Exits

AES Solar has set an end-of-July deadline for offers for the solar assets it plans to sell in Europe, Reuters reported. AES Solar is a joint venture between AES Corp. and private equity firm Riverstone Holdings. A sale of the assets—mainly in Italy and Spain—could fetch more than €600 million ($873 million), Reuters wrote.

Apax Partners and Jean-Michel Hegesippe, the CEO of telecom provider Outremer, are selling their 52.26 percent stake to the private equity arm of French insurer AXA, for €12 ($16.98) a share, Reuters reported.

The Blackstone Group sold its stake in Chinese agricultural group Dili Group earlier this year, Reuters reported, citing the Financial Times. The firm sold its stake after Dili warned Blackstone that its involvement would complicate efforts to raise prices, Reuters wrote. Last year, Unilever was fined 2 million yuan ($309,300) by China for talking about increasing prices, Reuters said.

Private equity fund Capital International has put 3.3 billion rupees ($75 million) into a unit of Indian engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro, ahead of the unit’s initial public offering, Reuters reported. L&T Finance Holdings filed in March for an IPO of up to 17.5 billion rupees. Of that, it planned to raise 4 billion rupees through a pre-IPO placement.

Carlyle Group portfolio company Insight Communications Co. received final bids for the company and will probably choose a buyer in July, Reuters reported, citing news in the Wall Street Journal. Bidders for the cable operator include WideOpenWest and Mediacom Communications. The final bids were reportedly more than $3 billion, the Journal reported.

The Carlyle Group has exited its investment in Indian publishing services company Newgen Knowledge Works Pvt Ltd, Reuters reported. Terms of the deal were not released. Carlyle bought a majority stake in the company in 2004, and sold it to private equity funds Franklin Templeton Private Equity Strategy and Aureos South Asia Fund, and venture and growth capital fund ePlanet Capital, Reuters wrote.

Dallas-based Century Bridge Capital said it had exited its first investment in China: a $125 million joint venture with Jia Heng Real Estate, which closed in December 2008. The venture comprised more than 1,200 units in 11 high-rise towers. Terms of the exit were not released.

Buyout shops Cinven and BC Partners sold a combined 9.16 percent stake in Spanish travel and tourism IT services company Amadeus IT Holding, Reuters reported. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which handled the private placement, said in a statement that they had placed 41 million shares for €570 million ($816.9 million). Amadeus returned to the public market in 2010, five years after its private equity buyout. Other shareholders include Air France and Deutsche Lufthansa. After the sale, Cinven and BC Partners each retain a 3.42 percent stake in Amadeus, Reuters wrote.

Buyout firm Cognetas is selling automotive supplier KSM Castings to Chinese group CITIC Dicastal, Reuters reported. KSM is the last of three German companies that the firm put up for sale this month, Reuters said. No terms of the acquisition were disclosed, though estimates have placed the value of KSM at roughly €300 million ($435 million).

CVC Capital Partners sold an additional 15.63 million shares of Samsonite as the luggage maker upped its Hong Kong initial public offering by $46 million to nearly $1.3 billion, after underwriters exercised an option to sell additional shares, Reuters reported. The sale reduced the firm’s stake in Samsonite to 28.7 percent from 29.8 percent, Reuters said. Samsonite and its backers, including CVC, raised $1.25 billion with the offering in June.

Canada’s Dollarama Inc.’s largest shareholder will exit the company, selling its stake to an unidentified financial institution for C$297.6 million ($301.1 million), Reuters reported. Bain Dollarama, which is indirectly owned by private equity firm Bain Capital, will sell its 9.2 million shares for C$32.50 each, a slight discount on the company’s closing price on the day before the sale was disclosed. Bain Dollarama’s stake represented 12.4 percent of Dollarama’s about 73.65 million outstanding shares, Reuters said.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc., the private equity-owned parent of brands Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins, is planning to sell about 22.3 million shares in its initial public offering, at an expected range of $16-$18 per share. The IPO values the company at as much as $2.3 billion, Reuters reported. Dunkin’ was taken private in 2005 by private equity firms Bain Capital, Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners in a $2.4 billion deal.

