Brookfield buys Modulaire from TDR in $5bn deal

Greg Gille
28 June 2021

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Canada-based listed private equity firm Brookfield Business Partners has agreed to acquire Modulaire Group, a European modular workspace rental specialist backed by TDR Capital, for $5bn.

The transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory and competition clearances, is expected to close in Q4 2021.

Brookfield Business Partners is the listed business services and industrials investment company of Brookfield Asset Management, a global alternative asset manager with more than $600bn in assets under management.

TDR acquired a 66.98% stake in Modulaire (then Algeco) for €320m in 2004, as part of a €478m take-private. The GP then grew Algeco from being a French player to a more global business in the modular space through a series of acquisitions, and eventually renamed it Modulaire Group.

The asset was already partially realised for TDR prior to the Brookfield deal. In November 2017, Modulair completed the spin-out of Williams Scotsman, a North American modular leasing business, into a listed entity. Subsequently, in March 2019, it completed the spin-out of Target Lodging, a North American remote accommodation business, into a listed vehicle combining it with Signor Holdings.

Modulaire announced in February that it was considering strategic and financing options, including a potential IPO. The company was seeing rival bids from Canadian investors Brookfield and Onex Corporation as of June, according to a Bloomberg report at the time.

Company
Modulaire is a provider of modular leasing services in Europe and Asia-Pacific, targeting customers across the industrial, infrastructure and public sectors. With a global fleet of approximately 260,000 modular units across 25 countries, Modulaire serves 48,000 customers through an established network of 180 branches.

Modulaire operates as Algeco in Europe and Scandinavia; Elliott, Advanté and Carter in the UK; Buko in The Netherlands; Ausco in Australia; Portacom in New Zealand; and Algeco Chengdong in China.

Modulaire reported group revenues of €1.2bn in 2020, up 24% over the prior year (including 3% of organic growth). Underlying EBITDA increased 32% in the year (10% organically) to €350m.

People
Brookfield Business Partners – Anuj Ranjan (managing partner).
TDR Capital – Gary Lindsay (partner).

Advisers
Company – Goldman Sachs (M&A); Morgan Stanley (M&A); JP Morgan (M&A); STJ Advisors (M&A); Linklaters (M&A).