Charterhouse could pull Ista and Elior sales

Greg Gille
@unquotenews
16 April 2013

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Charterhouse could put the sale processes of German energy-metering firm Ista and French catering company Elior on hold in the face of lacklustre bids, according to reports.

Ista only attracted one bid, led by BC Partners and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which may fall short of Charterhouse's expected price tag of €3bn, the Financial Times reported.

Meanwhile, Elior is also undestood to have only attracted one joint bid by BC Partners and CVC, which again would come in below the vendor's expectations. Elior was expected to fetch around €3.5bn in February.

Charterhouse and CVC's sale of Ista, which the firms kicked off by hiring Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs last year, was anticipated to be one of Germany's biggest private equity transactions for 2013. Earlier this month, Axa Private Equity and Wendel were also rumoured to be among the interested parties invited for second-round bids for the business.

Charterhouse acquired sub-metering company Ista in 2007 for €2.4bn, including debt. The GP meanwhile took Elior private in 2005, a deal that valued the business at €2.5bn. French buyout house Chequers Capital also owns a stake in the company, which posted a €4.17bn turnover in the 2010/2011 financial year.