OpCapita acquires La Sirena

Capital for the transaction was drawn from OpCapita Consumer Opportunities Fund, which made its first investment with the acquisition of German textile discount retailer NKD in November last year.

The deal marks OpCapita's second investment in Spain, having acquired Game Iberia in 2012 before merging the company with UK-based Game Retail.

Previous funding
3i wholly acquired La Sirena in January 2006 in a deal valued at around €150m. Vendors included the original founders – Ramona Solé and Josep Cernuda – and Agrolimen, the Spanish supplier of consumer products, which had invested in the company in 2000.

3i then refinanced the company in August 2012, with a banking syndicate comprising Banesto, BBVA, BES, Natixis and Rabobank providing a further €6.5m credit facility and reduced debt repayment commitments over three years.

In November last year, 3i exited the company to a group of managers backed by a consortium of banks.

Company
Founded in 1984, La Sirena is a frozen food retailer. The company operates 237 small stores focusing on city centre and commercial district locations. It has a headcount of more than 1,000.

People
Stephen Alexander, an operating partner at OpCapita, will become chairman of La Sirena following completion of the deal. Francesc Casabella is CEO of the company.

Advisers
Equity – EY (Corporate finance); Arcano Group (Corporate finance); Garrigues (Legal).
Company – 360 Corporate Finance (Corporate finance); Deloitte (Corporate finance); Linklaters (Legal).

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• Topics
• Southern Europe
• Consumer
• Buyouts
• OpCapita
• Spain
• 3i