Carlyle writes down Addison Lee investment

The deal will see the company's lenders, reportedly including Barclays and HSBC, inject £45m in equity and take control of the company. Addison Lee will also see a €100m refinancing.

The company owes £250m to its lenders.

In February 2019, Carlyle mandated Bank of America Merrill Lynch to run a sale process. The sale was expected to value Addison Lee at around £800m.

Addison Lee was part of Carlyle Europe Partners III, which closed on €5.35bn and had a net IRR of 14% as of September 2019. The fund acquired 21 companies and has had 16 realisations, not including Addison Lee.

The Carlyle Group and HSBC declined to comment.

Previous funding
Carlyle acquired the company in 2013 in a deal worth almost £300m, according to reports. The acquisition saw a debt package of £200m used, based on EBITDA of approximately £65m. Lenders included HSBC, ING, Barclays and BNP Paribas.

Carlyle injected £10m in equity to part-fund acquisitions in December 2018. At the time, the company secured extensions of its acquisition facilities to April 2020.

Throughout the holding period, Carlyle invested a total of £120m in equity for ongoing development.

Company
Addison Lee was founded in 1975 and offers a black cab hailing app and taxi services. The company is based in London.

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