Tag: Ardian

Saba Buys 800 Parking Lots from Indigo for €200M

12 December 2018 – Eje Prime

Saba is expanding in Europe. The subsidiary of CriteriaCaixa, which specialises in the acquisition and management of parking lots, has acquired 800 car parks from Indigo for €200 million. The package sold comprises 169,000 parking spaces spread over several countries across the continent, including the United Kingdom and Germany.

In addition to British and German territory, Saba has also entered Slovakia and the Czech Republic with this purchase. Those four countries join the five where the company already had a presence, namely: Spain, Italy, Portugal, Andorra and Chile. In total, the company managed 210,000 parking spaces to date.

By virtue of this operation with Indigo, which is owned by the investment fund Ardian, the Spanish company has almost doubled the size of its portfolio, which will increase to 378,000 parking spaces, distributed across 1,175 parking lots, according to Expansión.

Salvador Alemany, President of Saba, has said that the purchase of this package of alternative assets “consolidates Saba’s industrial project over the long term, giving coherence to the roadmap marked by the company with the aim of making it a first-rate international player”.

In 2017, Saba recorded revenues of €213 million, with an EBITDA of €100 million and net financial debt of €330 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ardian Places Indigo Sale On Hold after Raising €700M in Debt

4 May 2018 – Expansión

Ardian and its partner Predica (Credit Agricole) have decided to put on hold the sale of their parking lot subsidiary Indigo, one of the giants in the European sector with significant interests in Spain. The shareholders, which have been looking at various options for their investment over the last year, have opted to re-leverage the company in the end, with a €700 million bond issue, which will be used to refinance some of the debt that expires in 2020, and also, to distribute an extraordinary dividend to shareholders.

With this move, the possible sale of the former VinciPark has been put on hold, after Ardian went off the idea of divestment in 2017 when it did not obtain satisfactory offers for the asset. According to sources close to the operation, Indigo’s shareholders were left with three options: put the “for sale” sign back up; re-leverage the company and distribute an extraordinary dividend to the shareholders; or encourage a merger agreement with other parking lot groups.

Until a few weeks ago, all three options were on the table. One of the possibilities involved exploring an alliance with the Spanish firm Saba. The parking lot group controlled by Criteria (La Caixa) is also undergoing a process of transformation after the decision was taken by its minority shareholders, which together hold a 49% stake, to exit the company. That round of contact did not prosper and Indigo decided to begin the procedure to launch a macro debt issue, which took place on 12 April.

Sources in the sector believe that a merger between Saba and Indigo would have business logic given the minimal overlap and their capacity to form a group with sufficient critical mass to explore a stock market listing. Trading on the stock market has always been the ultimate dream of Saba’s founding partners. By contrast, Ardian avoids investments in listed groups (…).

Indigo is, together with Qpark and Apcoa, the largest parking lot group in Europe. According to the latest available figures, the company recorded turnover of €897 million in 2017, with an EBITDA of €310 million. The company’s net financial debt amounts to €1.666 billion. Saba and Empark also feature in Europe’s Top 8 ranking of the largest parking lot groups, but their turnover figures are significantly lower than those of Indigo and QPark.

According to experts, another factor that would contribute to accelerating the corporate movements in the sector is the ownership structure. The giants in the sector are owned by investment funds and private equity firms with a relative dearth of long-term investors. QPark is controlled by KKR, whilst the German firm Apcoa is owned by Centerbridge. Ardian controls Indigo and Macquarie is the new owner of Empark. Saba is the only company with an industrial shareholder – Criteria – and a long-term interest (…).

Although not its largest market, Indigo conducts significant business in Spain. Revenues amounted to €41 million in 2017, with an EBITDA of almost €20 million. It is Indigo’s third largest market in Europe, after France and the United Kingdom. The outlook for Spain is positive. According to the consultancy firm DBK, revenues from the rental of parking spaces (…) in Spain and Portugal amounted to €1.145 billion in 2017, which represented an increase of 3.8% with respect to the previous year. In 2016, that figure grew by 4.5%.

