Civica owner Partners Group expected to retry sale this year

Charlie Taylor-Kroll and Ryan Gould
12 May 2022

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The private equity owner of Civica is expected to reattempt a sale of the IT services group this year, sources familiar with the matter said.

Partners Group has kept an open mind about its options for the London-headquartered company after calling off a Goldman Sachs-led auction amid valuation pressure last summer, according to the sources.

The Swiss buyout firm was holding out for offers in the region of GBP 2.7bn-GBP 3bn for Civica, while buyside expectations were between GBP 2bn-GBP 2.2bn, Mergermarket reported at the time.

Civica's management is expected to hold a board meeting later this month to decide on how to facilitate an exit for Partners, which acquired the company for GBP 1bn in July 2017, one of the sources said.

Noise around the company, which provides business-critical software and outsourcing solutions to the public sector, has picked up in recent weeks as advisers look to position in the event of a new process, another of the sources added.

While a majority stake sale and an initial public offering of the business remain the two most likely exit scenarios, two of the sources said that the timeline of any transaction could be accelerated by bilateral discussions between the vendor and prospective buyers in the coming months.

Private equity firms including BC Partners, CVC, KKR and CPPIB had initially expressed interest in exploring a bid for Civica last June but opted against submitting formal proposals prior to the non-binding offer deadline, according to earlier Mergermarket intelligence.

Civica was being marketed off EBITDA in the region of GBP 120m-GBP 140m for FY21, with cash EBITDA of approximately GBP 100m.

Partners Group declined to comment. Civica and Goldman Sachs did not respond to requests for comment.