Carlyle sells Euro Techno Com to Cinven

An auction led by Goldman Sachs launched in March, as reported by Unquote's sister publication Mergermarket.

The group was marketed off an EBITDA of EUR 150m, as reported. Under Carlyle's ownership, it has tripled revenue to exceed EUR 1bn in 2021 and its workforce to 1,100 employees, the GP said in a statement.

Cinven will deploy the capital from Seventh Cinven Fund, which closed in May 2019 at EUR 10bn. The fund deploys equity tickets of over EUR 200m while Cinven more broadly often supports buy-and-build strategies.

The auction attracted wide interest from sponsors, with Cinven competing alongside BC Partners, PAI, CVC, and Brookfield, among others, as reported. 

ETC's founder and CEO, Cédric Varasteh, will retain a significant stake under the deal. 

Carlyle acquired the company in September 2019, becoming the first deal via Carlyle Europe Technology Partners (CETP) IV. The fund deployed growth capital in companies with an EBITDA of USD 5m- USD 25m. 

The GP said it had supported ETC's organic growth through investment in new product segments like mobile, data center and metrology. It also backed M&A, with ETC acquiring Comtec in the UK, and Walker & Associates and Comstar Supply in the US. 

Cinven has experience investing in the telecoms sector. In 2020, it took private Spain's MasMovil for around EUR 3bn. The company, which provides fixed-line, mobile and internet services to 10.5m customers, now has an EV of EUR 5.3bn, according to Cinven's website. 

The firm has also owned France's Numéricable and the Netherland's Ziggo, separately listing both on different branches of the Euronext in 2013 and 2012, respectively. 

Company 

Founded in 1993, ETC is a distributor of telecoms equipment and supplies.

The company offers services related to product design, procurement and the supply chain, including logistics for cable and telecoms operators and network installers.

Customers include US and Europe-based cable and telecoms companies, as well as large and small independent installers and sub-contractors.

Advisors 

Carlyle - Goldman Sachs (M&A)

People 

Cinven - Thomas Railhac, David Giroflier (partners)

ETC - Cédric Varasteh (founder and CEO)

Carlyle  - Cyril Bourdarot, Vladimir Lasocki (managing directors on the CETP team). 

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