Blackstone and N+1 Mercapital sell Mivisa for €1.2bn

Crown Holdings originally circled the asset in 2011, when the asset was under CVC's ownership, but the business was eventually sold to Blackstone and N+1.

Despite Blackstone's appointment of Inaki Echave as managing director for Iberia this year, the GP no longer has any Iberian companies in its portfolio after the Mivisa sale, according to unquote" data. 

N+1 Mercapital divested the asset from Dinamia, its listed private equity fund, and N+1 Private Equity Fund II. Dinamia will see gross proceeds of around €14m from the sale, having returned proceeds of €5.4m in early 2013 through a partial repayment of shareholder loans and the settlement of interest accrued. The transaction sees N+1 Mercapital enjoy a 35% IRR.

Crown Holding is a NYSE-listed company that operates in the design, manufacture and sale of consumer goods packaging. The buyer intends to expand its presence in Spain and the wider European market with the acquisition.

Citigroup Global Markets provided financing to support the transaction. The acquisition is subject to the approval of the European Commission and competition authorities.

The transaction is the third exit announced by N+1 Mercapital this week, following the divestment of Nicolás Correa and partial exit from High Tech Hoteles & Resorts. 

Previous funding
In 2011, Blackstone teamed up with N+1 in an €850-900m secondary buyout of Mivisa from CVC. The GPs beat rival interest in the asset from Apollo Management, Bridgepoint Capital, Carlyle Group, Cinven, Ball Corporation, Silgan and Crown Holdings, making the only binding offer in an auction process run by Goldman Sachs and Citibank, according to unquote" data.

Blackstone invested via the Blackstone Capital Partners VI fund.

Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley arranged an all-senior debt package in excess of €630m (or 4.5-5x EBITDA) to support the deal, according to unquote" data.

The firm has a long history with private equity, which began in 2001 when PAI partners and Suala each invested €39m for a 50% stake in the firm, as part of a buyout valued at €270m.

In 2005, CVC wholly acquired the firm in what was – at the time – the largest secondary buyout in Spain. The transaction was valued at €520m, including a €400m senior debt package provided by CIBC World Markets and Société Générale, and mezzanine from Oquendo.

ING Groep NV and Société Générale arranged loans worth €662m in 2007 (paying an interest margin of 200-400 basis points) to refinance Mivisa's debt and pay a dividend to CVC's LPs. CVC had originally prepared to float the company but it reneged on this plan due to the difficult IPO market. It hoped to instead raise €1-2bn from a sale.

Company
Based in Murcia, Mivisa is a tinplate packaging manufacturer. The firm primarily serves the vegetable, fruit, fish and meat segments and operates 10 manufacturing facilities, with six in Spain and one in Morocco. The firm has a headcount of around 2,000 and a presence in more than 70 countries. It was founded in 1972.

Mivisa reported sales of €555m and EBITDA totalling €133m in the year ending 30 June 2013.

People
Lionel Assant, senior managing director, led the 2011 deal for Blackstone alongside Gonzalo de Rivera, investment director at N+1.

Inaki Echave is Blackstone's managing director for Iberia. Ignacio Moreno is managing partner of N+1 Mercapital.

Advisers
Buyer – Citigroup Global Markets (Corporate finance).

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• Topics
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