GP Investments buys control of Swiss buyout firm Spice
SAO PAULO (Reuters) - GP Investments Ltd, the largest Latin American private-equity firm, has won control of Spice Private Equity Ltd on Thursday after buying out two partners in the Switzerland-based company for about $51 million, further expanding beyond Brazil.
In a securities filing, GP Investments said that it paid $35.25 per share of Spice , or about 15 percent below book value, to Fortress Investment Group LLC and Newbury Associates LLC for their stakes. The deal leaves GP Investments and some subsidiaries with control of 58.5 percent of Spice.
The transaction is pending shareholder and regulatory approval. Spice, which has net asset value estimated at about $209 million, focuses on private-equity investments in emerging markets.
(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
