Carlyle stages LBO of Numericable and Completel

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With mega deals supposedly in decline, The Carlyle Group has announced an LBO worth around EUR1bn, acquiring a 35% stake in both Numericable and Completel from Cinven. Cinven retained a 35% stake following the partial exit, with Altice holding 30%. Carlyle made the highest offer, which was enough to secure the deal over competing bids from Providence, TPG and PAI.

Numericable operates a high speed network in France providing TV, telephony and broadband services to about 10 million households. Numericable is the first operator to have massively deployed its fibre network in France. Completel is the third-largest DSL network in France.

Cinven did not disclose the return on the partial exit, however, it is believed that the firm recouped its original investment from an earlier refinancing round that took place in the first quarter of 2007. No new debt was involved, with Carlyle taking on part of the original debt.

The deal values Numericable and Completel at around EUR2.86bn. In 2007, Numericable had a turnover of EUR950m while Completel had a turnover of EUR290m. (Page 34).