CVC, BC Partners to team up for Elior bid

Vendor Charterhouse was understood to be looking to divest Elior's main division for €2bn last November, but the joint bid by CVC and BC Partners would target the whole of the business.

Charterhouse took Elior private in 2005, a deal that valued the business at €2.5bn. French GP Chequers Capital also owns a stake in the company, which posted a €4.17bn turnover in the 2010/2011 financial year.

Charterhouse is reportedly in the process of arranging a €2bn staple financing package to entice buyers. Credit Agricole, HSBC, JPMorgan and Nomura are believed to be supplying the facilities.

Should the deal go through, France would finally be back on the European mega-buyout scene. The country didn't see a single buyout break the €1bn mark in 2012, while it was home to four such transactions the year prior. Notable mega-deals in 2011 included a consortium led by Clayton Dubilier & Rice acquiring engineering group SPIE from PAI partners for a total consideration of €2.1bn, as well as the €1.15bn buyout of Oberthur Technologies by Advent.

However, the €500m-1bn segment was much more stable in 2012, both in volume and value terms, according to unquote" data. France saw four buyouts valued in excess of €500m last year against five in 2011.

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