Robert Venes

Graphite Capital, a UK mid-market private equity manager, has backed Avery Healthcare, a group of care homes, in its acquisition of Hadrian Healthcare.

A £1.1bn revised bid by a consortium including Bank of Scotland and West Coast Capital’s Tom Hunter for McCarthy & Stone, a UK homes builder, has trumped a recommended offer by Permira and Barclays Capital.

Providence Equity Partners and Doughty Hanson, two buyout firms, will buy the Caudwell Group, a UK mobile telephony group which owns the Phones 4 U brand, for £1bn.

European Capital, part of the US private equity firm American Capital, has invested €123m in the buyout of Avery Weigh-Tronix and €126m in the buyout of Farrow & Ball, the first two deals for its UK office, which opened last August.

Permira, a European buyout firm, has bought All3Media, maker of UK television programmes Richard and Judy and Formula One, from Bridgepoint for £320m.

Archie Norman, former grocer, politician and corporate turnaround specialist, set up a new investment company, Aurigo Management, last month. Robert Venes speaks to Norman about his latest venture.

Phoenix Equity Partners, a UK private equity firm, has backed a £51m management buyout of NFT Distribution, a chilled foods logistics business. The deal is the first for Phoenix Equity Partners 2006, which raised £375m earlier in the year.

US buyout firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Apollo Management are eyeing a £5bn bid for Severn Trent, a UK water and waste management business.

Mercapital, a Spanish mid-market manager, has acquired a majority stake in Spanish medical gas and respiratory home therapy provider Gasmedi in a transaction valued at €275m.

Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm, has led the $500m formation of Aeolus Re, a Bermuda-based reinsurance company.