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Torreal, KKR & ProA May Force La Caixa To Sell 100% Of Saba

10 November 2017 – Expansión

The European parking lot market is at boiling point. Following the sale of Empark earlier this year to the Australian fund Macquarie, now comes the turn of Saba, the other Spanish leader in the sector, controlled by Criteria (La Caixa). According to financial sources consulted, the firms KKR, Torreal and ProA, which together own 49% of the company, have resumed the plan to sell their shares. Unlike in previous processes, on this occasion, the conversations with investors revolve around the sale of 100% of the company, given that, by agreement between the shareholders, they may force La Caixa to sell its controlling 50.1% stake.

According to preliminary estimates, the valuation of the company could reach €1,150 million. Until last December, the company’s financial debt amounted to €545 million. Sources at Saba declined to comment on the news.

The parking lot group closed 2016 with turnover of €222 million, compared to €225 million in 2015, when its revenues still reflected income from its logistics parks. The company, a spin-off of Abertis, constituted in 2011, obtained an EBITDA of €103 million and earned €4 million from its ordinary activity in 2016 (€32 million with the gains from the sale of its logistics business to the Socimi Merlin).

Two hundred thousand parking spaces

The group manages 195,000 parking spaces across Spain, Chile, Portugal and Italy and employs 1,400 people. Its last major operation was the contract it won in 2014, with a bid amounting to €234 million, to manage the parking lots in Barcelona through a joint venture with the city’s Town Hall.

Potential buyers for Saba include the large investment funds that specialise in infrastructures. Sources in the market say that the investment firm Arcus, which manages a portfolio of assets worth €17,000 million, is looking at this opportunity. KKR, Saba’s third-largest shareholder, purchased the parking lots of the Dutch firm Q-Park earlier this year for almost €3,000 million. Meanwhile, Ardian and Predica also put the French market leader Indigo up for sale this year; that company has strong interests in Spain and is worth around €3,000 million.

There have been other smaller transactions in Spain, such as the agreement signed by Oak Hill to acquire Isolux’s best parking lots and the sale of Parkia to First State for €300 million.

Saba, which is chaired by Salvador Alemany, suffered a major setback this summer after losing the bid for Empark. The parking lot group, whose vocation since its constitution has been to make its debut on the stock market, had wanted to absorb Empark to acquire critical mass for its stock market debut. But its offer was lower than the one presented by the Australians, which, according to the market, bid around €900 million.

Following that setback, the minority shareholders have reactivated the sales plan. Specifically, the shareholders’ agreement lapses in November and the funds have a drag along clause to force the other shareholders to sell. The timeframe for looking for interested investors runs until May 2018 and if Criteria does not want to sell, then it has the right of first refusal to buy the shares that it does not control at the same price agreed with the investor (…).

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán, I. Abril and M. Ponce de León)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Empark’s Owners Engage JP Morgan To Sell The Giant For €850M

19 May 2017 – Expansión

Empark is back on the market. The Portuguese controlling shareholders of the car park company have engaged JP Morgan to find a buyer for an entity worth around €850 million, on the basis of the prices and valuations of other similar transactions in the sector. Empark is the leading car park company in Spain with 500,000 parking spaces in the Iberian Peninsula, the United Kingdom and Turkey. The firm’s gross operating profit (EBITDA) amounts to €65 million and its debt, which the company has been restructuring over the last year, amounts to €475 million.

Following the most recent changes, Empark’s shareholder structure is still dominated by the Portuguese investors Silva & Silva, which own 78% of the company. The second largest shareholder is the Chinese conglomerate Haitong, with a 14% stake.

The company’s control vehicle is dominated by the founding families, who participate in the management of the group. The main executives of Empark are José Augusto Tavares, Pedro Mendes (Executive President) and Antonio Moura.

The last attempt to sell the company was made in 2015. Then, the company progressed to the stage of selecting a buyer, Vinci Park (Ardian), but the operation did not come to fruition. Vinci Park reported the breakdown in its negotiations to buy Empark in July of that year after finalising its due diligence work, which produced unsatisfactory findings. Ultimately, the company was concerned about Empark’s high exposure to town halls which, following the local elections held that year, were considering “re-municipalisation”.

