Robert Venes

European Capital, part of the US private equity firm American Capital, has invested €123m in the buyout of Avery Weigh-Tronix and €126m in the buyout of Farrow & Ball, the first two deals for its UK office, which opened last August.

Permira, a European buyout firm, has bought All3Media, maker of UK television programmes Richard and Judy and Formula One, from Bridgepoint for £320m.

US buyout firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Apollo Management are eyeing a £5bn bid for Severn Trent, a UK water and waste management business.

Campbell Lutyens, a private equity advisory firm, has appointed Paula Langton in its London office, while Greg Weiner joins in New York.

Kennet Venture Partners, a technology investor, has exited its investment in Cramer, a UK operations and support systems business, in a $375m sale to Amdocs of the US.

Barclays Capital has made 10 hires to its US leveraged finance team, headed by Rick Van Zijl and Joe McGrath, who joined the firm from Goldman Sachs in February.

First Reserve, a US-based energy investor, has strengthened its domestic and London offices. The firm is expected to close its eleventh fund on $8bn in the next few weeks.

Bridgepoint, a European mid-market private equity firm, has returned over £200m to shareholders in a week through the refinancings of specialist pet product retailer Pets at Home and self-storage business Safestore.

Greylock Partners has raised $150m for its first fund dedicated to investing in Israel’s high-tech sector, which received $404m of venture capital funding in the second quarter.

Terra Firma, the UK private equity firm, will hold on to the waste-to-energy arm of Waste Recycling Group, which analysts say could be worth £650m, following a sale of the waste disposal business to FCC of Spain.