This week saw the fewest number of deals so far this year, according to data from Thomson Reuters.

TowerBrook Capital Partners is emerging the frontrunner in the auction for ventilation and heating systems manufacturer Volution. The company is currently owned by AAC Capital Partners, Reuters reported Friday. AAC, the UK team of the former buyout arm of ABN Amro, acquired Volution in 2006 from Montagu Private Equity, Reuters wrote.

European private equity performance figures bode well for those European buyout funds on the fundraising trail. General partners saw double-digit positive returns in the one-year time horizon through June 30, according to Thomson Reuters Private Equity Performance Index. Looking at the overall figures, European private equity performance posted positive returns across all but the 3-year [...]

Montagu Private Equity, the former European buyouts business of HSBC, has raised 2.5 billion euros ($3.6 billion) for new deals, Reuters reported. The firm’s fourth fund attracted investment from pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds from the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Reuters wrote. The firm surpassed its initial 2.5 billion euro target, and will invest in deals worth between 100 million euros and 1 billion euros.

European private equity shop Montagu Private Equity said that it will acquire Moss, Norway-based Helly Hansen Pro. Financial terms of the deal were not released. HH Pro provides survival and personal protection suits for the offshore and shipping markets.

Montagu Private Equity LLP, a U.K.-based mid-market European private equity concern, hired KPMG to review its Maplin Electronics portfolio company. The process could mean the sale of the retailer, people familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires Friday. Montagu added Maplin Electronics to its portfolio in September 2004 for £244 million.

LONDON (Reuters) – Montagu Private Equity agreed to sell French medical diagnostics business Sebia to rival Cinven, the latest in a series of buyouts focused in niche areas of healthcare. The deal announced on Monday values Sebia at about 800 million euros including debt, 12.5 times its 2009 earnings, sources familiar with the situation said. [...]

LONDON (Reuters) – Private equity house Montagu has hired Morgan Stanley to plan a flotation of BSN Medical, which could value the German maker of bandages at as much as 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion), two people familiar with the matter said. Montagu had put BSN up for sale 18 months ago, but was forced [...]

LONDON (Reuters) – Private equity firm Warburg Pincus is to buy survival equipment maker Survitec for 280 million pounds ($456 million), marking the third British buyout deal in as many days. Warburg Pincus’s deal on Friday follows KKR’s buy of pet goods retailer Pets at Home and Advent International’s purchase of pensions consultancy Xafinity. Warburg [...]

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has agreed to buy British Car Auction from Montagu Private Equity. No pricing terms were disclosed, although earlier reports said that the deal would be worth between £350 million pounds and £400 million. Other bidders included Cinven and Bridgepoint.