Ken MacFadyen

Nautic Partners, the former Fleet Bank private equity arm, has sold restaurant chain Skyline Chili to Prudential Capital Partners, in a deal that locked in an IRR of 25 percent for the investment.

Media specialist ABRY Partners has levied a lawsuit against Providence Equity Partners, saying the Rhode Island-based group misled it in its $500m purchase of F&W Publications. Market observers are split as to who may be at fault.

Apollo Management has agreed to acquire Linens ‘n Things for $1.3bn, but based on hurdles set up by the lenders, the company will need a strong performance in the fourth quarter before the deal can go through.

The auction for Refco’s assets is scheduled for tomorrow, and a winning bidder should be announced by the end of the week. The beauty contest is said to include a mix of strategic and financial bidders, who could push the bidding up to the $1bn range.

Menlo Park tech-buyout firm Garnett & Helfrich made its first move into the open-source space with the acquisition of Ingres Corp., the open-source unit of Computer Associates

Tech specialist Golden Gate Capital has agreed to take Geac Computer Corp. private in a $1 billion deal. The San Francisco-based firm intends to split the company up once the deal closes.

Brand Equity Ventures and The Walnut Group have placed a bet on Shawn Nelson’s LoveSac, a maker of oversized beanbag chairs. Nelson is perhaps best known as Richard Branson’s “mini me” after he won the Virgin chief’s reality show The Rebel Billionaire.

TA Associates has completed its $200 million acquisition of Intuit’s IT Solutions unit, marking another play in the software sector for the Boston-based firm.

Abbott Capital Management held an $805m close on its fifth private equity fund of funds, surpassing a $750m target.

Menlo Park-based tech specialist Francisco Partners acquired CRM and voice application services outfit FrontRange Solutions in a roughly $200m deal.