EQT acquires Facile.it from Oakley Capital

Following the deal, Oakley will reinvest €80m in the company by acquiring a minority holding via its third fund, which held a final close on €800m in October 2017.

The sale ends an initial four-year holding period for Oakley, which acquired Facile.it in 2014 deploying €27m from its funs Oakley Capital Private Equity II, while Facile's founders also reinvested some of their proceeds in the deal.

Under Oakley's management, the company has expanded its market share in the automotive insurance price comparison market, while also growing in the broadband, gas and power, and loans and mortgages verticals. Its annual EBITDA nearly trebled, according to the GP.

On completion of the sale of Facile.it, Oakley will realise a gross return of 3.8x, a 51% IRR, and estimated cash proceeds of approximately £52.2m.

This is the third divestment inked by Oakley this year, following the sales of its 38.5% stake in Parship and 9.9% stake in Verivox.

Facile's current management team, including CEO Mauro Giacobbe, will continue to lead the company in its next phase of growth. The fresh capital will be used to support the development of Facile.it's growth strategy, accelerate the company's expansion and consolidate its market position in Italy across verticals and channels.

According to EQT, in addition to getting access to both operational and financial resources, the company will also be able to leverage the GP's TMT sector expertise, Italian presence and global network of industrial advisers.

The GP deployed capital from its EQT VIII fund to support the transaction. The vehicle was launched in September 2017, targeting €8bn, and hit its €10.75bn hard-cap in February 2018.

Company
Founded in 2008 and based in Milan, Facile.it is an online price comparison platform for motor insurance, mortgages, loans, energy and telecoms. The company has approximately three million monthly users and provides comparison of products from 80 providers. Facile.it has achieved an average annual top-line growth of 21% over the past five years and in 2017 generated approximately €66m in revenues.

People
EQT Partners – Federico Quitadamo (director); Dominik Stein (partner).
Oakley Capital Private Equity – Peter Dubens (managing partner).
Facile – Mauro Giacobbe (CEO).

Advisers
Facile.it – Bank of America Merrill Lynch (M&A).

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