Exits

3i Group plc said it had hired Citigroup to conduct a “strategic review” of Global Energy Services, the Spanish builder of wind farms it bought four years ago. Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that 3i, the British private equity firm, was hoping ultimately to sell the company, and the buyout firm hoped GES could fetch roughly €500 million ($632 million). GES could interest both rival private equity firms and trade bidders, the people said.

3i Group plc and other shareholders signed a contract to sell Panreac to Illinois Tool Works Inc. Panreac is a Spanish manufacturer and supplier of chemicals. The transaction will provide 3i more than a 2x return on its investment. In 2005, 3i invested about €25 million for a 75 percent stake in Panreac.

3M signed a definitive agreement to acquire Arizant Inc., a majority-owned business of Court Square Capital, for $810 million in cash. Arizant is a Eden Prairie, Minn.-based maker of patient warmers designed to prevent hypothermia in surgical settings.

3M signed a definitive agreement to acquire Attenti Holdings S.A. from an investor group led by Francisco Partners. The transaction has a purchase price of $230 million. Attenti is a Tel Aviv, Israel-based supplier of remote people-monitoring technologies.

Access Intelligence, a media and information company backed by the private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, has sold Chemical Week magazine, SRI Consulting, and The Energy Daily to publicly traded business information company IHS Inc. Access Intelligence serves the chemical, energy, defense, aerospace and communications markets. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

An affiliate of Washington, D.C.-based ACON Investments LLC signed a definitive agreement to sell SAE Towers Holdings LLC to KEC International Ltd of India for $95 million, excluding working capital adjustments on a debt-free, cash free basis. The sale of SAE Towers to KEC will yield proceeds representing more than 3.6x ACON’s investment. SAE Towers is a Houston, Texas-based manufacturer of transmission towers. SAE Towers’ management team will remain with the business.

AECOM Technology Corp. completed its acquisition of McNeil Technologies Inc., a Springfield, Va.-based government, national security and intelligence services firm, from Veritas Capital and certain management shareholders. McNeil Technologies shareholders received $355 million. AECOM expects the deal will be neutral to earnings per share, but will add to cash earnings per share in fiscal 2011.

AmerAlia Inc. acquired the shares it did not already own in Natural Soda Holdings Inc. Rifle, Colo.-based AmerAlia exchanged 286.1 million company shares for the remaining 82 percent stake in the producer of baking soda. The seller was Sentient Group, a private equity investor and AmerAlia’s largest shareholder.

Candover Investments plc’s Candover Partners Ltd unit agreed to sell Equity Trust Holding Sarl, a provider of business administration and fiduciary services, to Doughty Hanson for an enterprise value of €350 million ($444 million). The deal represents a 24 percent premium to the valuation of the business as of June 30 and a return of 1.5x cost.

Carlyle Group, after spending six months trying to find a buyer for defense and aviation company Arinc Inc., has decided instead to pursue an initial public offering, according to Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter. Six U.S. airlines including AMR Corp. sold the company to Carlyle for an undisclosed sum. Carlyle reportedly was seeking more than $1 billion for the company. Goldman Sachs has been advising the buyout shop on the sale.

Charterhouse Group Inc., Highlander Partners and MTS Health Investors signed a definitive agreement to sell Chamberlin Edmonds & Associates Inc., one of their portfolio companies, to Emdeon Inc. for $260 million in cash. Chamberlin Edmonds is an Atlanta-based provider of government program eligibility and enrollment services to more than 200 acute care facilities in 30 states.

Clairvest Group Inc. has sold Casino Marina del Sol, Latin Gaming Chile SA and Latin Gaming Osorno SA at original cost to Chile Holdings for $15.9 million and a 35.6 percent stake in the new holding company. In addition, Clairvest Equity Partners III LP sold its investment in Casino Marina del Sol to Chile Holdings at cost and received a 40.9 percent stake in the holding company.

Cressey & Co. sold its CCRx Holdings Inc. portfolio company to Omnicare Inc. CCRx, is a Harrisburg, Pa.-based institutional pharmacy that provides medications to residents in nursing and assisted living facilities. Harris Williams & Co. served as an exclusive adviser to CCRx.

Darby Overseas Investments, the private equity arm of Franklin Templeton Investments,said that its Darby Technology Ventures Fund sold Atvi to Euronet Worldwide. Ativi is a Brazilian prepaid payments processor. Financial terms were not announced.

European Capital Ltd. received proceeds of about £40 million ($62 million) for exiting its investment in Inspicio plc, which is engaged in the testing, inspection and performance conformity markets, following the sale of Inspectorate, Inspicio’s largest division, to Bureau Veritas for £450 million. European Capital invested £35 million of subordinated debt in 3i Group’s take-private of Inspicio in February 2008. European Capital is an investment company that is managed by an affiliate of American Capital Ltd.

Evolution Capital Partners LLC

has sold Innerpac Inc. to a strategic buyer. Innerpac is a Cicero, Ill.-based maker of corrugated and chipboard partitions. Evolution Capital added the business to its portfolio in November 2006.Affiliates of Investcorp and Harvest Partners have agreed to sell their majority owned Associated Materials LLC to affiliates of Hellman & Friedman LLC for about $1.3 billion. Associated Materials makes exterior residential building products. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

The private equity backers of oil firm Kosmos Energy are considering taking it public in either the U.K. or U.S., which could value the company at around $5 billion, the Financial Times reported. Kosmos, backed by private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Blackstone Group LP, had agreed to a deal last year to sell its interests in Ghana’s Jubilee oilfield to Exxon Mobil Corp. for $4 billion, sources close to the deal had said at the time.

