Deals

Actis LLP, a private equity firm investing solely in emerging markets, invested $58 million in Companhia Sulamericana de Distribuição, which operates supermarket chains in São Francisco and Cidade Canção. This marks Actis’s first investment in Brazil.

London-based Actis LLP has acquired Vlisco Group for $151 million from Gamma Holding NV. Vlisco designs, makes and distributes 51 million yards of branded fabric a year for consumption primarily in West and Central Africa.

Altor Equity Partners AB’s Carnegie, an investment bank in Sweden, plans to acquire HQ Bank. HQ said it was selling to Carnegie along with an option to buy HQ Fonder investment funds for 268 million crowns ($37.36 million). Carnegie is also owned by Bure Equity.

Amedica Corp.

, a Salt Lake City, Utah-based orthopedic implant company, completed a $30 million financing. Half comes in the form of private equity and the rest is from a debt facility. Zions First National Bank provided the debt facility. Creation Capital of New York and Austin, Texas, acted as the placement agent for the private equity piece, but the identity of the investor was not disclosed. Amedica plans to use the capital for expansion, mergers and acquisitions, sales and marketing support.

Apollo Management has decided to merge its two specialty chemicals companies, Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc. and Momentive Performance Materials Inc., creating a company with more than $7.5 billion in sales. The companies said in a statement that the new company will operate under the Momentive name. The combined company is expected to generate about $1.24 billion of adjusted EBITDA per year.

BAE Systems, a British defense group, has handed advisers the assignment of selling some of its U.S. component manufacturing businesses, and private equity firms such as Carlyle Group, Greenbriar Equity Group LLC and Warburg Pincus are expected to be interested, according to Reuters. The auction of a portion of the company’s North American commercial aerospace business could generate up to $2 billion.

The Blackstone Group‘s $4.7 billion buy of Dynegy has received approval from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. The regulators also allowed a Blackstone affiliate to sell four of Dynegy’s natural gas-fired assets to NRG Energy. The sale of Dynegy to Blackstone is still subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of Dynegy shareholders.

Ron Burkle, whose Yucaipa Cos. holds an 18.8 percent stake in Barnes & Noble, plans to appeal a Delaware court ruling that upheld the bookseller’s poison pill. Burkle is the second largest shareholder of Barnes & Noble and is in a proxy battle with Leonard Riggio, who is chairman, the founder and largest shareholder of the retailer.

CapVest, a European mid-market private equity firm, agreed to create Valeo Foods. The newly formed Ireland-based food company will combine the businesses of Origin Foods with that of Batchelors. Upon closing, CapVest will hold a 55 percent equity stake in Valeo Foods. Origin Foods will own the remaining interest.

Catterton Partners acquired a controlling stake in Alasko Foods Inc., a Montreal, Canada-based marketer of frozen fruits and vegetables. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice LLC agreed to acquire a 42.5 percent stake in Univar NV in a transaction that values the distributor of commodity and specialty chemicals at about $4.2 billion. CVC Capital Partners Ltd plans to hold onto a 42.5 percent stake in the business. Univar’s management and other existing investors will own the remaining interest.

Crescent Financial Partners has bought a minority stake in IT Trading‘s proprietary quantitative trading software for $3.2 million. The software uses a trading model known as “statistical arbitrage.” Crescent, of Beverly Hills, Calif., is a private equity merchant banking firm.

Cryo-Cell has rejected a $17.63 million takeover bid from DW Healthcare Partners. DW Healthcare had offered to buy Cryo-Cell for $1.50 a share, representing a 67 percent premium to the company’s closing stock price on the last day of trading before the offer was announced. Cryo-Cell’s board has determined that the offer is “inadequate and believes that it significantly undervalues the company and its growth prospects,” according to a statement. Oldsmar, Fla.-based Cryo-Cell operates a cord blood bank service. DW Healthcare is located in Park City, Utah.

Darby Overseas Investments Ltd, which is Franklin Templeton Investments’ private equity arm, purchased a substantial minority stake in Controladora Vertice S.A. de C.V. The investment increases Controladora Vertice’s capital base by about 50 percent. The deal was completed by Darby-ProBanco Fund II LP.

Evercore Partners Inc. agreed to acquire a 50 percent stake in G5 Advisors, a São Paulo-based investment banking boutique and investment management firm. The firm agreed to pay $20 million in cash and securities at closing, with the potential for earn-out payments based on performance through 2013. The transaction is expected to close in early October. Evercore will have an opportunity to acquire the remaining 50 percent stake in 2014.

