Unquote

Cinven snaps up ICG's CPA Global in SBO

  • John Bakie
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Cinven has agreed to acquire intellectual property specialists CPA Global from Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) and Electra Private Equity in a secondary buyout thought to be worth around $1bn.

The investor was attracted to the firm as the volume of patents granted worldwide is increasing by around 5% annually and continued growth is expected. It also holds responsibility for renewing around 1.4 million patents per year, providing reliable cashflows.

Cinven says it will work with the management team to enhance CPA's growth in Europe and globally, with a particular focus on the expanding Asian market.

Financial details of the transaction have not yet been disclosed, however the deal is thought to be worth around $1bn.

Electra reported net proceeds of £30m, generating a 60% IRR and 2.3x money multiple.

Debt
Senior debt for the transaction was underwritten by HSBC and JP Morgan.

Previous Funding
ICG took a significant minority stake of 47% in CPA Global in a £440m management buyout in January 2010. Electra also invested in the firm.  The transaction was financed with £175m of senior and mezzanine loans provided by Lloyds, HSBC, Bank of Ireland, Calyon, Bank of Scotland, Ares Capital Europe and ICG itself.

Company
CPA Global provides intellectual property management services and software to well-known corporates and law firms. It ensures its clients' intellectual property rights are protected and maintained, providing services covering renewal, search and the filing of patents and trademarks.

The firm was founded in 1969 in Jersey and today employs around 1,500 people serving clients in over 100 countries.

People
Stuart McAlpine, partner, worked on the deal for Cinven. Peter Sewell is CEO of CPA Global.

Advisers
Equity - PwC Corporate Finance, (Corporate finance); JP Morgan (Debt); Freshfields (Legal).
Company - DC Advisory Partners (Corporate finance), HSBC (Debt); Travers Smith (Legal).
Management - BDO (Financial due diligence); DLA Piper (Legal).

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