Charterhouse-backed Comexposium in €394m refinancing

The new debt package was co-arranged by ING and Natixis, which had already contributed to the first debt arrangement in 2015. 

The new debt package is composed of a B tranche of senior debt and of a €20m revolving credit facility. The arrangement also includes an €80m capex line. The original capex line, of a similar amount, has already been used quite extensively (€54m), mainly for the bolt-on of SIAL, a global event company running events throughout the year and supporting food industry operators in their international development.

With Charterhouse's backing, Comexposium has already grown its EBITDA from from €46m to €53m, with a resulting new leverage level representing 4x EBITDA.

Previous funding
In April 2015, Charterhouse bought a 50% stake in Comexposium in a deal that valued the company at €550m. Charterhouse acquired the stake from commercial property company Unibail-Rodamco. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris Ile-de-France (CCIR), which co-owned Comexposium with Unibail-Rodamco prior to the deal, retained its stake in the group. At the time, the deal was financed at around 50% with a senior debt facility.

Company
Paris-based Comexposium was established in 2008 when Unibail-Rodamco and CCIR merged their respective event organisation businesses, Exposium and Comexpo. The business organises events worldwide, with 135 exhibitions held annually.

The company generates an EBITDA of €53m, according to French publication Capital Finance. 

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