Lazard Ltd.’s Australian private equity arm sold the credit monitoring business Dun & Bradstreet Australia for A$233 million ($209 million), to a subsidiary of the Dun & Bradstreet Corp., rather than pursing an initial public offering. The transaction yielded a profit of A$100 million, which Lazard said represented a profit of more than three times the original equity investment it made in 2007.

Lion Capital LLP has hired Citigroup and RBS to explore a potential sale of Hema, Reuters said. Hema is a Dutch retailer that Lion Capital bought in July 2007 from Maxeda. The retailer has 530 stores in five countries.

Littlejohn & Co. LLC agreed to sell all the outstanding shares of LJVH Holdings Inc. (Van Houtte), to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. for C$915 million, or $890 million, based on the exchange rate as of Sept. 13. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2010. Van Houtte is a coffee company based in Montreal, Quebec.

Lombard Investments, a San Francisco-based private equity firm, announced it has sold a major portion of its holdings in the Thai OEM auto parts supplier Somboon Advance Technology for a 3x return on its investment in the company. The company, which makes axle shafts, brake components and springs, generated $100 million in revenue in the first six months of the year.

MegaMex Foods LLC, a joint venture between Hormel Foods Corp. and Herdez Del Fuerte, S.A. de C.V. agreed to buy Don Miguel Foods Corp. from TSG Consumer Partners LLC’s TSG4 LP. The transaction is expected to close in October. Financial terms were not disclosed. Don Miguel Foods is a provider of frozen and fresh Mexican flavored appetizers and snacks.

Miranda Technologies Inc. has acquired U.K.-based OmniBus Systems for C$48.7 million ($47 million) from private equity firm Palamon Capital Partners. Miranda Technologies expects the deal will add to earnings within the first full year of operation, and should generate product and distribution synergies.

Montagu Private Equity LLP, a U.K.-based mid-market European private equity concern, hired KPMG to review its Maplin Electronics portfolio company. The process could mean the sale of the retailer, people familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires. Montagu added Maplin Electronics to its portfolio in September 2004 for £244 million.

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan agreed to sell its 25 percent stake in CTVglobemedia to BCE Inc. The deal has an equity value of $1.5 billion and a total transaction value of $3.2 billion when debt is included.

Phones 4U, a British mobile phone retailer owned by Providence Equity, may go up for sale, according to Reuters, citing the Sunday Times newspaper. The 476-store business could change hands for between $1.1 billion and $2.2 billion, according to an estimate by analysts cited in the newspaper.

RoundTable Healthcare Partners, the health care-oriented private equity firm, announced that it completed the sale of Bioniche Pharma Holdings to pharmaceutical company Mylan for $550 million in cash. The sale marks the first portfolio realization for RoundTable’s second fund.

Silverfleet Capital is seeking to sell Sterigenics, the Chicago-based firm whose gamma-ray sterilization technology is used by medical device makers, sources familiar with the situation said. Silverfleet is hoping the business, which it bought in 2004, will fetch about $800 million and expects it will attract interest from private equity firms and trade bidders, the sources said.

Spyglass Entertainment Group

’s founders, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, signed a letter of intent to take control of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, a movie studio owned by Providence Equity Partners, TPG, Quadrangle Group, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, Sony Corp. and Comcast Corp.

St. Jude Medical Inc.

, a St. Paul, Minn.-based medical device company, announced that it has acquired a 19 percent ownership stake in CardioMEMS, a portfolio company of Boston Millennia Partners, for $60 million. St. Jude said it had an exclusive option to buy the Atlanta-based privately held company for an additional $375 million if certain commercial milestones are met.

Starwood Capital Group’s Groupe du Louvre affiliate sold Hotel Lutetia to Alrov. Financial terms were not disclosed. Hotel Lutetia is a 231-room property in the Saint-Germain-des-Pres neighborhood of Paris, France.

TowerBrook Capital Partners LP agreed to sell portfolio company The Broadlane Group Inc. to MedAssets Inc. for $850 million in cash. Broadlane provides cost management solutions to the U.S. health care industry. The transaction is expected to close within 60 to 90 days. TowerBrook acquired Broadlane in August 2008.

TowerBrook Capital and Gala Capital are considering holding an IPO for Jimmy Choo, Spanish newspaper Expansion reported. The two private equity firms own a majority stake in the upscale shoe designer. The IPO could value the firm at around £500 million ($768 million), Expansion quoted financial sources as saying.

VMG Partners signed a definitive agreement to sell Waggin’ Train LLC, a marketer of real-meat dog treats. The buyer is Nestle SA’s Nestle Purina PetCare Co. subsidiary. The transaction has received U.S. regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of September.

Waud Capital Partners has completed its sale of Regency Hospital Co.—a national chain of specialty hospital and rehabilitation clinics—to publicly traded Select Market Group. The sale price was $210 million, including select liabilities. Operating 23 hospitals in nine states, the company generates more than $350 million in annual revenue.

Windjammer Capital Investors has agreed to sell ST Specialty Foods, to TreeHouse Foods for about $180 million in cash, TreeHouse Foods said. ST Specialty Foods, of Brooklyn Park, Minn., produces private label macaroni and cheese, skillet diners and salads. It has annual sales of about $100 million. The deal includes an additional $15 million in cash if ST Specialty achieves certain earnings targets for the 12 months ending Dec. 31. The deal is expected to close in October. Windjammer, of Newport, Calif., invests in mid-market buyouts.