GAIN Capital Holdings Inc., which provides online trading services to specialists in foreign exchange and contracts for difference, has agreed to acquire certain assets related to the U.S. operations of MG Financial LLC. The investor group behind GAIN Capital includes 3i, Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, Edison Venture Fund, Tudor Ventures and VantagePoint Venture Partners.

The Gores Group LLC has acquired substantially all of the assets and assumed certain liabilities of National Envelope Corp. through a Section 363 transaction under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The acquired Frisco, Texas-based company makes 37 billion envelopes each year. The bankruptcy court approved the transaction on Aug. 23.

Graphite Capital is in talks to sell tire wholesaler Micheldever to Marubeni for about £200 million pounds ($309 million), two sources said. Graphite is involved in separate talks to buy back U-Pol, a car paint and body-filler company it previously sold to AAC Capital. The U-Pol deal is valued at about £130 million, sources said.

Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. might sell its Food Emporium stores, The Wall Street Journal said. The company, which operates the A&P supermarket chain, is considering the move to boost liquidity, according to people familiar with the matter. A couple of private equity shops identified as potential buyers are Angelo Gordon & Co. and Sterling Investment Partners.

Highlander Partners, a Dallas-based mid-market buyout shop, along with Flexpoint Ford, a private equity firm focused on health care and the financial service sectors, have acquired the practice management company Eagle Hospital Physicians. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

J. Mendel recapitalized its balance sheet with an investment from The Gores Group of Los Angeles. Financial terms were not disclosed. Gilles Mendel retains a significant stake in J. Mendel and will remain as chief executive officer and chief designer at the fashion house, which is known for using fur in its collections.

KA First Reserve, a partnership between First Reserve and Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors, has agreed to invest $100 million in K-Sea Transportation Partners LP. KA First Reserve will receive 18.4 million convertible preferred units. The deal is expected to close, in two steps, in September. K-Sea will use proceeds to cut debt and pay fees and expenses related to the deal. K-Sea is a large coastwise tank barge operator.

A Kelso & Co. affiliate agreed to acquire Logan’s Roadhouse Inc. from Bruckmann Rosser Sherrill & Co. Inc., Black Canyon Capital, Canyon Capital Advisors LLC and members of Logan’s management. Financial terms were not disclosed. Logan’s Roadhouse is a Lexington, Ky.-based restaurant chain with locations in 23 states.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

and TPG are potentially interested in the wine business of Foster’s Group Ltd, but they are not currently working on rival bids, sources told Reuters. Earlier Foster’s, Australia’s largest brewer, said it rejected a private equity offer worth up to $2.5 billion for its wine unit as too cheap and would continue with the split of its beer and wine businesses. Cerberus Capital Management is believed to be the firm that made the offer, The Australian newspaper reported. The bid for the wine unit surprised investors who had been focusing on potential buyers for the more lucrative beer business. Sales of Foster’s wine, including Beringer, Penfolds and Wolf Blass, have been hit by a deep U.S. recession and a trend away from low-end, bulk wines in Australia. The strong Aussie dollar has also been a drag, slashing the value of U.S. earnings.

LGV Capital, a UK-based private equity shop, backed a management-led group that acquired Snow+Rock Sports Ltd., which includes CycleSurgery and Runners Need. The deal was supported by Snow+Rock’s former owner Andrew Brownsword, who is leaving a significant investment in the specialty retailer.

Lloyds Development Capital, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, completed its £100 million ($153.9 million) acquisition of the Easynet business-to-business telecommunications unit from the satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

Lockheed Martin Corp. could get about $1.5 billion for a couple of units on the block, people familiar with the matter said. Sources told Reuters the defense contractor could fetch about $1 billion for its Enterprise Integration Group unit and the company’s Pacific Architects and Engineers Inc. is being sold for about $500 million. Cerberus Capital Management, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and other private equity shops have expressed interest.

McCarthy Capital Corp. led a growth equity investment in Advantor Systems LLC, which is an Orlando, Fla.-based designer and integrator of physical security systems. Terms were not disclosed. McCarthy Capital, of Omaha, Neb., is a private equity firm that invests exclusively in mid-market companies with operating profits of $3 million to $25 million. The shop’s typical investments range from $10 million to $30 million.