Sources close to the fund Ardian say that they are not interested in the operation at the moment. The infrastructure investment giant put Indigo (formerly Vinci park) up for sale this year for around €3,000 million. The sale of Empark is quite complex, given that the shares of the car park company serve, in turn, to secure the shareholders’ personal loans.

According to sources close to the operation, the Portuguese shareholders have dragged the other shareholders into the sale and have been given until the beginning of October to find a buyer. They are keen to leverage the ‘drag along clause’ set out in the company’s shareholder agreements (which means that when a third party makes an offer to purchase the company by buying all of its share capital, then the shareholder that has the ‘drag along right’ may force the other shareholders to sell their stakes to the buyer).

Sources in the sector believe that if Pedro Mendes and his partners do not find an investor with a reasonable offer in time, Haitong may push ahead with the operation by itself or with one of Empark’s creditor banks. Deutsche Bank is one of the company’s latest lenders. The German bank manages the fund RREEF Infrastructure.

One of the possible candidates to analyse the purchase operation is the fund First State, which acquired España Parkia from the Nordic fund EQT and Mutua Madrileña in 2016 for just over €300 million. The US fund Alinda is also very active in Spain. It has made an offer to buy Isolux’s car park portfolio. Another candidate could be the Chinese firm Haitong

Original story: Expansión (by C. Morán)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Ardian Puts Its Parking Lot Business Up For Sale

8 February 2017 – Expansión

The infrastructure fund Ardian and the French financial institution Predica have engaged two investment banks to look into the sale of Indigo (formerly Vinci Park). “Ardian and Credit Agricole have engaged two investment banks to handle the sale of Indigo”, said sources close to the process to Reuters. On the basis of prices paid in the most recent parking lot transactions, Indigo’s shareholders could ask for more than €3,000 million for the company.

Ardian and Credit Agricole, through its subsidiary Predica, both own a 49.2% stake in Indigo. The remainder is in the hands of small shareholders. Sources in the sector indicate that Morgan Stanley and Rothschild are the banks responsible for the sale.

With an EBITDA of almost €300 million in 2016 (€285 million in 2015), the sale of Indigo is likely to attract interest from other international parking lot operators, as well as from large investment funds.

During the first half of 2016, Indigo generated revenues of €416 million, up by 9% compared to the same period in 2015. Last week, it announced a detailed review of its strategy after winning several contracts in Europe and America and it committed to undertaking a series of acquisitions in Canada, the USA and Colombia. “The group’s shareholders have started a strategic review to support the company’s upcoming developments”, said the company.

Other operations in the sector in Spain, such as the sale of Parkia, have been sold for more than 15x EBITDA, although in that case, the operation was smaller with a more limited geographical presence.

Between 2014 and 2015, the French services and infrastructure group Vinci sold its parking business to the current shareholders in two phases. Indigo is one of the largest operators of parking lots in Europe, with a presence in 17 countries and more than 500 cities. It manages more than 4,000 underground parking lots, 2,500 kilometres of parking areas on urban roads and more than 2 million parking spaces.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

EQT To Sell Parkia To First State For €300M+

24 June 2016 – Expansión

The Nordic fund EQT has brought forward the process to select offers for the purchase of its 66.8% stake in Parkia, one of the leaders in the Spanish car park market. According to sources, the likely buyer is the Australian fund First State. The consideration paid could amount to more than €300 million for 100% of the company.

EQT, advised by BBVA, may announce the completion of the operation today. Parkia’s other shareholder is Mutua Madrileña, which controls 33.2% of the car park company. The Spanish insurance company may also sell its stake to First State if it considers the price to be attractive enough. According to the terms of the bid, interested parties must submit two offers: one for the shares owned by EQT and another for 100% of the company.

After undertaking a preliminary process to select certain bids a few weeks ago, several groups passed through to the final round. As well as First State, the other finalists included Saba, Empark, Indigo (controlled by the fund Ardian) and Interparking. Provided there are no last minute changes, EQT will opt to award the shares to the Australian fund. In theory, the definitive deadline for the receipt of offers had been extended until the middle of July, but EQT decided to bring forward the transaction.

