Montagu to sell Host Europe for £400m

First round bids have reportedly already been submitted in an auction process. According to Reuters, the sale has attracted the interest of a number of private equity firms and trade players including Cinven, TA Associates, Providence Equity Partners and Hellman & Friedman.

Montagu is understood to have hired UBS to manage the process, which will see final-round bids submitted in August. Reuters stated that bankers are currently putting together a £225m debt package for the possible sale.

Montagu acquired Host Europe from Oakley Capital in October 2010. The firm paid £222m for the company, £115m of which was provided as debt by Clydesdale Bank, Commerzbank, HSBC, IKB Deutsche Industriebank, Lloyds TSB Bank and Société Générale, according to unquote" data. Montagu invested in the management buyout of the company via its Montagu III fund, a £2bn vehicle with a 2005 vintage.

Prior to this, Oakley had acquired the business in April 2008 for £120m, according to unquote" data. The firm sold Host Europe to Montagu following a competitive, three-round auction process in which three private equity houses submitted final bids, according to Oakley's website. Oakley reaped 3x its original investment from the sale of Host Europe to Montagu.

Host Europe was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Cologne, with additional offices in Nottingham, Surrey and Uxbridge in the UK. The company provides domain services and web hosting to the UK, Germany and Spain. It offers domain registration, shared and managed hosting and controls a number of brands including 123-reg, Domainmonster.com and Domainbox.com.

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