Alinda buys Emitel
US-based Alinda Capital Partners has agreed to acquire Polish telecoms and broadcast infrastructure provider Emitel from Montagu Private Equity.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed but people familiar with the market previously told TelecomFinance…
US-based Alinda Capital Partners has agreed to acquire Polish telecoms and broadcast infrastructure provider Emitel from Montagu Private Equity.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed but people familiar with the market previously told TelecomFinance it would command a price of at least 10-11x EBITDA, equivalent to €600m to €700m (US$815.3m to US$951.1m).
Alinda managing partner Chris Beale said in a company statement that the firm has been “impressed by Emitel’s growth and results to date and [is] excited by the prospects for further growth”.
HSBC acted as Alinda’s financial adviser on the deal, Linklaters as its legal adviser and Deloitte and Analysys Mason supported the due diligence process.
Emitel owners received financial advice from Goldman Sachs and legal advice from Weil Gotshal & Manges, while PwC, Arthur D Little and Solon Management Consulting supported due diligence.
Alinda, which describes itself as one of the world’s largest infrastructure investment firms with US$7.8bn in equity committed to the sector, beat several other infrastructure funds to the asset.
Three others – EQT, Antin Infrastructure and Qatar Holdings – also proceeded to the second-round bidding stage. Earlier, Axa Private Equity, Arcus Infrastructure Partners, and First State Investments had also expressed interest.
London-based Montagu acquired infrastructure operator Emitel, which owns and operates a network of tower infrastructure sites across Poland, in 2011 for €425m.
In its own statement on the deal, Montagu said it had invested “substantially” in Emitel’s infrastructure and seen it through the acquisitions of two complementary businesses, helping it to evolve into a multi-channel, fully-integrated infrastructure service provider to broadcast and telecoms networks.