Encore Consumer Capital, the San Francisco-based private equity firm, will sell its Aidells Sausage Co., a maker of sausage and meatball products, to Sara Lee Corp. for $87 million. Houlihan Lokey acted as financial adviser for Aidells and Latham & Watkins LLP acted as legal counsel.

South African buyout firm Ethos Private Equity is exiting its investment in sporting goods retailer Holdsport via a $170 million listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, Reuters reported. Ethos paid 681 million rand ($99.14 million) for a majority stake in the company in 2006.

South Korea’s Hana Financial Group agreed to cut the acquisition price for a controlling stake in Korea Exchange Bank from U.S. fund Lone Star by 6 percent to $4.1 billion, Reuters reported. The two parties also extended the deadline for the KEB deal to the end of November. The deal for Korea Exchange Bank has been beset with regulatory hurdles.

HgCapital is in exclusive talks to sell portfolio company Mondo Minerals BV to Advent International, the company revealed. Specifics on the transaction were not publicized. Guillaume Darbon, a managing director with Advent, and Michael Ogrinz are working on the deal. Advent was advised by HSBC (M&A), Allen & Overy (legal), KPMG (financial and tax diligence), BCG (market diligence), ERM (environment) Creative Value/Olivier Quenardel (industry advisers). Senior acquisition debt is being arranged by BNP Paribas (acting through Fortis Bank SA NV), IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG and RBC Capital Markets, and mezzanine acquisition debt by Ares Capital Europe Ltd.

Nestle has offered to buy 60 percent of Chinese candy maker Hsu Fu Chi International for about $1.7 billion, Reuters reported. Hsu Fu Chi is roughly 55 percent owned by the Hsu family and 15 percent held by Baring Private Equity. According to Reuters, the Hsu family would sell a 16.48 percent stake to Nestle. Nestle will also buy 43.52 percent from shareholders such as Baring Private Equity and asset manager Arisaig and together with the Hsu family will seek to delist the firm, Reuters said.

Oak Hill Capital Partners will sell Primus International to Precision Castparts Corp. for $900 million, the firm announced. Bellevue, Washington-based Primus is a manufacturer of aerospace components. Oak Hill Capital bought the company in 2006. The deal is expected to close during the third quarter.

Odyssey Investment Partners has completed its sale of Pro Mach Inc. to The Jordan Company, through its Resolute Fund II LP. Financial terms of the deal were not released. Pro Mach provides packaging machinery products and services to multinational clients in the food, beverage, household goods and pharmaceutical industries.

Onex Partners has completed its sale of Husky International to Berkshire Partners and OMERS Private Equity. Husky’s management team retains a stake. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities provided financing. Bolton, Ont.-based Husky, founded in 1953, is one of the world’s largest suppliers of injection molding equipment and services to the plastics industry.

Ratos will sell Medisize to Phillips Plastics Corp. for approximately €99.8 million ($142 million). Ratos will generate a gain of about $6.3 million, and an IRR of about 4 percent, the firm said in a statement. Medisize is a contract manufacturer specializing in medical devices for delivery and administration of drugs and pharmaceutical packaging. The company is based in Vantaa, Finland.

Chinese hypermarket operator Sun Art Retail Group raised $1.1 billion after pricing its Hong Kong initial public offering at the top of an indicative range, Reuters reported. The company is only the second $1 billion-plus Hong Kong IPO this year, after MGM China. As part of the IPO, Sun Art sold $420 million shares to private equity investors, including General Atlantic and Hillhouse Capital Management, which invested $70 million apiece. Buyout shop Arisaig Partners and an affiliate of Bain Capital and French fund manager Carmignac Gestion also invested $40 million each, Reuters wrote.