Sherpa Capital backs CityBike

Sherpa acquired a majority stake with an equity ticket of around €15-20m, while Moventia retained a minority in the company, a market source told Unquote.

With Sherpa's support, the company plans to further consolidate its market position, boost its growth and expand into new cities both in Spain and internationally, with a particular focus on Latin America.

The GP invested via its third fund, Sherpa Capital Private Equity, which held a €150m final close in May 2018, exceeding its €125m target. The vehicle invests in small and medium-sized Iberian companies with EBITDA in the €2-8m range and deploys equity tickets of €10-25m.

This is the third deal made by the fund, following the acquisition of Portuguese luxury carpet manufacturer Ferreira de Sa and the investment in Omega Spice, a Spanish producer of spices, dehydrated vegetables and dried herbs.

Company
Founded in 2014 as part of Spanish transport group Moventia and headquartered in Barcelona, CityBike specialises in bike sharing.

The company managed Helsinki's public bike sharing operations in 2014 and subsequently worked on three bike sharing projects in Finland and Peru.

People
Sherpa Capital – Lars Becker (partner).
CityBike – Jordi Cabañas (general manager).
Moventia – Miquel Martí Pierre (director of expansion).

Advisers
Equity – DLA Piper (legal); KPMG (financial due diligence).
Company – Arcano (corporate finance); Escala Legal (legal).

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