Chequers acquires ISS division

Greg Gille
15 January 2014

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Mid-cap GP Chequers Capital has acquired ISS Espaces Verts, the French landscaping division of EQT portfolio company ISS.

The deal is believed to be worth in the region of €130m, according to French publication Capital Finance. The division's management will invest alongside the GP in the transaction. Chequers was advised by Canaccord Genuity.

Chequers is likely to have invested from its Fund XVI, which closed in 2011. The GP stood out as one of the handful of French mid-cap players having had much success with their fundraises that year: Chequers raised €850m in a little more than four months.

The buyout house is familiar with corporate spinouts – it most recently acquired Cenexi from the Roche pharmaceutical group and Accelya from the ADP group.

The transaction will allow ISS to further reduce its leverage. EQT and Goldman Sachs acquired ISS in a €2.9bn take-private in 2005. In August 2012, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Kirkbi Invest acquired a 26% stake in ISS for DKK 3.7bn. EQT and Goldman Sachs remained majority owners after the deal.

The private equity backers have tried to re-list the business twice since 2005, with failed attempts in 2007 and 2011. In late 2011, a reverse takeover by G4S was aborted as it did not receive investor approval. The group was understood to be actively preparing for a third IPO attempt in October last year, with a potential listing to take place in 2014.

Chequers is not the first GP to take advantage of ISS's strategy of refocusing on its core markets: mid-cap GP Agilitas Partners backed the management buyout of ISS Damage Control in June last year, in what was the firm's maiden investment.

Debt
HSBC and Natixis are understood to have provided a debt package to finance the transaction.

Company
Acquired by ISS in 2001, ISS Espaces Verts is a landscaping operator working primarily with public sector customers. It offers maintenance and construction of green spaces such as parks, gardens and ponds, as well as highway and railway surroundings. The company also builds and maintains sports, leisure and urban facilities.

The business employs nearly 2,500 staff and posted a turnover of €261m in 2012.

People
Bertrand Rabiller led the deal for Chequers.