Exits

AAC Capital Partners is expecting final round bids in October in the sale of portfolio company Volution, Reuters reported. Volution, a heating systems manufacturer, is expected to fetch around around £200 million ($311.6 million), Reuters wrote. AAC Capital bought Volution in 2006 from Montagu Private Equity.

Albion Ventures has sold The Place Sandwich VCT Ltd, the owner and operator of the 37-room Bell Hotel in the medieval English town of Sandwich, to Shepherd Neame Ltd, Britain’s oldest brewer, for £3.6 million ($5.6 million). Funds managed or advised by Albion Ventures backed the acquisition of the historic hotel in January 2005, when a total of £3.1 million was invested.

Alcuin Capital LLP has sold Adapt Group Ltd in a management buyout backed by Lyceum Capital Partners LP for £30 million ($46.4 million). Adapt, established in 2001 and headquartered in London, delivers enterprise-class cloud, infrastructure management, network and data center services to mid-market clients that operate business critical IT applications. The transaction was announced by Jones Day London, which advised Alcuin Capital.

ARAMARK Corp. has sold Galls, a marketer and distributor of public safety, first responder and private security products to CI Capital Partners. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. PNC Business Credit is providing financing. Lexington, Ken.-based Galls produces $163 million in revenue. Stephens Inc. advised ARAMARK, which is backed by JP Morgan Partners, Goldman Sachs, Thomas H. Lee Partners, and Warburg Pincus.

Audax Group will sell portfolio company ColorMatrix to chemical company PolyOne Corp. for $486 million, Reuters reported. ColorMatrix is a manufacturer of colorants and other additives for plastics. Audax Group put ColorMatrix on the block this summer.

August Equity has sold Planit to Vero Software, which is backed by Battery Ventures. Financial terms of the deal, which closed on Sept. 30, weren’t announced. Planit is a British developer of CAD/CAM software for the specialist manufacturing sector. News of the deal was announced by investment bank Harris Williams, which advised August Equity on the sale.

Barclays Private Equity is selling travel insurance company FirstAssist Insurance Services to U.S. health insurer Cigna Corp., Reuters reported. The deal is reportedly valued at more than $100 million.

Barclays Private Equity wants a financing package in place before auctioning off its tax-free shopping company Global Blue, Reuters reported. The company is expected to fetch as much as £600 million to £700 million ($800 million to $1 billion), and has seen interest from several private equity firms, Reuters said. Barclays hired JP Morgan and Evercore to run the sale process.

The British buyout shop BC Partners is planning to sell the Australian and Asian operations of its Fitness First gym chain, Reuters reported Friday. A deal for the chain could fetch as much as $972 million, Reuters said, citing the Australian Financial Review. According to previous reports, private equity firm BC Partners paid £835 million ($1.3 billion) to take control of Fitness First in 2005, Reuters wrote.

The Carlyle Group has taken a controlling stake in WorldStrides, a student travel organization. Financial terms of the deal, which closed yesterday, weren’t disclosed. Charlottesville, Va.-WorldStrides provides supplemental educational student travel programs. The sellers were Charlesbank Capital Partners and Silverhawk Capital Partners, who will each continue to own stakes in WorldStrides.

Talks between buyout shop Cinven and suitors for Italian aerospace company Avio have stalled over price and political concerns about selling to an international buyer, Reuters reported. Avio provides engine parts for the Eurofighter Typhoon and supplies parts to General Electric and Rolls Royce, Reuters wrote. Avio could reportedly fetch more than €3 billion ($4.1 billion). Cinven has held discussions with several potential buyers, including Bain Capital, CVC and Clayton Dubilier & Rice.

Clayton Dubilier & Rice has completed its sale of portfolio company Diversey Holdings to Sealed Air Corp., Sealed Air announced. Terms of the deal call for Diversey shareholders to get $2.1 billion in cash and 31.7 million shares of Sealed Air common stock.

ECI Partners has exited its investment in EDM Group through the company’s £52 million ($81.4 million) merger with Sala International, which is backed by mid-market private equity house LDC. The deal establishes creates one of Britain’s largest providers of outsourced information management services.

GenNx360 Capital Partners has sold SiVance LLC to Milliken & Co. Terms of the sale were not released. SiVance is focused on specialty silicone technologies and intermediates required to modify basic silicone polymers. GenNx360 Capital acquired SiVance in August 2009.

GSO Capital Partners LP has entered into a definitive agreement to sell portfolio company Stolle Machinery LLC to Tokyo-headquartered packaging manufacturer Toyo Seikan for $775 million. Stolle, headquartered in Centennial, Colo., manufactures equipment used by global can-makers to manufacture and decorate aluminum or steel can bodies and easy-open ends used primarily to package carbonated soft drinks, beer and various foods. The deal was announced by investment bank Harris Williams, which advised Stolle.

