Exits

3i Group portfolio company NORMA Group AG has held an initial public offering on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. NORMA offered 18.4 million shares under the global offering, raising €386.4 million ($557.5 million), including full overallotments. The company’s market capitalization is €669 million, the firm said in a written statement. 3i formed NORMA Group by investing in Rasmussen Group in 2006.

Bahrain-based Arcapita has exited its investment in MedPlus Health Services, selling the company to private equity firms, Reuters reported. Terms of the deal were not released. Arcapital became the largest shareholder in MedPlus in 2007 in a transaction valuing the company at $72 million. MedPlus said in March that private equity firm Mount Kellett Capital Management, along with TVS Capital and Ajay Piramal group’s healthcare fund, would buy a 35 percent stake in MedPlus.

Private equity-owned building company Ausco Ltd is planning a $524 million initial public offering, Reuters reported. The Australian company would be the first float by a private equity firm in the Australian markets in the past 18 months. Ausco, which is owned by Waco International, a South-African based industrial services company bought by CCMP Capital in 2006, produces and hires out modular buildings for the mining and construction industries, and for governments and schools, Reuters said.

Cinven and BC Partners sold a combined 10 percent stake in Spanish travel and tourism IT services company Amadeus IT Holding, pulling in a total of €613 million ($883 million), Reuters reported. Amadeus returned to the public market in 2010, five years after its private equity buyout, Reuters said. Other shareholders include Air France and Deutsche Lufthansa.

Discovery Communications is considering making a bid for German broadcaster ProSieben’s Nordic TV assets, Reuters reported, including TV and radio stations in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway. ProSieben, majority-owned by buyout shops Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Permira, is selling assets to pay down debt.

Donut and coffee company Dunkin Brands, which is owned by The Carlyle Group, Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners, has named bookrunners for its planned IPO, Reuters reported. Barclays, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley were named as active bookrunners, and Bank of America and Goldman Sachs as passive bookrunners. The company plans its IPO for sometime this summer, Reuters said.

Florida-based Empire Investment Holdings completed the sale of portfolio company VITEC Solutions to Vitec Partners, a holding company run by a private investment group. Terms of the deal were not publicized. KPMG Corporate Finance LLC acted as the exclusive adviser to Empire during the process.

Gildan Activewear has agreed to buy Gold Toe Moretz Holdings, which is backed by The Blackstone Group. The total purchase price is about $350 million but Gildan will not assume any of Gold Toe’s outstanding debt. Gold Toe supplies athletic, casual and dress socks and has been rumored to be near bankruptcy for months. Blackstone acquired the company in 2006 in a deal valued at $466 million. The majority of the purchase price will be represented by intangible assets, including the value of these brands, a statement said.

The Department of Justice has approved Google Inc.’s acquisition of flight information software company ITA Software Inc. In July 2010, Google said it would pay $700 million in cash for Cambridge, Mass.-based ITA. ITA’s investors include Battery Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, PAR Investment Partners, Sequoia Capital and Spectrum Equity Investors.

Lightyear Capital, along Insight Venture Partners, has agreed to sell ARGUS Software to Altus Group for $130 million. The deal is expected to close in second quarter. Lightyear, a New York firm that focuses on financial services, invested in Realm Business Solutions in 2006, which it then renamed ARGUS.

Merck will acquire specialty pharmaceutical company Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc. in a deal valued at roughly $430 million. Warburg Pincus, which owns approximately 28 percent of the outstanding shares of Inspire through its Warburg Pincus Private Equity IX LP, has agreed to tender all of its shares into the offer. Merck will pay $5 per share for Inspire Pharmaceuticals, representing a 26 percent over the company’s closing price on the day before the deal was announced.

Dutch chip maker NXP Semiconductors is in takeover talks with Intel, Qualcomm and Broadcom, Reuters reported, citing an article by Dutch paper De Telegraaf. NXP was bought out by private equity investors, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Bain Capital, Silver Lake, Apax Partners and AlpInvest in 2006. The firm was partly listed by its private equity owners in August.

Consumer goods packager Silgan Holdings Inc. said it will pay $1.3 billion in cash and stock to acquire smaller rival Graham Packaging Company Inc., Reuters reported. The Blackstone Group holds a 61 percent stake in Graham Packaging. The acquisition, valued at $4.1 billion including debt, will help Silgan boost the number of manufacturing facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia, Reuters reported.

British online payment company Skrill has pulled its planned London initial public offering, blaming poor market conditions, Reuters reported. The company, which is majority owned by private equity group Investcorp Technology Partners, had planned to sell £30 million ($49 million) of new shares in the offering, reduced from £80 million, to help fund its expansion into new products and locations, Reuters wrote.

Terra Firma Capital Partners Ltd is in talks with a buyer for its cinema chain Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group, the firm’s founder Guy Hands said. The name of the potential buyer was not released. Reuters reported that the firm would want a minimum of £1.2 billion ($1.96 billion) for the company.

German diesel engine maker Tognum said a €3.2 billion ($4.6 billion) offer by Daimler and Rolls-Royce was too low, and it would not recommend it to shareholders, Reuters reported. The €24-per-share offer was less that the current trading price of Tognum stock. Daimler once owned all of Tognum but sold it to Swedish private equity group EQT for €1.6 billion euros in December 2005. It then bought back more than 20 percent in April 2008, Reuters wrote.

TMS International Corp., which is majority owned by Onex Corp., sold fewer shares than expected at a price below the proposed range in an IPO, Reuters reported. The company sold 11.2 million shares for $13 each, raising $145.6 million in the offering, Reuters reported. TMS and a group of its stakeholders had planned to sell 12.5 million shares for $15 to $17 each.

Dutch cable operator Ziggo is refinancing its existing debt as it makes its way toward and initial public offering, Reuters reported. The company plans to extend the maturity of its €250 million ($360 million) debt by two-and-a-half years. Private equity owners Cinven and Warburg Pincus have hired STJ Advisors to prepare for an IPO that could value Ziggo at around €7 billion, Reuters reported previously.