Acquisitions News: 2008

Wed, 31 Dec 2008: ECI, a UK mid-market buyout house has agreed to sell Racal Acoustics, which makes soldiers’ headsets for the military, to Esterline Technologies...
[more: ECI, a UK mid-market buyout house has ag...]

Wed, 24 Dec 2008: The Whittard of Chelsea chain of shops has been sold to a private equity firm after going into administration....
[more: The Whittard of Chelsea chain of shops h...]

Wed, 24 Dec 2008: The Officers Club, UK menswear retailer, followed Whittard of Chelsea into administration last night. 118 of its 150 stores were sold to its chief executive and the reminder 32 stores will be closed down....
[more: The Officers Club, UK menswear retailer,...]

Wed, 24 Dec 2008: Software firm Amteus may be forced to find additional funding or put itself up for sale if its sales continue to be lower than expected. The company h...
[more: Software firm Amteus may be forced to fi...]

Tue, 23 Dec 2008: Aviva has sold its vehicle checking services business, HPI Limited with £112m in assets, to Solera Holdings, the US private equity-backed claims...
[more: Aviva has sold its vehicle checking serv...]

Tue, 23 Dec 2008: Clapham House, the restaurant group behind Gourmet Burger Kitchen, has received offers from three private equity buyers....
[more: Clapham House, the restaurant group behi...]

Tue, 23 Dec 2008: Management at Informa are reviewing its businesses as it considers ways to reduce its debt to below £1bn. It is most likely that some businesses will be sold, which may include Informa's performance improvement arm. The training business, which operates mainly in the US, has a value of £202m. Informa's half-year results in July, recorded its ne...
[more: Management at Informa are reviewing its ...]

Mon, 22 Dec 2008: Spice, a utility support services provider, has bought National Energy Industry Fuel Efficiency Services, a consultant to the energy and environment s...
[more: Spice, a utility support services provid...]

Fri, 19 Dec 2008: The Competition Commission has approved the sale of Dairy Crest's Millway subsidiary to rival Stilton maker Long Clowson, as the loss-making Mill...
[more: The Competition Commission has approved ...]

Wed, 17 Dec 2008: Tom Dunn Limited, a company which shreds and bales used tyres for recycling, has gone into administration with the loss of 30 jobs. International acco...
[more: Tom Dunn Limited, a company which shreds...]

Tue, 16 Dec 2008: Cadbury's is preparing to sell of its Australia Beverages business to allow it to concentrate on confectionery. It has been suggested that a sale...
[more: Cadbury's is preparing to sell of its Au...]

Tue, 16 Dec 2008: Kornicis Group, a NBGI Private Equity-backed restaurant business has bought Smollensky's Bar & Grill brand. Kornicis now has 19 bars and rest...
[more: Kornicis Group, a NBGI Private Equity-ba...]

Tue, 16 Dec 2008: Royal Bank of Scotland is unlikely to sell its insurance units after struggling to attract bids. The units, which include the Direct Line and Churchil...
[more: Royal Bank of Scotland is unlikely to se...]

Tue, 16 Dec 2008: Business travel company, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, has bought out its Irish partner agency, Executive Travel, which has a turnover in the region of &eu...
[more: Business travel company, Carlson Wagonli...]

Mon, 15 Dec 2008: Tour operator Thomas Cook is set to buy lastminute.com's Med Hotels chain for an undisclosed sum. It is thought that after the deal, the online t...
[more: Tour operator Thomas Cook is set to buy ...]

Fri, 12 Dec 2008: Brulines, a liquid dispensing monitoring firm, has acquired remote vending machine software group Vianet from administrators for an undisclosed sum....
[more: Brulines, a liquid dispensing monitoring...]

Fri, 12 Dec 2008: Discussions are being held between ministers and regulators about a possible merger between BBC Worldwide, the commercial division of the public broad...
[more: Discussions are being held between minis...]

Fri, 12 Dec 2008: Serco is to acquire InfoVision Group, the Indian business process outsourcing firm with 10,000 staff, for an initial £13m....
[more: Serco is to acquire InfoVision Group, th...]

Thu, 11 Dec 2008: Pearson is to acquire Fronter, the Norwegian online learning company with gross assets of £6.6m and offices in ten countries....
[more: Pearson is to acquire Fronter, the Norwe...]

Thu, 11 Dec 2008: Experian has acquired SearchAmerica, the US provider of payment prediction data, for £60m....
[more: Experian has acquired SearchAmerica, the...]