Providence to acquire Apax's Marlink for USD 1.4bn

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2022, subject to customary and regulatory approvals.

Both parties announced in early August that they had entered exclusive negotiations, although they declined to comment on financials at the time. An earlier report by local publication Capital Finance stated that Marlink recorded USD 500m in revenues and EBITDA of USD 170m in 2020.

Apax will retain a significant minority shareholding. Marlink's management team and Ardian – via its co-investment team – have also committed to minority interests.

In June, Mergermarket reported that Providence, I Squared Capital and CVC Partners were among a select pool of suitors admitted to the second round of bidding for Marlink, citing four sources familiar with the matter.

Binding offers were due on 12 July. Owner Apax France was looking for bids in the region of 10x EBITDA, one of the sources said.

Marlink was being marketed based on EBITDA in the USD 130m-150m range, depending on adjustments, two of the sources said.

Apax, advised by BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs, widened the sale process in May to private equity and infrastructure investors to gauge interest in the business. An earlier approach by Inmarsat, a key supplier of satellite bandwidth to Marlink, fell through earlier in the year. Inmarsat's bid for the business was rumoured to have been in the region of USD 1.3bn.

Previous funding
Apax carved Marlink (then known as Vizada) out of Airbus in 2015. According to reports at the time, Airbus priced the asset at around the EUR 450m mark, equivalent to 8-10x EBITDA.

Apax's takeover saw the GP return to the helm of the business four years after selling it to Airbus. The GP set up Vizada via the merger of Paris-headquartered France Telecoms Mobile Satellite Communications (FTMSC) and Norwegian peer Telenor Satellite Services. Apax wholly acquired the former for an estimated EUR 60m in August 2006, when it invested via its EUR 720m sixth fund. Meanwhile, the latter was carved out from parent Telenor for USD 400m in January 2007; Apax then moved to merge both assets later in the year.

In May 2010, Vizada secured a USD 116m injection from minority investor Hutton Collins. Apax, still the majority shareholder, claimed at the time to have recouped most of its original investment via this partial exit. The final exit for the asset took place in August 2011, when Airbus subsidiary Astrium bought it in a USD 960m trade sale. According to Apax, the 2010 and 2011 exits saw it reap a combined 4x money multiple and 40% IRR.

Company
Headquartered in Paris and Oslo, Marlink is a satellite service operator facilitating the remote operations of a range of maritime, enterprise, energy, humanitarian and government customers worldwide.

People
Providence Equity Partners – Karim Tabet (senior managing director); Michael Vervisch (managing director); Stefano Bosio (senior associate); Tarik Ben Brahim (associate).
Apax Partners – Bertrand Pivin (managing partner); Vincent Colomb (director); Arnaud Vigier (senior associate).

Advisers
Vendors – Goldman Sachs, Céline Méchain, Thomas Gagnez (M&A); BNP Paribas, Sylvina Mayer, Marc Walbaum, Claire Ramaharobandro (M&A); BCG, Franck Luisada, Benjamin Sarfati (commercial due diligence); Deloitte, Leonardo Clavijo, Lisa Lauv, Christele Fraisse (financial due diligence); Weil Gotshal & Manges, Alexandre Duguay, Guillaume Bonnard (legal); Mazars, Jérôme Gertler (legal); Taj, Olivier Venzal (tax).
Equity – UBS, Christian Lesueur, Abhishek Dhacholia (M&A); DC Advisory, Ciara O'Neill (debt advisory); Arthur D Little, Guillaume Picq, Matteo Ainardi (commercial due diligence); FTI Consulting, Aneesh Maloo, Thomas Rawlinson (financial due diligence); Paul Hastings, Arthur de Baudry d'Asson (legal); Allen & Overy, Vanessa Xu (legal); KPMG, Saul Russo (tax).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• France
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• Exits
• Apax France SA
• Providence Equity Partners
• Secondary buyout