Charterhouse and CVC's Ista receives second round bids

Charterhouse and CVC's sale of Ista, which the firms kicked off by hiring Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs last year, will be one of Germany's biggest private equity transactions this year, Reuters estimates. 

The sale, which is due to receive second-round bids from buyout houses Axa Private Equity, BC Partners, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Wendel next month, will require an equity cheque of around €1.2bn, the rest being financed with debt, the news agency reported.

Banks are believed to be working on debt packages of around €2bn, or seven times Ista's approximate €290m EBITDA. Most of it could come from debt markets, although senior leveraged loans, mezzanine loans and high-yield bonds may also be used to support the buyout, Reuters reported, citing banking sources. A staple financing package is said to have been put together by corporate financiers to speed up a deal.

Bain Capital, Blackstone, Canada Pension Plan and Cinven are reportedly not going through to the second round while Apax showed initial interest but did not submit a first round bid.

Charterhouse acquired Ista, a sub-metering business, at the height of the buyout boom in 2007 for €2.4bn, including debt. Previous owner CVC later reinvested for a minority stake in the business. Ista is headquartered in Essen and employs around 4,600 staff in 25 countries.

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Exits
• DACH
• Germany
• Secondary buyout
• Charterhouse Capital Partners
• CVC Capital Partners