CVC sells 16.4% stake in Cerved for €203.2m

The placement saw Italian and international institutional investors acquire 32 million shares valued at €6.35 apiece.

Following completion of the sale the newco, Chopin, will retain a 76.7% stake in the business, equivalent to a 39.3% stake.

The divestment comes seven months after Cerved acquired an 80% stake in Recus, a debt collection business based in Treviso, for an initial consideration of €18.8m.

JP Morgan acted as bookrunner in the latest placement.

Previous funding
In June 2014, Cerved listed in Milan. The company raised proceeds of around €490m via the listing. CVC remains the majority shareholder following the flotation, which involved a free float of 43%.

Shares were originally offered at €5.00-6.60 apiece, with the final price set at the lower end of the range on €5.10, giving it a market cap of €995m.

In January 2013, CVC acquired Cerved from Bain Capital and Clessidra for €1.13bn. Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and HSBC provided financing for the transaction. HSBC ran the sale, which also attracted interest from Permira. Valuations for the target were close to €1bn, or 10x EBITDA, during the auction.

Bain and Clessidra acquired Cerved for €550m in December 2008 through holding company CeBi. The debt syndicate for the deal included BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, HSBC, IKB, Intensa Sanpaolo, MPS Banca per l'Impresa, Natixis and UniCredit.

Company
Cerved is a Milan-based provider of business intelligence services. Established in its present form between 2008-2011 through the merger of seven companies, its corporate history goes back to 1974. The company has a headcount of 1,236 and generated a turnover of €331.3m in 2014, with EBITDA of €160.1m

Advisers
Vendor – Latham & Watkins (Legal).

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