GlaxoSmithKline, the global healthcare company, said on Wednesday that it has acquired Okairos AG, a Swiss-based developer of vaccine platform technologies for €250 million (approximately $325 million) in cash. The transaction will also include some early stage assets. Prior to the acquisition, Okairos was backed by the following life science VC firms: BioMedInvest, the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, LSP, Novartis Venture Funds and Versant Ventures.
The Dusseldorf, Germany-based ENTRADE Group said on Wednesday that it is buying Agnion Energy. The current owners of Agnion Energy are Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Wellington Partners, Munich Venture Partners and Waste Management. No financial terms were disclosed. Headquartered in Pfaffenhofen, Bavaria, with a branch in Bolzano, Agnion is a heating and electricity supplier.
Dominion Gas, an oil field services company, was sold by Graphite Capital to Praxair, a U.S. based industrial gases group. No financial terms were disclosed. The Dominion management team, led by Russel Davies, chief executive, and Neil Potter, finance director, will remain with the company. Based in Aberdeen, Scotland, Dominion has facilities in the UK, Norway, Singapore and West Africa.
Hollander Home Fashions, a portfolio company of HGGC, has acquired Louisville Bedding's basic bedding retail business. No financial terms were disclosed. Louisville Bedding's basic bedding retail business has been renamed Hollander Sleep Products. Based in Boca Raton, Florida, Hollander Sleep Products is a provider of bed pillows, mattress pads, down comforters and related products.
A consortium led by U.S. buyouts fund Warburg Pincus said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy around 20 percent of the retail unit of Vietnam's Vingroup Joint Stock Co for $200 million, Reuters reports.
Primerica has agreed to buy back about $154.7 million in stock and warrants from Warburg Pincus. Follow the sale, Warburg Pincus will no longer own Primerica stock. Duluth, Ga.-based Primerica distributes financial products to middle income households in North America.
Shareholders of Montréal-based engineering services provider Genivar Inc. have approved the company's re-organization plans, which include giving it a new name: WSP Global Inc. This rebranding, targeted for early 2014, follows the company's merger with U.K.-based WSP Group PLC in 2012. Genivar, which is a portfolio company of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, also flagged its aim to reach $2.3 billion in net revenues by the end of 2015.
Vancouver-based Oceanic Iron Ore Corp., a company focused on developing iron ore projects located on the coast of Québec's Labrador Trough, has obtained a $3 million convertible debenture financing from Sino-Canada Natural Resources Fund. Transaction proceeds will fund negotiations with potential strategic partners, feasibility studies, and corporate and working capital purposes. Sino-Canada fund, which is managed by CapitalAsia, makes private equity investments in Canadian resource companies.
Surrey, British Columbia-based CIMS LP, a provider of mechanical maintenance and construction services to the oil and gas, mining and power generation, and pulp and paper sectors, has confirmed its acquisition of assets of the Western Canadian operations of Kamtech Services Inc., a building trades contractor based in Burnaby, British Columbia. Capital West Partners, financial advisor to Kamtech, indicated the undisclosed deal was closed by late April. CIMS is a portfolio investment of Canadian private equity firm Yellow Point Equity Partners, which has backed the company since 2011.
The board of directors of Calgary-based Logan International Inc., a manufacturer of down-hole fishing and intervention tools for the oil and gas industry, has undertaken a strategic review process, which will include seeking proposals from potential buyers. The decision was taken when directors concluded that the company's common shares trade "at a substantial discount to the inherent value" of its businesses and underlying assets. Logan has been a portfolio company of U.S. private equity firm Cadent Energy Partners since 2006.