The British group MATALAN has acquired another British company, LEE COOPER, the second largest jeans manufacturer in Europe, to a consortium headed by BRIDGEPOINT CAPITAL (former NATWEST VENTURES). The price of the transaction was not disclosed, but LEE COOPER considered it was worth GBP50 million in March. The company notched up a rising turnover of 9% with GBP 61.5 million in 2000. MATALAN has 134 shops, has an annual turnover of GBP 586 million and operating profits of GBP 83 million. It...