Australia's Westfield Group has agreed to sell stakes in seven US shopping malls to an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group for $1.64 billion, writes Reuters. Shopping mall giant Westfield will keep a 10 percent equity interest in the centres, with Starwood, a private real estate investment company, owning and managing the majority interest.
Henry Kravis, co-founder of private-equity firm KKR, said he sees rising opportunities for dealmaking in Japan as the country's firms open up to foreign partnerships in response to competition from South Korea and China, writes Reuters. KKR hopes to land more deals in the world's third biggest economy - where it had just 9 percent of the value of its Asian portfolio in March - as well as partner Japanese companies on more overseas deals, writes Reuters.
Host Europe Group has acquired Telefónica Germany Online Services. Cinven announced the acquisition of HEG in July.
Funds managed by CapMan have signed an agreement to sell Curato AS, a provider of medical imaging services in Norway, to Altor Fund III. Curato provides medical imaging (radiology) services in Norway and its main customers are the Regional Health Authorities, as well as health insurance companies and private individuals.
HitecVision has committed funds of $150 million to Oyster Petroleum from its HitecVision VI L.P. fund. Oyster Petroleum is a UK exploration and production company focusing on the UK North Sea.
Masharie, an investments subsidiary of Dubai Investments has sold a strategic equity stake in Anchor Allied Factory to Alkhabeer Capital, Saudi Arabia. The investment was made through Alkhabeer’s asset management private equity division.
Tim Scronce, former TelWorx CEO, has started a private equity group focused on funding businesses in the southeastern region of the United States. Scronce & Associates will concentrate on businesses in transition that produce annual revenue of $15 million or less.
Golden Equity Investments has acquired Innovative Medical Device Solutions, a contract manufacturer of medical implants and instruments for the Orthopaedic market. Golden Equity Investments is a private equity firm based in Golden, Colorado.
Private equity firm KKR has teamed up with New Mountain Capital to bid for IMG Worldwide, joining a handful of companies interested in buying the sports, fashion and marketing agency from Forstmann Little & Co, writes Reuters. KKR and New Mountain would be competing for IMG against other buyout firms, as well as sports and entertainment companies, Creative Artists Agency and William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, writes Reuters.
A handful of potential bidders, including private equity firms, are lining up to look at BlackBerry, but initial indications suggest interest is tepid and buyers are eyeing parts of the Canadian smartphone maker rather than the whole company, writes Reuters. However, one possibility is for a Canadian pension fund to team up with an investor to buy the whole company, which is currently worth a little more than $5 billion, writes Reuters.