Good morning Eurohubsters, Craig McGlashan here with Tuesday’s Dealflow.
First up we’re going to take a look at how a couple of private equity-backed firms are performing in the IPO market. Next, we cover another exit, this time by Carlyle. We also feature an add-on by an Equistone portfolio firm, and finish up by taking a look at a law firm that is expanding its private equity and M&A presence in London.
Exit signs. After a drop in IPO volumes last year, dealmakers are likely paying close attention to a pair of live European listings – and gathering what it can tell them about making their own exits. Both deals have private equity involvement.
Italian industrial firm EuroGroup’s IPO appears to be performing well, with a bookrunner note telling buyers to place orders in the top half of the €5-€6 price range, according to a Reuters report. The firm plans to raise up to €448 million through the sale of new and existing shares. Books close at the end of today. French private equity firm Tikehau Capital is selling part of its stake in EuroGroup via the IPO.
Meanwhile, German web hosting company IONOS, in which private equity firm Warburg Pincus has a minority shareholding, set a price range of €18.50-€22.50 a share in late January for its IPO on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
But the firm has dropped its range to €18.50-€19.50, according to a separate Reuters report. But books were fully covered shortly after the launch in late January. Books are set to close at 1pm London time today.
Trading out. The Carlyle Group is set to sell its holdings in metals and natural resources trader and merchant Traxys. The firm’s management, along with market maker Optiver, investment firm CoLift and an investor group led by Regent Mercantile and LOM Financial will acquire Carlyle’s holdings, as well as those of affiliates of Louis M Bacon, the founder of Moore Capital Management.
Traxys is headquartered in Luxembourg and has an annual turnover of $10 billion. It employs 450 people in more than 20 offices globally.
Carlyle and the Bacon affiliates agreed to acquire a majority stake in Traxys in March 2014. At that time, Traxys’ annual turnover was over $6 billion.
Expansion. Equistone Partners-backed Andra Tech Group has completed the acquisition of DKH Metaalbewerking (DKH) to further expand its footprint in Europe.
DKH, based in Uden, the Netherlands, is a manufacturer of complex precision mechanical parts and components with a focus on CNC milling and turning. The firm was acquired from founder and CEO, Francois van Hirtum.
This deal makes Andra tech’s second acquisition since Equistone invested in the firm in March 2021. Andra acquired a majority stake in precision metalworking company Mayer Feintechnik in December.
“With DKH, the Andra Tech Group is gaining another strong partner that is extremely well-positioned in its market,” said Hubert van Wolfswinkel, partner at Equistone’s Amsterdam office. “With its high-quality standards and comprehensive technical know-how, DKH reinforces the group’s strong technical capabilities and further boosts its attractiveness to an already broad customer base.”
Read more about the deal here.
Lawyering up. We’ve written plenty about private equity firms boosting their presence in London, but we’ve also seen a fair amount of service providers upping their headcount in the UK capital too.
We can add one more to that this morning, after US law firm Sidney Austin added Phil Cheveley to its M&A and private equity practice in London. Cheveley is the fourth new partner in the firm’s London office so far this year, after the promotions of regulatory and enforcement lawyer Francesca Blythe and tax lawyer Steve Quinn, and the hiring of restructuring lawyer Kieran Sharma.
Cheveley joined from Shearman & Sterling where he was head of M&A for EMEA and Asia.
That’s it from me – I’ll be back with you again tomorrow.
Cheers,
Craig
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