Cyrte buys Emesa from Oakley Capital

The company's management also reinvested for a small minority stake. Oakley will receive a return of 3.6x the money it originally invested and an IRR of more than 100%. The GP had bought Emesa in March 2011; the company's NAV increased by 21% over the holding period.

Cyrte plans to continue growing the company and its brand. The GP will work on increasing the number of suppliers, expanding product areas and building on current products. It will also focus on increasing the company's customer engagement efforts and implement a full mobile strategy for its products. Emesa plans to expand internationally but acquisitions are not considered at present.

Cyrte had been following the company and its management for 18 months prior to investing. Although the opportunity to invest had already arisen at the time Oakley invested, the company was then too small to fit Cyrte's strategy, the GP told unquote".

Since then the company has grown considerably, leading to a better fit for Cyrte. The GP was the management's preferred bidder at the time Oakley decided to sell the company, Cyrte stated. The firm beat off competition from a small number of other private equity bidders in a limited process organised mainly by Oakley's in-house corporate finance team.

Debt
A debt structure of about 3.5x EBITDA was arranged by Rabo Bank, the bank being the sole provider.

Previous investment
Oakley bought Emesa for €35m in early 2011, leaving a significant stake with the management team and the company's founder. The GP also provided €15.4m of senior and mezzanine financing through its finance vehicle Oakley Capital Investments Ltd.

During the 18-month holding period, Emesa expanded in the Netherlands and Germany. The company's staff numbers increased from 75 to 180 and the number of transactions done on the platform more than doubled.

Company
Emesa is an online consumer auction platform offering short holiday deals, spa and beauty visits, event tickets and restaurant visits. The company was founded in Amsterdam in 2004 and operates a portfolio of websites including VakantieVeilingen.nl, ActievandeDag.nl, ActievandeDag.be, InpakkenenWegwezen.nl and international label Aladoo.

Emesa employs 180 people in the Netherlands and Germany and completed 2.5 million transactions in 2012.

People
Frank Botman is CEO of Cyrte Investments.

Advisers
Equity – PwC (Financial due diligence, tax); Freshfields (Legal).
Vendor – Oakley Capital Corporate Finance (Corporate finance); Simmons & Simmons (Legal). 

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