Valuation

Throughout the sales process, interested investors have indicated a valuation range for the whole company of between €300 and €350 million, which represents between 15x and 17x of forecast EBITDA for 2016 (c. €20 million).

First State is known in Spain because it acquired a stake in the Galician regasification firm Reganosa which had belonged to the savings banks. First State is the asset management arm of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, one of the largest banks in Australia. The sale of Parkia represents a turning point in the car park sector, which has received renewed interest from investors thanks to improvements in activity.

Original story: Expansión (by C. M. / D. B. / M. P. L.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Saba & Ardian Bid For Spain’s 3rd Largest Car Park Group

17 May 2016 – Expansión

A dozen “Spanish and international” candidates have submitted bids for the purchase of Parkia, the third largest car park group in Spain, owned by the Nordic fund EQT. Market sources say that the candidates include major companies in the sector, such as Saba, Indigo (controlled by the investment fund Ardian), Interparking and Empark, as well as financial groups specialising in infrastructures, such as Infravía.

Some sources also include Globalvía on the list of interested parties, but a spokesperson for the concessionaire said yesterday that they are not going to submit a bid for Parkia. Sabadell is also expected to submit a bit, thanks to its partnership with the funds Altamar and Firmium, through which it plans to invest more than €150 million in car parks in Spain.

The exact amount of the bids has not been revealed, but sources state that the perceived competitiveness and facilities available to investors to leverage the transaction have helped to boost the price. Sources in the know indicate a valuation range for the whole company of between €300 million and €350 million, which would represent between 15x and 17x of the forecast EBITDA for 2016, which is expected to amount to €20 million.

EQT must decide “in the next few days”, say the sources, which bidders will make the cut and proceed to the next phase of the process, which will involve a period of due diligence (audit of the assets), in which the potential buyers will analyse the company in detail so as to prepare their binding offers.

The plan is to select between “three and five” investors from the initial interested parties, who will participate in the definitive bid. The aim is to complete the process by the end of July.

Although the operation is moving ahead, the role of Mutua Madrilña – the co-owner of Parkia with 33.2% of the capital – is still uncertain. In theory, the Spanish insurance company plans to retain its stake in the car park manager, but that will depend on the conditions that EQT ends up agreeing, say sources. Mutua declined to comment on the deal. (…).

Parkia owns 58 car parks, with a total supply of 27,000 parking spaces and an average concession life of 30 years. The company’s revenues amounted to €33 million last year. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by M. Ponce de León, D. Badía and C. Morán)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vinci Park In Exclusive Negotiations To Buy Empark For €900M

23 April 2015 – Expansión

Exclusivity / The group controlled by Ardian will purchase the parking space market leader, which has debt of €500 million.

Yesterday, the French company Vinci Park (controlled by the fund Ardian, together with Credit Agricole and Vinci) announced that it had begun exclusive negotiations with the shareholders of Empark regarding the “potential purchase” of the market leading parking space company in Spain and Portugal, which is controlled by Portuguese shareholders. “We are still negotiating to arrive at a final agreement” say sources at Vinci Park. The company is committed to maintaining an investment grade rating.

A few days ago, Empark’s shareholders said that an agreement with Vinci was imminent for the sale of a controlling stake.

Financial troubles

Other investors have expressed interest in Empark, valued at around €900 million (including debt of €500 million), including the Spanish businessman Eugenio Hinojosa who, with the support of several financial institutions, including Santander, designed a purchase offer to compete against the bid made by the French group. Empark will have to explain the transaction to its bondholders in London.

Assips is Empark’s controlling shareholder, with a 50.3% stake – the vehicle is controlled by the Portuguese firm A. Silva & Silva, which is in turn controlled by the founding families of the company who participate in the management of the group.

The top executives at Empark, which manages 500,000 parking spaces in Spain, Portugal, UK and Turkey, are José Augusto Tavares (Chairman), Pedro Mendes (CEO) and Antonio Moura.

