Arle, Eyrir in €695m Stork trade sale

The transaction is scheduled to complete in H1 2016 but will first require consultation with Stork's works council, trade unions and EU and Russian anti-trust regulators.

Texas-headquartered, NYSE-listed engineering multinational Fluor will wholly acquire the company in the deal. The new parent intends to fully fund the purchase, at around 7x Stork's €100m EBITDA, with debt raised from the international markets.

As Fluor's newest subsidiary, Stork will be integrated within the parent's operations and maintenance unit. The combination will result in a group with €2.1bn in revenues and 19,000 employees. The group will keep the Stork name and the company's Netherlands headquarters.

Previous funding
According to unquote" data, the trade sale marks an end to Arle and Eyrir's three-step exit process for Stork. The three divestments amounted to a total price tag of €1.5bn; the figure mirrors the price paid to de-list the business from the Amsterdam stock exchange in January 2008.

Arle, at the time known as Candover, became a majority shareholder via its fifth fund and then transferred the stake to its buyout arm when the latter span out and rebranded. The deal represented the GP's second attempt to de-list Stork, after withdrawing its initial offer in September 2007.

In November 2010, Arle and Eyrir carried out a first partial sell-off of the Stork Materials Technology subsidiary, considered a non-core asset, which was carved out by listed GP 3i for €150m.

Following a debt refinancing in August 2012, the sellers split the remaining assets into two independent companies: oil & gas maintenance operations were regrouped under Stork, while the aircraft manufacturing business fell within the Fokker Technologies brand.

In late July 2015, Fokker was divested to trade buyer GKN for €706m, €500m of which was reaped by Arle.

Company
Founded in 1827, Stork provides maintenance and renovation services for clients within the oil & gas, chemicals, industrials and power segments. With headquarters in Utrecht, the business operates out of offices in Belgium, Germany, Norway, the UK, Russia, the US, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Australia, among others. The company employs 16,500 staff and most recently generated €1.6bn in revenues and €100m in EBITDA.

People
Arle was represented by managing partner John Arney, while Eyrir was represented by investment managing director Örn Valdimarsson. Stork CEO Arnold Steenbakker and CFO Pim Oomens will keep their roles following the trade sale.

Advisers
Acquirer – Goldman Sachs (Corporate finance).
Vendor – Greenhill (Corporate finance); Rabobank (Corporate finance).
Company – De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek (Legal).

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