Charterhouse-backed Comexposium in €355m refinancing

A source familiar with the situation confirmed that the facility was priced at 375 basis points and due to mature in 2025.

ING and Natixis first provided debt to the company during its buyout by Charterhouse back in 2015, alongside Societe Generale CIB and Crédit Agricole CIB. Press reports at the time mentioned that the deal was financed at around 50% with a senior debt facility.

The first refinancing co-arranged by ING and Natixis took place in Q4 2016. The €394m debt package was composed of a B tranche of senior debt and a €20m revolving credit facility. The arrangement also included an €80m capex line. The original capex line, of a similar amount, had already been used quite extensively (€54m), mainly for the bolt-on of SIAL.

The group has completed several acquisitions since its LBO took place in 2015, the latest of which were two events companies, France-based Adhesion Group and Spanish business World Bulk Wine Exhibitions.

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.

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 170 exhibitions held annually. The company's EBITDA stood at €72m in 2017.

People
Comexposium – Simon Foster (CEO); Renaud Hamaide (president).

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• Topics
• Refinancing
• France
• Industrials
• France
• Charterhouse Capital Partners
• Societe Generale
• Natixis
• ING