Last word

• TeleCity, the provider of data centres and back office systems across Europe, is to be taken private by 3i and Oak Hill in a deal that values the company at approximately £58m. The cash offer of 21p per share is from Torch Partners on behalf of Inhoco 3236, a special purpose takeover vehicle created and owned equally by 3i Group and Oak Hill Investors.

The offer represents a premium of 21.7% to the closing price of 17.25% per TeleCity share on July 15, and a premium of 31.1% to the average price over the last year. 3i and Oak Hill expect TeleCity to take advantage of potential industry consolidation through “removing the demands of the public listing.”

• CVC-backed XSYS Print Solutions is merging with US-owned Flint Ink Corporation. The new entity will be jointly owned by CVC funds and the management of both companies. Combined group revenues are around €2.1bn. Dave Frescoln, currently CEO of Flint Ink, will become CEO of the new group. The merged entity will rank among the largest ink companies in every region it serves, with an employee base of 8,000. XSYS Print Solutions was formed by the merger of BASF Printing Systems and ANI Printing Inks following their respective acquisitions at the end of 2004 by CVC.
• Summit Partners announced the appointment of Christian Strain to its London office as vice-president. Strain will support Summit’s European investment focus. The appointment comes shortly after Summit Partners closed a new US$3bn private equity fund and a new US$300m venture capital fund.Prior to joining Summit Partners, Strain worked at Apax Partners in Paris, where he was a member of the information technology and telecoms teams. He was formerly the CEO of London-based Article 27, an enterprise software company he founded and for which he raised several rounds of venture financing.