform, North Coast Minerals. Deal terms were not disclosed.

Royal Mail has reportedly agreed to sell its 20 percent stake in Camelot, the British national lottery operator. The sale has attracted the interest of a number of private equity firms. Investment banks Rothschild and Greenhill & Co. are running the auction process which recently entered a second round. The next round of bids is due sometime in January.

Seaside National Bank & Trust, an Orlando, Fla.-based commercial bank, has raised more than $40 million in private equity funding. Lovell Minnick Partners, Parthenon Capital and Continental Investors each invested $15 million, and were joined by existing shareholders.

Six Flags Inc., a bankrupt theme park operator, can keep its exclusive right to file its bankruptcy reorganization plan, according to a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge. The ruling was in response to objections by from a group of noteholders — led by Avenue Capital — that sought to offer their own plan.

Smith & Williamson, the administrators of Kaupthing Capital Partners (former PE arm of Kaupthing Bank), has sold a majority stake in Associated Dental Practices Ltd. to a group of private equity investors that includes Palamon Capital Partners, AlpInvest Partners, Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners and LDC. The total deal is valued at £136 million, including £72 million in equity. Leveraged financing was provided by Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets Acquisition Finance and Royal Bank of Scotland. Associated Dental is the second largest provider of National Health Service dentistry in the United Kingdom.

Snai SpA (Milan: SNAI), an Italian gaming company, said that its board will examine a buyout offer from AXA Private Equity and Bridgepoint Capital.

Stahl International, a Dutch maker of specialty coatings, has secured 100 percent support from its lenders for a debt-for-equity restructuring proposal. The deal would lead to nearly a 40 percent reduction of Stahl’s €360 million debt, with existing sponsor Wendel SA investing another €60 million to increase its equity stake to 92 percent.

Sverica International has acquired Career Quest Learning Centers Inc., a post-secondary education company with campuses in Lansing and Jackson, Mich. No financial terms were disclosed.

Synexus, a clinical trial recruiter and operator backed by Lyceum Capital, has agreed to acquire Leipzig-based ClinPharm for an undisclosed amount.

Tarpon Towers, an acquirer and developer of wireless communications sites backed by ABS Capital Partners, has completed the acquisition of 37 tower sites, bringing its total to more than 75 towers. The company received additional capital for the deal from ABS Capital Partners and an additional debt commitment from its bank. Terms were not disclosed.

TPG and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. have denied a Bloomberg report that they are considering a joint bid for bankrupt chemical company LyondellBasell Industries.

TPG, alongside American Airlines, could invest $1.1 billion in Japan Airlines Corp., the company said.

Unilever is working with Goldman Sachs to sell its Italian frozen food business, which has attracted interest from Birds Eye Igloo, backed by Permira, and Findus Italy, backed by Lion Capital, the FT reported.

Vista Equity Partners has agreed to purchase Intuit Real Estate Solutions, a real estate software provider formerly known as Management Reports, for approximately $128 million in cash.

Willis Stein & Partners has invested an additional $20 million of growth capital into portfolio company CompuPay. The firm originally acquired the Miramar, Fla.-based provider of payroll services in 2004, and has since built it up with 13 add-ons.