The Deals Pipeline

UK

Adevinta and eBay have launched a sale process for classifieds site Gumtree UK with the aim of securing regulatory approval for their $9.2bn tie-up, Mergermarket reported on 24 June. Information memorandums for Gumtree, which includes used-car site Motors.co.uk, have been circulated. LionTree Advisors is spearheading the process. Exponent and Inflexion are among those that have expressed interest. Gumtree generated EBITDA of £20m prior to Covid-19, which is likely to have been hurt by lockdown restrictions. The unit could fetch a valuation of £400-500m. Gumtree could also appeal to Haymarket Media Group. UK Media groups DMGT, Reach and Future could acquire the platform and offer it as an additional service to their readership.

Wm Morrison Supermarkets suitor Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) could state its intentions regarding a potential takeover bid as early as within 10 days, The Mail on Sunday reported on 28 June. It is expected that CD&R's bid will value Wm Morrison at £5.5bn. Wm Morrison on 19 June had rejected a bid approach from CD&R pitched at 230 pence per share, valuing the company at £5.5bn. CD&R has three weeks in which to decide whether to make an offer or walk away under takeover panel rules. Some large investment firms are waiting to see what CD&R will do before making decisions about potential offers. The Daily Mail reported earlier last week that Amazon, KKR, Lone Star Funds and Apollo Global Management have been tipped as potential counter-bidders.

Southern Europe

Rolls-Royce is holding a third round in its auction of ITP Aero to help finalists Bain Capital and Cinven form consortiums with local partners to secure investment approval for any deal, Mergermarket reported on 25 June. The UK-based aero-engine company received five binding offers. TowerBrook's consortium offer with its affiliate Aernnova was the lowest and it is out of the auction. KKR and Platinum also presented final offers. Bain and Cinven both presented offers of around €1.5bn. The third round will be designed to help the firms come up with consortium bids that are acceptable to the Basque and Spanish governments.

Offers for Eurovita, an Italian life insurance group being sold by Cinven, have come in lower than the asking price of €600m, BeBeez reported on 22 June. Although the auction is continuing, Cinven could opt to transfer Eurovita from its Fondo V to another fund and wait for the market to improve. Cinven has hired Deutsche Bank to find a buyer for the asset. Eurovita has premiums of €2.6bn, reserves of €18.9bn, and posted a profit of €37m in 2019.

Carlyle will start a sale of Comdata late this year or early in 2022, Mergermarket reported on 21 June. The sale is expected to be launched in roughly six to nine months. While no banks have been engaged to work on the deal, Carlyle will arrange informal meetings in the autumn, intending to assign a mandate by November. Advisers on the deal will likely be BNP Paribas, UBS and Mediobanca, which are already familiar with Comdata. Comdata forecasts EBITDA of €70-80m in 2021.

France

Providence Equity Partners, I Squared Capital and CVC Capital Partners are among a select pool of suitors admitted to the second round of bidding for Marlink, Mergermarket reported on 21 June. Bidders for the French satellite communications company were shortlisted at the beginning of June. Binding offers are due on 12 July. Owner Apax France is looking for bids in the region of 10x EBITDA, based on EBITDA in the $130-150m range. Apax France, advised by BNP Paribas and Goldman Sachs, widened the sale process last month to private equity and infrastructure investors to gauge interest in the business. Inmarsat's approach for the company earlier this year put off sponsors given it is a key supplier of satellite bandwidth to Marlink. Inmarsat's bid for the business is rumoured to have been in the region of $1.3bn.

CEE

Paine Schwartz Partners is working with Spayne Lindsay and Azimutus in its bid to sell Spearhead International, a CEE-focused farming group, Mergermarket reported on 22 June. The process to exit the company is at an advanced stage. A potential transaction is expected to value the business at around CZK 9-10bn (€352-391m). Interest has come from several London-based funds backed by German and Swiss capital, and others. Spearhead has annual revenues of around €200m.

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Exits
• France
• Southern Europe
• UK / Ireland
• CEE
• Deals Pipeline
• Clayton Dubilier & Rice
• Inflexion Private Equity
• Exponent Private Equity
• Bain Capital
• Cinven
• Carlyle Group
• CVC Capital Partners
• Providence Equity Partners
• Apax France SA