Cinven in final Numericable exit, reaps 4.7x multiple

The exit, which completed on 1 March 2016, puts an end to Cinven's 11-year investment in Numericable.

Cinven stated it had returned a total of €2.2bn to its investors, raising the EV from €528m at the time of acquisition to €30bn at the time of exit, realising a net capital gain of €1.7bn and an IRR of 157%, equivalent to a 4.7x money multiple.

Previous funding
Between 2005-2006, Cinven acquired 70% of Numericable for an EV of €528m, investing alongside Patrick Drahi's Altice, which secured the remaing 30%.

Under Cinven's management, Numericable completed seven acquisitions of French B2C and B2B telecoms businesses that contributed to its overall consolidation, including France Telecom, Canal+ (Vivendi), TDF and Completel. In 2014, it also acquired SFR, France's second largest fixed-line and mobile telecoms operator, creating Numericable-SFR.

In 2008, Cinven sold part of its stake (38%) in Numericable to Carlyle. Following Numericable's listing in 2013, the GP further sold part of its shares on the market, in addition to a rollover into Altice shares, which itself listed in 2014.

Company
Numericable is a cable operator and telecommunications company. It was originally created in 2007 from the merger between former competitors Noos and NC Numericable.

Altice is a Netherlands-based multinational telecoms company, founded and headed by French billionaire Patrick Drahi, and the second largest telecoms company in France behind Orange.

People
Cinven – Nicolas Paulmier (partner); Thomas Railhac (senior principal).
Altice – Patrick Drahi (president).

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