Bidders Cool On Parques Reunidos As Deadline Passes - Sources
October 18 2010 - 10:20AM
Dow Jones News
Candover Investments PLC (CDI.LN) on Friday closed a new
deadline for the sale of the Spanish theme park Parques Reunidos,
as it seeks to warm up a process that has been on ice throughout
the summer.
But with only one firm bidder, the process may not meet
Candover's expectations on price, people familiar with the matter
said.
Candover, the troubled U.K.-based private equity fund that is in
wind-down mode after failing to reach agreement with a potential
buyer, bought Parques Reunidos--which runs a number of amusement
and theme parks in Europe and the U.S.-- for EUR900 million at the
height of the buyout boom, but postponed the sale earlier this
year.
According to earlier reports, Candover was initially hoping to
raise up to EUR2 billion from the sale or IPO of Parques
Reunidos.
After initially hiring JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Credit
Suisse Group (CS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) to initiate an IPO, the
buyout firm also launched an auction process but put this on hold
to see if Parques Reunidos met budget targets in Spain's sticky
economic environment.
Although an IPO hasn't been totally ruled out, bankers say it
would be almost impossible to float the company under current
market conditions in Spain and that a sale to private equity or a
refinancing remain the most likely options.
Candover and Morgan Stanley (MS), acting as its sole adviser,
had restarted the sale timetable, which was originally halted in
July, and asked interested parties to submit offers by Oct. 15,
people familiar with the matter said.
Carlyle Group L.P. and Advent International Corp. have teamed up
to bid for the company, and submitted an offer by that deadline.
Providence Equity Partners were initially looking at the company
but have dropped out, one person familiar with the matter said.
It is unclear whether Apollo Management, also previously
interested, submitted a bid by the deadline.
Candover was one of the first and most well-known buyout firms
to suffer when the financial crisis hit as cash-strapped investors
were unable to honor fund commitments and frozen M&A markets
held no promise of distributions from asset sales for some
time.
Candover Investments PLC (CDI.LN), the buyout firm's single
largest investor, was unable to meet its EUR1 billion commitment to
the Candover's EUR3 billion 2008 fund, putting Candover's future in
doubt and leading to various takeover approaches.
The most recent, from Canadian pension fund Alberta Investment
Management Co., or Aimco, broke down in July after some Candover
bond-holders failed to agree terms on their bonds with Aimco on the
change of control which would be triggered by a takeover.
As a result, Candover will no longer make new investments and is
instead focused on selling off existing assets. Already in July,
the private equity firm sold nappy maker Ontex to TPG and Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. (GS) in a deal worth around EUR1.2 billion,
netting the listed company some EUR12.1 million.
Other investments, apart from Parques Reunidos, include U.K. oil
company Expro International and Swedish bedding manufacturer
Hilding Anders.
-By Jessica Hodgson, Christopher Bjork and Marietta Cauchi; Dow
Jones Newswires; +44207 8429373; jessica.hodgson@dowjones.com.
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