Searchlight Capital buys Eolo in MBO

A source close to the deal confirmed that Searchlight acquired 49% of Eolo for €150m. CEO Luca Spada has remained a significant shareholder. 

Searchlight Capital II was the fund used for the transaction. The vehicle, which targets later-stage and buyout investments in Europe and North America, was launched in June 2015 and had a final close on $1.9bn at the end of 2015.

Monte di Paschi and Unicredit provided senior debt for the transaction.

Company
Founded in 1999 and based in Varese, Eolo provides wireless broadband to businesses and individuals. The company currently serves approximately 300,000 customers across 13 regions in central and northern Italy.

The company generates an annual turnover of €100m and claims to have seen revenue and EBITDA growth of more than 30% year-on-year since 2014. Eolo employs 300 staff.

People
Searchlight Capital – Oliver Haarmann (co-founder).
Eolo – Luca Spada (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – KPMG (financial due diligence, tax, IT due diligence); Chiomenti (legal); Kirkland & Ellis (legal); Solon Management Consulting (commercial due diligence); M37 Ventures (IT due diligence); AON (insurance due diligence).
Company – Johan Bode (corporate finance); Clifford Chance (legal).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Southern Europe
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• KPMG
• Kirkland & Ellis
• Clifford Chance