The remaining capital is divided amongst several investment funds managed by BES (22%) and Ahorro Corporación (8.2%). The Mello family holds a 2.6% stake. These shareholders will also sell (their stakes) to Vinci Park.

Other movements

The controlling shareholders commissioned JPMorgan and Caixa Banco de Investimento (CBI) to search for a buyer in 2014. One of the reasons for exiting the company (which they acquired from Ferrovial in 2008) has been the financial troubles of the Portuguese shareholders, which have been going through a complicated bankruptcy process and have had to deal with debt maturities in recent months.

Empark recorded sales of €180 million in 2013 and a gross operating profit (EBITDA) of €63.3 million. During the first three months of 2014, Empark recorded turnover of €42.8 million, down 0.6% (on the previous year) and a gross profit of €15.3 million, in line with 2013. Vinci Park, which has operated in Spain since 1994, manages 39 car parks in various cities across the country. The company also has a presence in a further thirteen countries and generates total revenues of €704 million.

The sale of Empark coincides with the decision by KKR, Torreal and ProA to sell 49% of Saba.

Original story: Expansión (by C.Morán and D.Badía)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Vinci Park Finalises Its Purchase Of Empark For €900m

23 February 2015 – Cinco Días

The Vinci Park group is finalising its acquisition of the Hispanic Portuguese car park company Empark, in a transaction worth around €900 million. As a result of the purchase, Vinci Park will become the market leader in car park management, in Europe at least.

According to sources familiar with the transaction, Empark’s fragmented shareholder structure has made the negotiations, which began in the middle of last year, more difficult. “Loose ends still need to be tied up, a deal is not imminent”, they said. However, other sources indicated that “practically 95% of the transaction is closed”. Empark’s main shareholders are the Portuguese groups Assip Consultoria e Serviços (50.3%); Es Concessions International Holding (22.21%); and the Espirito Santo Infraestructure Fund (8.27%). The Spanish entity Ahorro Corporación owns more than 8% of the capital, in which other minority shareholders also hold a stake. Ferrovial sold its concessionary subsidiary Cintra (now Empark) to the Portuguese groups and Ahorro Corporación for €451 million in 2009.

According to Empark’s 2013 accounts, the latest ones available at the Commercial Registry, the company manages 500,763 parking spaces in total in: Spain (387,494); Portugal (68,679); UK (37,554); Turkey (5,861); Andorra (825); and Poland (350). The entity employs 2,527 people.

Empark began 2013 with long-term debt of €503 million and short term debt of €50.7 million. The company refinanced its debt in December 2013 through a bond issue amounting to €385 million, which is due to be repaid in December 2019. Empark used this new debt to repay the syndicated bank debt it held with Banco Espiritu Santo de Investimento as the agent bank, which amounted to €392.7 million, including interest.

In 2013, Empark recorded losses of €11.9 million (losses of €9.2 million in 2012) and revenues of €177.8 million (€180.9 million a year earlier).

French fortitude

Vinci Park manages 1.8 million parking spaces in 14 countries. Its parent company, the Vinci Group, which also operates concession and construction businesses, employs 191,000 people and has an annual turnover of almost €40,000 million.

The French investment giant Ardian, formerly Axa Private Equity, and Crédit Agricole Assurances, acquired Vinci Park last July, with each one taking a 37.5% stake in the car park company’s share capital, in a transaction worth around €1,960 million. Vinci Concessions retained a 25% stake.

The Vinci Group recorded profits of €2,486 million in 2014, after its results were boosted by the sale of the majority of its car park business, according to reports by the French multinational on 6 February.

Last year, the company Ardian closed an investment fund amounting to €10,000 million. The entity is the primary shareholder of CLH in Spain with a 15% stake. In 2014, it acquired 65% of Túnels Barcelona Cadi’s share capital, which operates the Vallvidrera and Cadí Tunnels, from the Brazilian bank BTG Pactual for €146 million; Abertis, which partners Ardian in other projects in Spain and France, controls the remaining 35% of Cadí’s capital.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alberto Ortín Ramón)

Translation: Carmel Drake