Advent buys Planet stake from Eurazeo in €1.8bn deal

Alessia Argentieri
01 June 2021

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Advent International has acquired a stake in Planet from Eurazeo, in a deal valuing the company at тЌ1.8bn.

With this transaction, Eurazeo and its affiliates will reap a 2.5x return on their original investment and an IRR of approximately 19%, the firm said in a statement.

As part of the deal, Eurazeo will reinvest in the business and co-control the company with Advent.

Under Eurazeo's ownership, Planet has tripled in size from both organic growth and strategic acquisitions. In June 2020, the company bolted on Luxembourg-based 3C Payment, which offers a universal, omnichannel payment platform for businesses, hotels and restaurants.

Previous funding
Exponent Private Equity acquired a majority stake in Irish payment services company Fintrax in August 2012 in a deal valued at €170m. The GP purchased the company from the Barry Family Trust, investing via its £805m Exponent Private Equity Partners II fund.

Eurazeo acquired Fintrax from Exponent for €585m in November 2015, in a sale that generated a 4x return for the vendor.

Fintrax took private US-listed payment specialist Planet Payment in a €219m deal in October 2017, with Eurazeo contributing €109m towards the acquisition. The group rebranded as Planet in 2018.

Company
Headquartered in Galway, Ireland, Planet is an integrated payments provider for the retail, hospitality, food and beverage, parking, and financial sectors.

Its platform offers acquiring, processing, digital wallets, VAT refund and currency conversion services to around 600,000 merchants and 100 partner banks across more than 70 markets worldwide.

The company employs 1,500 staff and manages around 500 million transactions worth more than €20bn in value.

People
Eurazeo – Marc Frappier (member of the executive board, managing partner of mid-large buyout); Edouard Guigou (managing director, mid-large buyout).
Advent International – Jeff Paduch (managing partner).
Planet – Patrick Waldron (CEO).