Good morning Eurohubsters, Craig McGlashan here with the Dealflow.
While much of the UK is struggling with transport thanks to the double whammy of snow and strikes, we’ve got a fair bit to report in that sector this morning. We have an exit by Hg from a freight software company and a deep dive on a Cube Infrastructure Managers investment. We also have deals in construction materials, offshore wind farm services, a touch of Hollywood glamour and a deeper look into a recent healthcare deal by KKR.
Logistically speaking. We’ve got a freight theme this morning, first of all in the form of a big exit for Hg.
The software and services investor has agreed to sell cloud-based transportation management software platform Transporeon to industrial technology company Trimble.
Transporeon operates an SaaS platform used by 1,400 companies moving freight and nearly 145,000 carriers. Its users account for €48 billion of annual freight. It is headquartered in Ulm, Germany.
Check out our full coverage to learn how much Hg is selling the firm for and how large its original investment was, as well some performance numbers for Hg’s funds.
Flagships. The timing of that deal couldn’t have been better, as this morning we also feature a deep dive article on Cube Infrastructure Managers and its plans for two temperature-controlled logistics companies it bought this year – France’s Dispam and Austria’s Müller Transporte.
Cube investment director Brice Masselot listed tailored IT systems as one of the factors that boosts the resilience of the sector, alongside the market’s niche nature, and assets in the form of trucks, refrigerated trailers and temperature-controlled logistic hubs.
“Those flows are just-in-time and this involves a lot of optimisation of flows, bundling and unbundling of shipments,” Masselot told PE Hub Europe. “It’s a specialised know-how that you need to have. There are also a lot of certifications that regulate this sector, especially on the pharma side. You need to get those certifications and maintain them.”
Find out how Cube plans to grow Müller and Dispam in the full article here.
Multi-brand. CVC Capital Partners-backed STARK Group bought Saint-Gobain Building Distribution (SGBD) from Compagnie de Saint-Gobain. STARK takes over 600 branches and distribution centres with the deal.
Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials used in buildings, transportation, infrastructure and in many industrial applications. SGDB comprises 14 brands, all based in the UK, including Jewson, Build Aviator and International Timber. SGBD is headquartered in Leicestershire, England.
Find out SGBD’s valuation and its expected net sales in our full coverage here.
Topping up. Sandbrook Capital and PSP Investments teamed up to provide $250 million in equity to Norwegian offshore wind services company Havfram. The money is on top of an equity commitment of up to $250m Sandbrook made when it acquired a majority stake in the company in early November.
Read how Havfram will spend the money here.
Stardust. It’s always nice to include a bit of showbiz where we can, so we can report that KKR and Atwater Capital-backed Mediawan, a European content studio, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a “significant” stake in Plan B Entertainment.
Plan B is a film and television production company. Its film work includes The Tree of Life, Eat Pray Love, World War Z, 12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Big Short and Moonlight. The Los Angeles-based company is headed by actor Brad Pitt and co-presidents Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner.
That’s just the trailer – for the full movie click here.
Clinical. Sticking with KKR, we wrote last week about the firm agreeing to acquire Clinisupplies, a Watford, UK-headquartered continence care product provider.
Clinisupplies manufacturers and distributes continence care products, such as urinary collecting devices and catheters. It supplies hospitals and pharmacies, as well as providing for patients directly via its home delivery services. It has over 400 employees in the UK, China and India.
We got a little more info about on that from a source close to the deal:
What is attractive about the medical device supplier market?
The chronic care medical devices space is an attractive and defensible market, with an attractive growth on the back of macro trends (prevalence of chronic disease, aging population). In addition, chronic care products are non-discretionary for patients
What made Clinisupplies stand out from some of its competitors?
Clinisupplies represents a compelling opportunity from which to build a broader platform in the chronic care, given (i) its market leading position in collecting devices in the UK, (ii) its strong existing management team, and (iii) its vertically integrated business model
Which new products and geographies do you expect to expand Clinisupplies into?
We believe there is an opportunity to expand into other European countries (e.g. Germany, Benelux, Nordics, France, Italy, Spain), and also expand the existing portfolio of chronic care products
Will growth be mainly organic or M&A or both?
Both
Will Clinisupplies be a platform company for other add-ons?
Our objective is to build a larger platform with Clinisupplies as the base. Growth and expansion is expected from both organic initiatives, as well as accretive add-on acquisitions
Data.And finally, check out our data article on dealmaking in the first three quarters of 2022. It might surprise you…
That’s it from me – I’ll be back with you tomorrow.
Cheers,
Craig
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