Partners Group backs Telepass in €2bn deal

The company was valued at 16x its €125m EBITDA.

Following the deal, the GP has acquired a 49% stake in Telepass for €1.06bn, while the reminder has been retained by current owner Atlantia, an Italian company controlled by the Benetton family that specialises in the transport sector.

Rumors about a sale of Telepass started to circulate in June 2019, when it was reported that Atlantia had mandated Mediobanca and Goldman Sachs for a sale of a 30% stake.

The sale attracted interest from several bidders, including private equity firms Advent, General Atlantic, Permira, Warburg Pincus, Partners Group, KKR and CVC, and industrial group Sia, according to market rumors. Some press reports also added that Atlantia was planning to list Telepass on the Italian stock exchange after the sale.

The sale was subsequently put on hold, initially while Atlantia was searching for a new CEO in a change of leadership, and later due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The auction was relaunched in May 2020 and received two offers, one from a consortium led by Warburg Pincus and Neuberger Berman, and a second one from Partners Group as a solo bidder. In addition, a consortium composed of Bain Capital, FSI and Advent, which initially had showed some interest, decided not to go ahead with an offer, according to Italian press reports.

In August, Atlantia announced that it had decided to grant Partners Group exclusive negotiations for the sale of a 49% stake in the company until the end of September.

Following this acquisition, Partners Group and Atlantia plan to work closely with Telepass management on a number of strategic value creation initiatives to accelerate the business's growth trajectory, build scale across Europe and establish a pan-European platform for customer-focused transport services.

The two investors intend to support the company in its further penetration and consolidation across the European ETC market through organic and acquisitive growth, while strengthening its "one-stop mobility payment" service for B2C and B2B customers, and scaling transport insurance coverage across Europe.

Telepass's core ETC business, combined with the growth potential of its mobility payment and insurance services, offers a unique opportunity for Partners Group to implement an operational value creation strategy in a resilient sector, according to the GP.

Company
Headquartered in Florence, Telepass is a provider of electronic tolling services across Europe, with a strong asset base of 12 million active payment devices. It processes around €7bn in annual transactions across 14 European countries, servicing 105,000 kilometres of motorway network.

Telepass also specialises in digital payments for fuel, parking, taxis, car and bike sharing, and personal tranpsort insurance.

The company generated EBITDA of €125m from revenues of €228m in 2019.

People
Partners Group – Shreya Malik, Livio Fenati (partners).
Telepass – Gabriele Benedetto (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Goldman Sachs International (corporate finance); Intesa Sanpaolo-Banca IMI (corporate finance); Mediobanca (corporate finance); Studio Bonelli Erede (legal); Studio Gianni Origoni Grippo (financial due diligence).

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