CVC in exclusivity over €900m deal for April Group

The deal would value the company's shares at €22 apiece, giving it a valuation of around €900m. At the time of publication, April's shares were valued at €20, giving it a market cap of €818m.

The GP would make the proposed investment from CVC Capital Partners VII, which closed on its €15.5bn hard-cap in 2017 and has an equity cheque sweet spot of €300-500m. It would also make a public tender offer for the remainder of April's share capital upon completion of the block transfer.

Evolem currently holds a 65.13% stake in April, which generated EBIT of €69.4m from a turnover of €928.4m in the year ending in April 2017, according to publicly available documents.

CVC said in a statement that the deal could be subject to a €10m adjustment based on a proposed tax reassessment from the French tax administration.

Should the transaction go ahead, Evolem will reinvest for a minority stake in the holding company, alongside April management.

According to an earlier report by French publication Les Echos, KKR, BC Partners and Advent International were also involved in the bidding process. [Editor's note: BC Partners is the majority owner of Acuris, the parent company of Unquote]

The transaction is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approval.

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• CVC Capital Partners