“BC Partners’ deal to acquire a roughly 50% stake in Bain Capital’s Fedrigoni values the company at around 3 billion euros […] The takeover will be a high-profile deal for BC Partners, one of Europe’s oldest private equity investors, which has a track record of investing in Italy. […] Canson Capital Partners acted as lead financial adviser to BC Partners on the takeover of Fedrigoni. Canson, an advisory firm co-founded by former HSBC Holdings Plc banker Matteo Canonaco, is also co-investing in Fedrigoni through its merchant banking arm.”

“European buyout fund BC Partners is close to clinching a deal to buy 50% of Italian paper manufacturer Fedrigoni from Bain Capital in a deal that values the company at 3 billion euros ($3.1 billion), two sources close to the matter told Reuters. The deal, which will see Bain Capital using its latest fund to reinvest in the company, ranks as one of Italy’s biggest buyouts this year and defies a tough financing market for private equity investors. Nomura and investment firm Canson Capital Partners acted as lead financial advisers for BC Partners, with Canson also co-investing in the company.”

“Telecom Italia (TIM) said on Wednesday it was set to cash in 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) from the sale of direct and indirect stakes in Italy’s biggest tower group INWIT. TIM said it had agreed to sell to a consortium led by French investment firm Ardian 49% of a company where it plans to transfer a 30.2% INWIT holding. TIM said it had also agreed to sell an up to 3% direct INWIT stake to a vehicle managed by Canson Capital Partners.”

“Bain Capital is in exclusive talks to buy a majority stake in WPP Plc’s Kantar unit in a deal valuing the market-research business at about $4 billion including debt… The Kantar sale is part of WPP Chief Executive Officer Mark Read’s push to cut debt and simplify the global ad agency network after ditching his predecessor Martin Sorrell’s acquisition-fueled growth strategy… Bain is working with Credit Suisse Group AG and London-based boutique Canson Capital Partners. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Ardea Partners are advising WPP on the sale.”

“Canson Capital Partners, who advised Blackstone in its acquisition of a controlling stake in Thomson Reuters’ financial terminals and data has raised $100m to co-invest alongside the private equity group, people familiar with the move said. The fund… was 30 per cent oversubscribed and raised in less than four months… “The move is akin to how Wall Street’s old merchant banks would seek to have both advisory and investor roles in certain deals.”

“The world’s most powerful investment banks are increasingly competing with the very bankers they taught to hoover up work. When private equity giant Blackstone unveiled a $17bn (£12bn) move for a chunk of Thomson Reuters last month – its biggest deal in a decade – the lead role didn’t go to an industry Goliath but to Canson Capital Partners, a three-month-old London firm few had ever heard of… utilising their existing relationship with Blackstone… the pair beat Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, and JP Morgan to the lucrative lead role.”

“When it comes to blockbuster transactions, the M&A community expects to see a handful of advisory names printed at the end of a deal announcement… “Hence that’s why nobody could have expected to see the name Canson Capital Partners (who?!) as the lead adviser to Blackstone in its $17bn deal to carve out the finance and risk business of Thomson Reuters earlier this week. But there was Canson Capital, which only got its paperwork in order a few months ago, listed ahead of Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan.”

“Blackstone’s… biggest transaction since the global financial crisis took Wall Street by surprise for more than one reason when a less than three-month-old London boutique took the top spot among its financial advisers… Canson Capital Partners, founded by Matteo Canonaco and James Simpson, beat out U.S. giants… [BAML, Citi and JPM] in advising the Blackstone-led consortium on the $17 billion deal for a unit of Thomson Reuters…”