In brief top news

Alchemy Partners is fundraising for a £250m distress and special situations fund. Former founder of Mizuho’s special situations group, Ian Cash has joined the team to spearhead the firm’s move into the sector. Prior to joining Mizuho, Cash spent four years with Salomon Smith Barney/Citigroup International, where he was a proprietary trader and investing in distressed debt and special situations. The appointment represents Alchemy’s first foray into special situations with the launch of the fund.

Alchemy managing partner Jon Moulton said: “With the increasingly aggressive capital structures recently being put in place, we believe that we are at the right point in the cycle to take advantage of distress and special situations. Ian’s wealth of experience within this specialist market will enable Alchemy’s investors to benefit from the many opportunities expected to arise from overly ambitious lending.”

• Spanish stock market regulator CNMV could insist that Portuguese restaurant group Ibersol changes its offer for Spain’s Telepizza.

Ibersol might need to drop a condition as part of its bid whereby a Telepizza poison pill is removed.

At Telepizza’s AGM last week, shareholders kept a poison pill provision that would only allow a buyer to nominate a representative on the board if it were able to buy 66% of the company. A buyer that acquired less than that amount would only be able to have a representative in management after two years.

• NM Rothschild has been appointed to value independently the 20% stake in the passenger aircraft manufacturer Airbus currently held by British aerospace and defence contractor BAE Systems, according to a report. Earlier, there was speculation that European Aeronautic Defence & Space (EADS) could pay in the region of €3.5bn (US$4.2bn) for the BAE stake.

In April, BAE confirmed it was in talks with European aerospace giant EADS with a view to selling BAE’s shareholding in Airbus. BAE has placed a put option that forces the sale of the Airbus holding to Franco-German EADS, which already holds 80% in the unit. The parties could not agree on the price, however.

0Nordic Capital has acquired ICA Meny, a Stockholm-headquartered food services company with 1,000 employees and revenues of €625m. ICA Meny serves small eateries, cafes, restaurants, hotel chains and institutions with a product range that includes frozen, fresh and dry food, beverages and restaurant equipment.

Peter Hansson, a partner at Nordic Capital, said: “ICA Meny operates in an attractive industry with good growth prospects underpinned by the increasing trend towards out-of-home food consumption.”