Navis Capital Partners, a Malaysian private equity shop, is leading a consortium looking to acquire certain assets from Carrefour. It offered a bid for Carrefour assets in Singapore and Malaysia, sources familiar with the deal told Reuters. Navis has not bid for Carrefour’s assets in Thailand.

New Mountain Capital LLC

bought Mallinckrodt Baker Inc. from Covidien for about $280 million through an affiliate. Raj Gupta will serve as chairman of Mallinckrodt Baker, a New Jersey-based chemicals maker and marketer that generated sales of $414 million in fiscal 2009. Gupta, a senior adviser at New Mountain, was chairman and CEO of Rohm and Haas.

Onex Corp., the Canadian private equity firm, agreed to acquire ResCare Inc., a U.S. provider of home care to the elderly and disabled. The cash deal values ResCare at $390 million.

Platinum Equity and The Gores Group acquired Alliance Entertainment from Source Interlink Cos. Financial terms were not disclosed. Alliance Entertainment is a wholesale distributor of CD, DVD and video game titles. It has a distribution center in Shepherdsville, Ky. The transaction was completed through Project Panther Holding Corp., a joint venture between Platinum Equity and Gores Group.

Permira has bought Asia Broadcast Satellite Ltd’s holding company, which supplies bandwidth capacity to more than 80 broadcasting and telecom customers in some 30 countries, according to the Wall Street Journal. The sellers are Citigroup Inc.’s Citi Venture Capital International and private equity shop ADM Capital, which acquired their position in 2006, according to the newspaper, which valued the transaction at more than $200 million.

Ridgemont Equity Partners signed an agreement for a majority investment in Unite Private Networks, which provides high-bandwidth, fiber-based communications networks in 12 states. Financial terms were not disclosed. Ridgemont Equity is a Charlotte, N.C.-based mid-market buyout and growth equity firm that was formed in August.

A private equity consortium is in talks to buy Saks, according to the Daily Mail. The group, comprised of both U.S. and U.K. buyout shops, has been stalking Saks for months. Due diligence is near completed and a cash bid of $1.7 billion, or $11 a share, could be tabled soon, the Daily Mail said.

San Francisco Equity Partners, a private equity firm focused on expansion-stage companies in the consumer industry, bought Zoom Eyeworks Inc., a Berkeley, Calif.-based designer and marketer of eyewear. Financial terms were not disclosed. Pacific Community Ventures and Simon Equity Partners partnered with San Francisco Equity Partners in the transaction.

SportsMEDIA Technology Corp. secured $12.5 million in growth capital funding from Vicente Capital Partners. The Durham, N.C., provider of graphics, statistics and video used for sports broadcasts, plans to use the capital to accelerate the launch of new products and to switch current products to its next generation software platform.

Susquehanna Growth Equity LLC and technology services veteran Brad Galle acquired the JK Group Inc., a provider of technology solutions for corporate philanthropic management programs. Galle will serve as chief executive officer.

TPG Capital is close to acquiring a 10 percent stake in VTB, a bank, for $2.4 billion to $3.1 billion, newspaper Kommersant reported. VTB is 85.5 percent controlled by the Russian government.

Veritas Capital Fund, a New York-based private equity firm, has agreed to buy the Illumination and Detection Services business of the publicly traded medical instrument maker PerkinElmer for approximately $500 million, including IDS’s cash balance.

Vestar Capital Partners V LP

’s affiliates (Mountain Acquisition Corp. and Mountain Merger Sub Corp.) and Health Grades Inc. agreed to extend the offer period for a proposed $8.20 a share tender offer for all Health Grades’ shares. The offer’s new deadline was September 16 at 9 AM, New York City time.

Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe agreed to buy a majority stake in Peak 10, a Charlotte, N.C.-based data center operator and managed services provider. Peak 10’s management will also have a stake. The sellers were Seaport Capital and McCarthy Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in early October.

White Deer Energy LP agreed to invest $60 million in the publicly traded PostRock Energy Corp. in exchange for preferred stock and warrants. PostRock explores, develops and produces oil and natural gas primarily in the Cherokee Basin of Kansas and Oklahoma. It will use the funds to reduce its debt and to fund growth. White Deer is an energy-focused private equity firm. It set up a reserve of $30 million for potential additional investments in PostRock.

An affiliate of Wicks Group of Cos. LLC bought Antenna Audio Inc., Antenna Audio Ltd and subsidiaries from Discovery Communications. Antenna provides audio and multimedia content at museums, exhibitions, historic sites and other venues.