Wednesday 25th June 2008

Entrepreneur gets six-figure Image

• Entrepreneur Mike Gardner has bought cleaning products producer Image Chemical Products for a six-figure sum. The deal was backed with £750,000 from Natwest

• Dutch food producer Vion has upped its pork products production with the purchase of Grampian

• Camair has merged with BS Freight to create a combined airfreight business. Both firms were bought by Casper Shipping last year

• Ashtead Technology Rentals, a technical equipment hire company, has been bought in a management buy-out backed by Phoenix Equity Partners for some £95.6 million

• Menswear manufacturer Berwin & Berwin has acquired a 4.28 per cent stake in its biggest customer, retail chain Moss Bros Group

• Ellie Louise, a value fashion retailer, has expanded its reach with the purchase of family-owned Happits

• A developer of South American power plants, Rurelec Plc, has bought the remaining 50 per cent of Argentinean gas plant Energía del Sur which it didn’t already own. The company’s also placed 12.5 million shares at 65 pence each to raise £7.8 million

• Irish software company Iona Technologies has been acquired by US firm Progress Software for some £135.8 million

• Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia is set to buy all the remaining shares of software firm Symbian for some £208.4 million

• Ariana Resources, a gold exploration company focused on Turkey, has agreed to acquire exploration licences known as Tavsan Gold Project in Turkey for up to $500,000 (£254,000) and £750,000 in shares

• Taunton's Hickley Valtone, a supplier of paint and other products to car bodywork repair firms, is set to purchase its rival Hex, increasing its turnover by a quarter to £18 million

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