The Deals Pipeline

Greg Gille
06 April 2021

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A highlight of deal processes underway and involving private equity, either on the buy- or sell-side, across Europe.

France

Advent, Bain, BC Partners and Hellman & Friedman are among the sponsors looking at the sale of Prosol ahead of a first round of bids expected in early April, Mergermarket reported on 1 April. The French food retailer is being marketed based on an EBITDA figure of €230m. The deal could fetch a 12-14x valuation. Amala Partners and Morgan Stanley are advising on the sale. PAI was expected to bid for the asset, but the sponsor was not invited to the auction. Carrefour and 2MX Organic were also expected to show interest in the asset. BC Partners is a minority shareholder in Acuris, the publisher of Unquote.

PAI Partners, Core Equity and Montefiore are said to be the three contenders competing in the second auction round to acquire a stake in French testing inspection and certification (TIC) specialist Apave Group, Capital Finance reported on 2 April. This second auction round is handled by Canaccord Genuity. Mergermarket reported that the Paris-headquartered group is looking to sell a 25-35% stake for €250m and is marketed based on EBITDA of more than €60m, and €900m in sales.

Italy

The sale process of Italian IT company Gruppo Elmec has attracted the interest of at least three private equity firms, Mergermarket reported on 1 April. The contenders include Chequers, Portobello Capital and a further undisclosed financial sponsor. The transaction entails a minority stake of between 30% and 40% of the company. Gruppo Elmec generated €25m in EBITDA from €125m in revenues in 2019. The business could reach an enterprise value of more than €200m based on multiples in this sector, which tend to range between 7x and 8.5x EBITDA. Elmec is wholly owned by the Dallerio and Corti families, each of which holds a 50% stake in the business.

Permira will start the sale of its portfolio company Arcaplanet in the coming months, Mergermarket reported on 1 April. A sell-side mandate will be assigned after Easter. Permira decided to kickstart auction preparations for the Italian pet care retail chain after it was approached by PAI and Peninsula Capital. PAI and Peninsula had expressed interest in backing the business and made unsolicited offers to acquire Arcaplanet, but none of those parties finalised the transaction as the mismatch between the vendor expectations and the offers in play was too large. The business is performing strongly and from next year onwards could reach a valuation north of €1bn, the report added.

Germany

Ardian has hired GCA Altium to advise on a sale of its 40% stake in German consumer e-commerce company Berlin Brands Group (BBG), Mergermarket reported on 23 March. The process is expected to launch after Easter and the business is being marketed based on EBITDA of €40-50m. Alongside Ardian's exit, founder Peter Chaljawski may also dilute his stake in the business, although he is likely to want to hold on to his shares. BBG generated adjusted EBITDA of €9.8m in 2019 from €216m in sales, compared with €6.4m and €187m respectively in the year prior.

Switzerland

Conzzeta is set to complete its sale of Mammut by early next month, with as few as two bidders still in the process, Mergermarket reported on 31 March. Although Conzzeta is likely to pick a winner by April, a small chance that regulatory approvals are needed could push the closing date to the summer. Conzzeta, which is being advised by Lazard, has said publicly that it intends to have divested the Swiss outdoor clothing brand by mid-summer. Chinese bidders such as Hillhouse and Anta, via its Finnish subsidiary Amer, got to the second round. Conzzeta is playing up the e-commerce aspect of Mammut, with an eye to an EV/EBITDA multiple of 15x. Mammut had CHF 268m (€243m) in 2019 sales, and a margin of 9%, suggesting an EV of CHF 362m at 15x EV/EBITDA, or CHF 288m at 12x EV/EBITDA. It posted a negative CHF 24.5m EBIT in 2020 as it invested in digitalisation to boost long-term value.

Benelux

H2 Equity Partners is preparing to exit Netherlands-based Brink Group in a process guided by Houlihan Lokey, Mergermarket reported on 26 March. A process to sell Brink, which manufactures towbars for the automotive industry, is expected to launch mid-April. Brink will be marketed based on EBITDA of more than €25m. Brink generates revenues of almost €200m.