SVP et al. sell Cory Riverside to infrastructure consortium

Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed; however, according to media reports, it values the business in the region of £1.5bn.

The deal brings to an end a four-year holding period for SVP, which first invested in Cory in 2014 and led a financial restructuring of the company the following year.

Under the vendors' tenure, Cory appointed a new board of directors, invested in its operational processes and started development on its second energy recovery facility in south-east England. It also divested its Cory Environmental Municipal Services division – which focuses on waste collection, landfill and gas – to Biffa Waste Services for an enterprise value of £23m.

According to Unquote sister publication Mergermarket, a number of prospective buyers were involved in the bidding process, including a consortium comprising Equitix, the Queensland Investment Corporation and the National Pension Service of Korea, and Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings.

Previous funding
Cory first received private equity backing in May 2005, when Montagu Private Equity acquired it from Excel in a deal worth £200m.

AAC Capital, Finpro SGPS and Santander Private Equity then acquired the business in a £588m secondary buyout in March 2017.

Strategic Value Partners first invested in Cory in 2014 and then led a £350m debt-for-equity restructuring of the company in March 2015. Santander Private Equity, Eiser Infrastructure and Finpro wiped out their stake via the deal.

Company
Founded in 1896, London-headquartered Cory is an energy recovery and resource management business. It processes 750,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste to generate 528 GWh of renewable energy. According to publicly available documents, the business generated a turnover of £238m in 2016, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and aftercare provisions (EBITDAP) of £94m.

People
Strategic Value Partners – Victor Khosla (founder, chief investment officer).
Dalmore Capital – Alistair Ray (chief investment officer).
Cory Riverside Energy – Nicholas Pollard (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – JP Morgan (corporate finance); Credit Suisse (corporate finance); Linklaters (legal).
Equity – Macquarie (corporate finance); Rothschild (corporate finance); Ashurst, Jason Radford, Nick Rainsford, Derwin Jenkinson, Laura Ho, Neil Cuninghame, Nick Stalbow, Gaby Jones, Akiko Morioka, Louise Young, Nicky Monks, Helen Raynsford, Shaz Ali, Lewis Hammond (legal).

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