Cinven in final Numericable exit, reaps 4.7x multiple

Alice Tchernookova
15 April 2016

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European private equity firm Cinven has fully realised its investment in Numericable by selling its remaining shares in media and telecoms business Altice, Numericable’s listed parent.

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).