Advent completes £4bn acquisition of Cobham

Katharine Hidalgo
22 January 2020

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Advent International's £4bn acquisition of aerospace systems manufacturer Cobham has completed.

The firm drew equity from its $17.5bn Advent International GPE IX vehicle, which writes equity tickets of $100m-1bn.

The offer values shares at 165 pence apiece. The proposed pricing represents a 34.4% premium on the unaffected closing price on 24 July 2019, and values Cobham at 13.5x estimated EBITDA for 2019 and 12.3x estimated EBITDA for 2020.

The acquisition was reviewed by the UK government following an intervention notice on the grounds of national security. During the inquiry, Advent agreed to conditions, including giving notice of a whole or partial sale of Cobham, strengthening existing security arrangements for sensitive operations and information, and ensuring new board structures comply with national security requirements.

Business secretary Andrea Leadsom approved the takeover on 21 December 2019.

The company has now been delisted from the London Stock Exchange, where it was a constituent of the FTSE 250 index. Headquartered in Wimborne, the refuelling specialist employs approximately 10,000 people globally.