Top Headlines This Week

• 🏫 Mubadala and EQT to acquire minority stake in Nord Anglia Education in a $600m deal

• 💻 KKR to acquire OSTTRA from CME & S&P for $3bn

• 🚗 Ageas acquires esure from Bain Capital for £1.3bn

• 🛜 Altice France explores €2bn+ sale of XpFibre network stake

• 💸 Five Arrows closes €2bn secondaries fund focused on GP-led deals

Deals, Deals, Deals

UK & Ireland 🇬🇧🇮🇪

✈️ The sale process of Audley Travel, a UK-based tour operator backed by 3i Group, has fallen through after failing to meet expectations of £600m, according to Travel Weekly.

💻 KKR is nearing a deal to acquire post-trade services JV OSTTRA (owned by CME Group and S&P Global) for around $3bn, per Bloomberg.

🏫 Mubadala Investment Company will join a consortium led by EQT to acquire a $600m minority stake in UK-based private school operator Nord Anglia Education, reports Reuters.

🧴 Perrigo, the Ireland-registered consumer healthcare company, is exploring a sale of its European skincare portfolio, which generated €130m turnover in 2024.

⚡ Iberdrola has received three bids valued at over £1bn for the sale of its UK smart metering business, reports El Economista.

🥪 Tiffin Sandwiches has acquired Scottish sandwich manufacturer and distributor PJ's Foods.

🏃‍♂️ Strava is acquiring UK-based Runna, a running training app which has raised £8m since 2021.

🚗 Belgian insurer Ageas has acquired British car and home insurer esure from Bain Capital for £1.3bn, becoming the UK's third-largest personal lines insurer.

📹 Synthesia, a UK-based AI video platform, announced a strategic investment from Adobe Ventures, following its £180m Series D in January.

⚽ Velocity Capital Management is acquiring a stake in Unique Sports Group, a football talent agency representing over 350 players.

🚘 Marshmallow, the UK-based car insurance startup, raised $90m, valuing the business at $2bn.

🪑 Belfast-based W&R Barnett has acquired a majority stake in Symphony Group, the UK's largest privately-owned fitted furniture manufacturer with £350m in revenue.

🌯 True Capital is in advanced talks to acquire a significant stake in German Doner Kebab (GDK), per Sky News.

💸 Banked, a UK payments technology firm, is acquiring VibePay, a UK-based social payments platform.

⚡ Nyobolt, an ultrafast battery charging tech company, raised $30m, led by IQ Capital and Latitude.

💳 Barclays has sold a stake in its payments division to Brookfield.

Central & Northern Europe 🇩🇪🇸🇪🇵🇱

🖥️ KKR has acquired German IT firm Datagroup in a deal worth approximately $500m.

♻️ ADIA is reportedly preparing to sell its 50% stake in IFCO, the German reusable packaging producer with €1.4bn revenue, per Frankfurter Allgemeine.

🏡 DBAG is exploring the sale of German luxury estate agency von Poll, which posted €150m revenue in 2024.

⚽ A consortium led by Jens Lehmann is reportedly interested in acquiring TSV 1860 Muenchen, a German third-tier football club.

🏥 PAI Partners-backed VAMED Care has acquired 9 rehab centres from Paracelsus Kliniken, employing 1,000 people.

🤖 ABB Group announced it may divest its robotics division in 2026. The business generates $2.3bn in revenue, with a 12.1% EBITA margin.

👶 Walz, the German trade publication, is acquiring multichannel retailer Babymarkt, which has revenues of €200m+.

📺 Warner Bros Discovery has ended the strategic review of Polish unit TVN and will retain ownership. TVN was estimated at €1bn.

💊 German biotech HepaRegeniX has closed a €21.5m funding round, led by Wellington Partners.

🏋️ Xtreme Brands, the Polish owner of Xtreme Fitness Gyms, has raised €10m from bValue Fund, taking a 30% stake.

🍣 Spanish F1 driver Fernando Alonso has acquired at least a 20% stake in Sticks’n’Sushi, a Danish restaurant chain with £100m revenue.

🔐 WeKomply, backed by VIA Equity, is acquiring Finnish risk management software firm Falcony.

📦 Dutch investment firm MKB Fonds has exited packaging wholesaler P&D Group, selling to H2 Equity Partners (€60m turnover).

Western & Southern Europe 🇫🇷🇪🇸🇮🇹

🏥☕ Italy-based Bialetti, under bankruptcy protection, has sold a 79% stake to Nuo Octagon, a Luxembourg investment vehicle.

🛜 Ardian and KKR are among firms preparing offers for XpFibre, the 50% fibre network operator owned by Altice France, which seeks a €2bn+ valuation.

🧠 French operator DomusVi has agreed to sell its mental health division Mentalia (Spain) to Peninsula Capital for €100m.

📉 Altice France is rumoured to be preparing for a broader company sale, post FY24 accounts (€3.35bn EBITDA, €10.08bn revenue).

🥼 White Bridge Investments has mandated Nomura to explore a sale of Named Group, the Italian supplement business, targeting €800m valuation.

🌐 Telecom Italia (TIM) has signed an agreement with the Italian MEF and Retelit to dispose of subsea cable unit Sparkle for €700m EV.

🤝 Sagard has acquired a strategic stake in BEX Capital, a secondaries investor with $2bn+ AUM.

🛣️ Italian state-owned ANAS has sold stakes in four toll road operators to Autostrade dello Stato for €340m.

🏦 Investor Francesco Caltagirone has raised his stake in BMPS to 9.96%. He backs BMPS’s €12.5bn bid for Mediobanca.

🏦 Talks have stalled for Singular Bank’s acquisition of A&G Banca Privada, per Vozpópuli.

🌊 AXA Venture Partners has completed an MBO and will rebrand to Atlantic Vantage Point (AVP) (€2.5bn AUM).

🏢 Brookfield has received initial offers for Spanish developer Livensa, targeting a €1.3bn sale, as per Cinco Dias.

🚘 Partners Group is exploring options for its 49% stake in Telepass, acquired in 2021.

♻️ Iberdrola has launched the sale of 7 cogeneration slurry plants in Spain with 50MW capacity.

🧠 Bridgepoint has acquired a minority stake in Argon & Co, a French consultancy with €150m revenue and operations in 13 countries.

🔐 Marlin Equity Partners is acquiring a majority stake in Didomi, a French user consent software company (ARR c.€15m).

👕 Switzerland-based MF Brands Group has sold fashion label The Kooples to Verdoso, with €150m in revenue.

🧠 French MedTech firm Gleamer, focused on AI radiology tools, is reportedly seeking a €250m valuation in a sale.

Fresh Powder 💰

🎯 Five Arrows has closed its sixth secondaries fund (FASO VI) at €2bn, targeting mid-market GP-led deals in healthcare, business services, software and IT.

💼 Egeria has closed Egeria Private Equity Fund VI at a €1.25bn hard cap, focusing on SMBs in the Benelux and DACH regions.

🧱 Ansor has closed Ansor Fund II at its £250m hard cap, continuing its ground-up buy-and-build strategy in the UK.

🌍 BPEA Private Equity Fund IX became active on 1 March 2025 and has raised $10bn+ as of 16 April 2025.

🇸🇪 MVI Advisors, the Swedish private equity firm, has closed MVI Fund III at a SEK 2bn hard cap.

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