Exits

3i Group has agreed to sell the Dutch pump maker Hyva to Unitas Capital for an undisclosed amount, Reuters reported. Though terms of the deal were not released, previous valuations have estimated the deal at roughly $830 million, Reuters said. Hyva makes hydraulic components for industrial machinery, and generates the majority of its sales from China and India. Unitas Capital has offices in Hong Kong, Melbourne, Seoul and Shanghai.

London-based Actis has agreed to sell Indian portfolio company Paras Pharmaceuticals to Reckitt Benckiser for 32.6 billion rupees ($726 million), Reuters reported. Actis owns 63 percent of Paras. Other shareholders include Silicon Valley-based venture firm Sequoia Capital. UK-based Reckitt Benckiser produces a wide range of household, health and personal care products. Actis has $4.7 billion under management.

Los Angeles-based Admiralty Partners has agreed to sell portfolio company Trident Space & Defense to mobile technology company TeleCommunication Systems for an undisclosed amount. Torrance, Calif.-based Trident develops engineering and electronics technology for space and defense markets. No financial terms of the acquisition were released. Publicly traded TeleCommunication Systems is based in Annapolis, Md.

Altor Equity Partners and LD Invest Equity will sell their stakes in environmental and energy company Aalborg Industries to Alfa Laval. Financial terms of the deal were not released. The two firms acquired Aalborg in 2005. Nordic private equity firm Altor Equity Partners was formed in 2003. Danish buyout shop LD Invest Equity focuses on small to mid-cap investments and was formed in 2004.

Apax Partners, Blackstone Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Permira and Providence Equity Partners plan to sell a third of the Danish telecom group TDC, earning up to $3.7 billion, Reuters reported. The private equity consortium will raise $2.19 billion from through a public offering, provided an overallotment option is exercised, Reuters said. The firms will raise an additional $1.5 billion through a share buyback by TDC.

Apax Partners has agreed to sell the card program management arm of its majority-owned, UK-based Travelex foreign exchange group to the card brand MasterCard, Reuters reported. The deal is expected to be valued at several hundred million pounds, Reuters said.

AXA Private Equity has completed its sale of Eliokem International, based in France, to U.S. specialty chemicals company Omnova Solutions , Omnova announced. The company paid nearly €230 million for the company, which gives Omnova a global footprint. In connection with the acquisition, Omnova, based in Fairlawn Park, Ohio, issued $250 million in senior notes due 2018, replaced its existing $150 million term loan with a new $200 million term loan, and amended and extended its existing revolving credit facility.

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System and the San Diego hedge fund Relational Investors are pushing Charles River Laboratories to put itself up for sale, Reuters reported, citing an article in the Wall Street Journal. The two groups hold a 6.1 percent combined stake in that clinical research company. The Wall Street Journal reported that Charles River Laboratories—which has two main segments: preclinical services and research models and services—could draw interest from private equity investors.

CapMan and other owners of OneMed Group will sell their stakes to private equity firm 3i Group and OneMed’s management. CapMan owned roughly 66 percent of OneMed Group prior to the deal, which is expected to close in February. OneMed is a medical supplies company based in Northern Europe. The company has offices in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Poland.

A Carlyle Group portfolio company, the assisted living company HCR ManorCare, is selling the majority of its real estate holdings to HCP Inc., a real estate investment trust, in a $6.1 billion sale and leaseback deal, Reuters reported. Under the terms of the deal, HCP will pay $3.53 billion in cash, $1.72 billion reinvested from the payoff of HCP’s existing debt investments in HCR ManorCare, and $852 million in HCP common stock issued directly to HCR shareholders, Reuters said. In total, HCP will buy 338 nursing and assisted living facilities across 30 states. HCR ManorCare will continue to run the facilities.

New York-based middle-market firm Centre Partners has completed its sale of Bumble Bee Foods—North America’s biggest supplier of “shelf-stable seafood”—to the London-based, consumer-focused buyout firm Lion Capital for $980 million. Bumble Bee was founded in 1897.

Citigroup Venture Capital International, Partners in Life Sciences and Greek private equity firm Global Finance are looking to sell Turkish drugmaker Biofarma, Reuters reported. Citigroup Venture Capital and Partners in Life Sciences bought the copycat drugmaker for $200 million three years ago, and later sold a stake to Global Finance. Reuters reported that the firms have begun an auction for Biofarma, and that JPMorgan is managing the sale.

London-based Darwin Private Equity has agreed to sell portfolio company Maxinutrition Group Holdings to pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline for £162 million ($255 million). GlaxoSmithKline will acquire 100 percent of the shares, providing an exit for Darwin Private Equity. UK-based Maxinutrition manufactures protein-enhanced nutrition products. Darwin Private Equity acquired Maxinutrition in 2007.

Environmental Capital Partners and Emigrant Capital Corp. have sold Jackson, Miss.-based information technology company Intechra Group to Melville, New York-based Arrow Electronics. Financial terms of the deal were not released. Emigrant Capital is the private equity subsidiary of Emigrant Bank. Environmental Capital Partners is based in New York. The two firms invested in Intechra in August 2009.

