Lloyds eyes CPA Global for 400m
Lloyds Banking Group’s private equity unit LDC is in talks to take on CPAGlobal – the patent and legal services group – for £400m, in a move which shows how the private equity branch of the part state-owned bank now overshadows the UK’s ailing buy-out market. The majority of private equity groups have been pushed into the sidelines since the downturn, but LDC has made 10 buyouts so far this year; three times more than any one rival.