Carlyle acquires BTI from Valedo Partners

Carlyle acquired 90% of BTI, Valedo's entire holding, via its Carlyle Europe Technology Partners II (CETP II) fund, and is the only institutional investor in the company. Management, which owns the remainder of the shares, increased its stake in the transaction. SEB provided senior debt facilities.

Carlyle aims to continue expanding the company internationally, with a focus on the US. Carlyle contacted Valedo directly in the beginning of the summer, expressing its interest to acquire the company, the GP told unquote". The deal took approximately six to seven weeks to complete, including financing.

CETP II was launched in November 2007 and closed on €530m in October 2008. It focuses on companies within technology-intense industries. Investors include institutions and high-net-worth individuals, with 50% of investors coming from Europe and 50% from the US and elsewhere.

CETP II invests between €20-60m in small- and mid-cap buyouts and growth capital deals, focusing on technology companies operating in Carlyle's core sectors of aerospace, defence, automotive, transportation, business services, retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, telecommunications and media.

The Carlyle Group's portfolio includes Caffè Nero and Vubiquity. Realised companies includes The Mill, a UK media company. There are further deals in the pipeline, according to Carlyle.

Valedo acquired a majority stake in BTI via its Valedo Partners Fund I for an undisclosed sum in July 2008. SEB provided a senior debt package to support the deal, which was sourced through proprietary networks.

Company
Founded in 1998 and based in Stockholm, BTI provides subtitling and dubbing services to broadcasters and home entertainment companies across Europe. It provides its services in a range of more than 30 languages, with a reported turnover of €45m and an EBITDA of €7m.

Customers include BBC, Netflix, HBO, Discovery Networks, VMMA and SBS Nordics.

People
Michael Wand is head of Carlyle Europe Technology Partners. Per Skoglund is associate director at Carlyle Europe Technology Partners. Björn Lifvergren is the founder and CEO of BTI.

Advisers
Equity – Delphi (Legal); Castlegreen Partners (M&A); KPMG (Financial due diligence, tax); OC&C (Commercial due diligence); JLT (Insurance due diligence).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Nordics
• Buyouts
• Exits
• Media
• Sweden
• Carlyle Group
• Secondary buyout