Eurazeo to ramp up divestments over next 24 months

Eurazeo divested €209m's worth of private equity assets in Q1 2021 (excluding a secondary continuation transaction for its growth portfolio). Since then, Eurazeo has announced the sale of a 49% stake in US-based marketplace Trader Interactive to Australian listed company Carsales for $624m. The deal gave Trader an enterprise value of $1.6bn, which equates to 26.5x its $61m 2020 adjusted EBITDA.

Eurazeo said in its Q1 2021 results that it "forecasts a significant number of divestments in 2021 and 2022 due to the maturity of its portfolio, the high quality of its assets and the favorable market conditions".

Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported in early April that the GP was in informal sale talks with private equity funds including Advent for its UK-based fintech firm Planet, citing two sources familiar with the situation. Eurazeo hired Citi and Evercore to run a sale in early 2020, the report added. The advisers were running an "education process" with more than 30 potential investors that started in late 2019, which was called off in 2020 due to the pandemic, according to previous Mergermarket coverage. Planet was seeking a valuation of €2bn at the time, the report noted. Eurazeo originally bought the asset for €585m in 2015.

Swiss hospitality management education group Sommet Education is another asset reportedly on the block. Eurazeo bought the company for CHF 380m in 2016 and mandated Rothschild in Q1 this year to prepare a sale, according to Mergermarket.

Eurazeo still has several assets in its portfolio that were acquired more than five years ago, according to Unquote Data. These include Redspher (originally Flash Europe), a Luxembourg-based express transport service bought in 2015; Péters Surgical, a medical equipment business bought in 2013; Orolia, a GPS technology developer taken private in 2016; and Groupe Rosa, an omnichannel group of home and fashion brands, including Linvosges, Françoise Saget and Envie de Fraise, acquired in 2016.

Eurazeo has been more active on the buy-side so far this year. The group notably acquired a majority stake in French aromatherapy specialist Aroma-Zone with an investment of €410m. It also bought a stake in French cybersecurity business I-Tracing with an investment of around €65m, in a deal that valued the business at €165m. Its Eurazeo Brands subsidiary secured a majority stake in French pet food specialist Ultra Premium Direct (UPD) for €68m in March.

As part of its Q1 results statement, Eurazeo also said that fundraising is expected to grow in 2021-2022 compared to the record level of €2.9bn set in 2020, thanks to a "substantial fundraising programme across all asset classes". The GP has notably launched the fourth generation of its PME fund, dedicated to investments across the mid-market. It also said it would launch its next mid-to-large-cap buyout vehicle (Eurazeo Capital) in the period.

In addition, Eurazeo stated it would see the first fundraisings in divisions hitherto financed exclusively by the company's balance sheet (Eurazeo Real Assets and Eurazeo Brands), as well as capital raising for several specialised funds targeting the specific needs of limited partners and private wealth management clients.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• GPs
• Exits
• France
• Eurazeo