Candover reaps 50% IRR in NOK 5.8bn sale of Get

Candover has sold Get AS, a Norwegian cable TV company, for an enterprise value of NOK 5.8bn, securing an IRR of approximately 50% and a money multiple of 2.2x, to US mid-market buyout house Quadrangle Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs' private equity arm, GS Capital Partners. Candover retains a 7% equity stake in the business.

Candover had not been not planning to sell the company, but was approached by the two new owners with 'an offer that could not be refused'. Merrill Lynch held a limited auction process where a few parties placed bids, and GS and Quadrangle made the highest bid.

Get provides cable TV, high-speed broadband internet and telephony services to approximately 500,000 homes. The company was previously named UPC Norway and was changed to Get following Candover's acquisition. The business was founded in 1997 when Janco Kabel TV AS and Nordkabel AS merged.

Candover acquired Get AS (at the time UPC Norway) from Liberty Global in a EUR450m deal in 2006. At the time, Candover acquired 90% of the shares, while management held 10% in the auction led by Deutsche Bank. Credit Suisse arranged the debt finance package, and these facilities included senior debt and mezzanine as a subordinated loan without warrants.

Get marked the first investment made from the Candover 2005 Fund, and the sale will be the fund's sixth. (Page 57).

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