First Reserve Corp. has agreed to sell an 80 percent stake in Bahamas Oil Refining Co. to pipeline operator Buckeye Partners, in a deal valued at $1.36 billion, Reuters said. Under the terms of the deal, Buckeye will issue about 4.4 million limited partner units of a new class of interests at $57.04 each to First Reserve, Reuters said.

Consumer-centric private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners exited its Harlow’s Casino Resort & Hotel investment, selling the gaming business to listed, Kentucky-based Churchill Downs Inc. in a $138 million deal. Houlihan Lokey advised on the transaction. The sale netted the sponsor a 29 percent IRR and a 2.3x cash-on-cash return. The deal is the second of two exits for the private equity firms in the gaming space. Levine Leichtman previously sold a stake in Mikohn Gaming Group.

Littlejohn & Co. has completed its sale of coffee roaster and distributor Van Houtte. The investment firm, based in Greenwich, Conn., sold the company to publicly traded Green Mountain Coffee Roasters for C$915 million ($902 million). Littlejohn took Van Houtte private in a 2007 deal valued at C$600 million. Van Houtte is based in Montreal.

The Lundbeck Foundation of Copenhagen agreed to pay 2.8 billion Danish crowns ($500.6 million) for a 36 percent stake in Danish ambulance services firm Falck, Reuters reported. The foundation is buying the stake from Falck’s private equity owners Nordic Capital, ATP Private Equity Partners and Folksam, Reuters said.

European buyout shop Palamon Capital Partners has agreed to sell its 54 percent stake in German marketing company Loyalty Partner, which American Express Co. is buying for up to $660 million, Reuters reported. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter, is the firm’s sixth sale of an investment this year and triples its initial equity investment, Reuters said.

Palladium Equity Partners portfolio company Wise Foods said it has completed a $48 million credit facility. Berwick, Pa.-based Wise Foods, which makes and sells salty snacks like Cheez Doodles, will use the loan to refinance existing debt and provide a dividend to shareholders. Ally Commercial Finance and Siemens Financial Services were the lenders.

Pamplona Capital Management

has agreed to sell affordable jewelry maker Amor Group to 3i Group, 3i said. Financial terms of the deal were not released. Obertshausen, Germany-based Amor was purchased by Pamplona in 2006. The company has operations in 14 countries.

The Riverside Company has agreed to sell The Dwyer Group, of Waco, Texas, which owns seven service-based franchise businesses including Mr. Rooter, Mr. Appliance and the Glass Doctor. The deal is valued at $150 million. The buyer is the TZP Group, a New York buyout firm. Harris Williams advised Riverside, a buyout shop. Madison Capital and Babson Capital provided senior and mezzanine financing, respectively.

The Riverside Company has sold GTI Diagnostics to publicly traded Gen-Probe for $53 million in cash, Gen-Probe said. Riverside said it earned a 2.6x cash-on-cash return and a gross IRR of 46 percent. GTI has operations in Milwaukee and Waukesha, Wis., and manufactures human leukocyte antigen antibody detection products. San Diego-based Gen-Probe is a specialty diagnostics company focused on the transplantation, blood bank and specialty coagulation markets.British plastic-packaging supplier RPC Group will pay £204.7 million ($318.3 million) to buy Superfos Industries from Nordic private equity firms Ratos and IK Investment Partners, Reuters reported. RPC Group said it planned to fund the acquisition through an £88.8 million rights issue and a €130 million ($171.9 million) term loan facility. The deal is expected to close in early 2011.

U.S. fund Steel Partners has nearly exited its investment in Sapporo Holdings, cutting what was once an 18.64 percent stake in the Japanese brewer to nearly zero, Reuters reported. The fund began offloading shares in October, and now owns 0.15 percent of the brewer after the latest reduction.

Stonington Partners plans to exit its 17.6 percent stake in for-profit education company Lincoln Educational Services, selling the 3.9 million shares it holds in the company, Reuters reported. West Orange, New Jersey-based Lincoln said it would not receive any proceeds from the sale, Reuters said.

Striker Partners of Newtown Square, Pa., has agreed to sell portfolio company Touchstone Wireless Repair and Logistics to Brightpoint Inc., a supplier of technology to the wireless industry. Hatfield, Pa.-based Touchstone provides repair, remanufacture and reverse logistics services for wireless products. News of the deal was announced by Harris Williams, a mid-market investment bank, which advised Touchstone.

Swander Pace Capital and Roynat Capital have sold the Canadian organic yogurt brand Liberté brand to Yoplait, the French yogurt company, Yoplait announced. Yoplait is owned by owned by the French dairy cooperative SODIAAL and PAI Partners.

TPG Capital is in early talks to sell Turkish spirits company Mey Icki to the global beverage company Diageo, Reuters reported. The value of the deal could reach as high as $2.5 billion, Reuters said. TPG had been exploring an initial public offering for the company. An acquisition could provide an alternative to the IPO. The private equity firm bought Mey Icki for about $800 million in 2006, Reuters said.