Robert Venes

A consortium of UK fund managers have formed a new industry body with the aim of educating retail and small institutional investors on the workings and merits of private equity investment trusts (PEITs).

TNT Logistics, the freight division of the Dutch postal and express business, has been sold to Apollo Management, a US private equity house, for $1.48bn.

Alpha Associates, a Swiss private equity fund of funds manager, has raised €109m for a first close of its €300m targeted second Central and Eastern Europe-focused fund of funds.

Bids for the roofing division of Lafarge, a global cement group, are being considered by a dozen private equity firms as well as trade buyers, according to a French report.

Peakadilly, a Belgian biotechnology company developing biomolecular diagnostics technologies, has raised €14.5m from venture capital firms including GIMV and Life Science Partners.

ITV, a UK broadcaster, has sold its 45% stake in TV3 for £70m as part of a €265m transaction for the whole of the Irish television channel by Doughty Hanson.

Smedvig Capital, a private equity firm providing growth capital and small buyout financing, has appointed Nicola Lando from Mercer Management Consulting.

Pantheon Ventures has bought the limited partners interests in two venture capital portfolios from Italy’s Cdb Web Tech, including 90 venture capital funds and eight direct investments.

Dubai International Capital has followed up the purchase of Doncasters for £700m in May with the acquisition of another UK asset, budget hotel chain Travelodge.

Dunedin Capital Partners has backed a £30m secondary management buyout of Capula, an IT systems integrator acquired by Bridgepoint in September 2000.