The Jordan Company will relinquish its stake in Diversified Clinical Services as part of its merger with National Healing Corp. Both are wound care management companies based in Florida. Specifics on the deal were not provided. Moelis & Co. and Jefferies & Co. served as financial advisers to Diversified Clinical Services. SNR Denton US LLP and Hogan Lovells US LLP are serving as Diversified Clinical Services’ legal counsel.

British mid-market house LDC has exited its investment in claims management provider Davies Group through a management-led secondary buyout backed by Electra Partners. The business was sold for £60 million ($92.9 million).

MBK Partners is looking to raise roughly ¥75 billion ($977 million) through the sale of Japanese software developer Yayoi, Reuters reported. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Olympus Capital and Advantage Partners are among those preparing bids, Reuters said.

Merit and Fulton Capital have realized their investment in Cobra Wire & Cable. Cobra has been acquired by EIS Inc., a subsidiary of Genuine Parts Co. Merit and Fulton acquired Cobra in early 2007. Under their ownership, Cobra improved its position in the telecommunications sector through a strategic acquisition, enhanced its management team and expanded its sales force.

Merit and Fulton Capital have successfully exited their investment in E-conolight, a distributor of lighting fixtures and accessories. The company has been acquired by Ruud Lighting, a subsidiary of Cree Inc. Merit and Fulton acquired E-conolight in early 2010.

Metalmark Capital has agreed to sell protective-packaging company Tegrant Corp. to plastic packaging producer Sonoco Products Co. for $550 million in cash, Reuters reported.

Malaysian firm Navis Capital is considering selling Singapore industrial safety shoemaker King’s Safetywear, Reuters reported. The company, which makes industrial safety footwear, could fetch and estimated $300 million to $500 million, according to Bloomberg. Navis, run by former executives of Boston Consulting Group, took King’s Safetywear private in December 2008 for S$95 million ($74 million), Reuters wrote.

Nordic Capital Funds V and VI completed the sale of Nycomed A/S to listed Japanese Takeda Pharmaceutical in a €9.6 billion ($12.4 billion) transaction. The deal excludes the U.S. based dermatology and topical generics unit Fougera, which is being retained by the Nordic Capital-led owner group.

Nordic Capital is weighing a sale of portfolio company Point International, a payments company, with Advent International and Bain Capital in the running, Reuters reported. The two private equity firms have teamed up on a bid. The company is expected to fetch roughly €700 million ($930 million), and final bids are expected this month. Rival payment-processing firms Tsys and First Data—which is backed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Bain Capital and Merrill Lynch Capital—are also still in the running for Point International, a source said.

Phoenix Equity Partners, a British mid-market firm, has attracted a number of bidders in its sale of Asco Group, a fast-growing oil and gas logistics business, bankers close to the deal told Reuters after first round bidding closed.

Los Angeles-based Platinum Equity has completed the sale of North American wire harness business AEES to PKC Group, a wireless harness manufacturer. The sale transaction included cash and newly issued PKC shares.

Shamrock Capital has put Media Storm on the block, sources told peHub. Media Storm, with offices in South Norwalk, Conn., and New York, is a strategic media agency for the entertainment industry. Clients include Sony, Magnolia Pictures, MLB Network and About.com, according to the company’s Web site.

Silver Lake Sumeru has struck a deal with IBM for i2 Holdings Ltd, a provider of intelligence and analysis software used by the national security, defense, public safety and private sectors. Financial terms were not released. Silver Lake Sumeru bought the company in 2008. i2 is based in Cambridge, England.

Starwood Energy Group, an affiliate Connecticut-based private investor Starwood Capital Group, has sold a 272-megawatt natural gas-fired combined cycle power plant in Fort Lupton, Colo., to Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a not-for-profit wholesale energy provider. Specifics of the deal were not publicized.

Thoma Bravo has completed its sale of a majority stake in Flexera Software to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Ontario Teachers announced. The deal was announced in July. Thoma Bravo is retaining a minority stake. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Global fund manager Värde Partners has agreed to acquire SAV Credit Ltd, a British specialist credit card provider, from majority shareholders Palamon Capital Partners, Electra Private Equity and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners in a deal worth £472 million ($740 million). Palamon, Electra, and Morgan Stanley have supported the development of SAV from a start-up in 2002. Värde Partners first partnered with SAV Credit in March 2010 and is acquiring the business as part of its strategic growth plans.

Warburg Pincus is considering the sale of Mach, its Luxembourg-based business that provides roaming and billing services to mobile phone companies, Reuters reported. The buyout firm has hired Barclays Capital to review options for Mach, which could fetch around $750 million if sold and includes Telefonica, Microsoft and Verizon among its customers. Analysts said Mach could be a target for software majors such as Oracle and SAP if Warburg Pincus presses ahead with a formal process.