Aviapartner

Investors

3i has signed an agreement to acquire Aviapartner, from Sofinim, the Belgian private equity house which is a subsidiary of Ackermans & van Haaren (25%) and the Verougstraete family (75%), through its fund Eurofund IV. 3i and the management now hold 100% of the company. No financial details have been disclosed, although the equity consideration is around the usual 30% of the total value mark for such deals. As part of the deal, 3i will be appointing Theo Dilissen as the new CEO of the company. ING GROUP NV ran the auction and once 3i gained exclusivity, the deal completed on 20 July 2005. The acquisition is pending the usual approval from authorities, which is expected to be gained in September.

Debt structure

KBC Bank provided the debt for the transaction, which was around 70% of the total value.

Company

Aviapartner, headquartered in Brussels, offers a range of ground handling services via its international network of 31 airports across five European countries. The ground handling industry is a dynamic sector with strong growth prospects from the continued increase in air traffic and further out-sourcing of non-core operation by airlines. Furthermore, EU-enforced liberalisation of airports and Eastern European countries' accession to the EU will provide Aviapartner with the opportunity to expand into new stations and geographies. 3i plans to support the company's growth along these lines. Aviapartner employs around 5,000 staff, and registered net profit of E12.8m on turnover of E268m.

People

Mark Redman, David Osborne and Michiele Boele worked on the deal for 3i. Theo Dilissen will be replacing the retiring Alex Verougstraete as CEO of the company, who in turn will become a non-executive director.

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