ST. PETER PORT, Guernsey, Dec. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- European Capital Limited and its consolidated subsidiaries ("European Capital") announced today that they received proceeds of €25.5 million from exiting their investment in Biscuits Poult ("Poult" or the "Company"). European Capital's exit comes as Poult sold 100% of its Polish subsidiary (Dr Gerard) to Bridgepoint and used related disposal proceeds to prepay in full the acquisition facilities put in place in 2006 to support LBO France's secondary buyout of the Company.
At that time, European Capital invested €12.5 million in the mezzanine and second lien facilities. In December 2012, it acquired €7.5 million additional senior and second lien facilities on the secondary market. This repayment allowed European Capital to realize a c. 1.8x money multiple on its total investment, representing an IRR of 13.9% over the life of the investment.
Founded in 1883, Poult is the leading French private label manufacturer of sweet biscuits and the #2 overall French biscuit manufacturer. Poult customers include all of the large mass retail and hard discount chains in France. Headquartered in Toulouse, the Company operates five production sites and employs approximately 875 people. Over recent years, Poult has consolidated its leading position in France and successfully developed its operations abroad. For more information on Poult, please visit: www.biscuits-poult.fr.
"We are extremely pleased with the outcome of this transaction," said Tristan Parisot, Managing Director of European Capital Financial Services Limited. "We continue to actively seek attractive private debt opportunities in midcap businesses that have leading positions in growing markets with enterprise values of up to €500 million. With its undisputed leadership in France, evidenced by a 35% share of its addressable market, Poult perfectly illustrates this positioning."
"We are delighted to have worked with the Company, its management and LBO France over the period of our investment," said Stephane Legrand, Managing Director at European Capital Financial Services Limited. "We were particularly impressed by Poult's ability to continuously innovate and anticipate market changes while offering the highest product quality and widest assortment of biscuits among its competitors."
"European Capital expressed a strong interest in Poult's strategic orientations and quickly developed an in-depth understanding of the Company's business. We really appreciated having them as a financing partner and valuable Board member," said Carlos Verkaeren, CEO of Biscuits Poult.
"We were pleased to work with European Capital over our seven year commitment to Poult and we valued their support and contribution to the business," said Thomas Boulman, Partner at LBO France.
ABOUT EUROPEAN CAPITAL
European Capital is an investment company for pan-European equity, mezzanine and senior debt investments with €1 billion in assets under management. European Capital is a wholly-owned affiliate of American Capital, Ltd ("American Capital"). It is managed by European Capital Asset Management Limited ("ECAM" or the "Investment Manager"), a wholly-owned affiliate of American Capital. The Investment Manager has offices in London and Paris with 55 employees. Since its inception, European Capital Limited has invested €3.5 billion in over 100 companies in Europe. European Capital and its affiliates will consider senior and mezzanine debt investment opportunities from 10 million to 100 million in either euros or sterling and up to 400 million for One Stop Buyouts®. For further information, please refer to www.EuropeanCapital.com.
ABOUT AMERICAN CAPITAL
American Capital, Ltd. (Nasdaq: ACAS) is a publicly traded private equity firm and global asset manager. American Capital, both directly and through its asset management business, originates, underwrites and manages investments in middle market private equity, leveraged finance, real estate and structured products. American Capital manages $20 billion of assets, including assets on its balance sheet and fee earning assets under management by affiliated managers, with $117 billion of total assets under management (including levered assets). Through an affiliate, American Capital manages publicly traded American Capital Agency Corp. (Nasdaq: AGNC) with approximately $10 billion of net book value and American Capital Mortgage Investment Corp. (Nasdaq: MTGE) with approximately $1 billion of net book value. From its eight offices in the U.S. and Europe, American Capital and its affiliate, European Capital, will consider investment opportunities from $10 million to $750 million. For further information, please refer to www.AmericanCapital.com.
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Contact: European Capital Financial Services Limited
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+ 33 1 40 68 06 66
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Stephane Legrand, Managing Director
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Kevin Abrial, Investment Director
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SOURCE European Capital Limited