€2.7bn of deals in one day for Candover

Candover, a listed European buyout house completed two deals with total transaction values of more than €2.7bn in one day last week.

Hilding Anders, a Swedish bed and mattress maker, was acquired on 27 October in a Skr9.2bn (€1bn) secondary buyout from Investcorp, a Bahrain-based private equity firm. JP Morgan advised Candover on the acquisition, which also saw interest from Texas Pacific Group.

HSBC and Bank of Scotland provided the debt, which is expected to total between €800m and €900m, consisting of senior, second lien and mezzanine tranches. Candover is understood to be making an equity contribution of about 30%. Investcorp acquired Hilding Anders from Swedish private equity firms Nordic Capital and Ratos Private Equity for an undisclosed sum in 2003, with a €386m loan provided by CSFB and Citigroup. The business was recapitalised the following year.

The same day, Candover bought European buyout firm Permira’s 60% stake in Italian luxury yacht manufacturer Ferretti in a reported €1.7bn deal. Permira and Ferretti’s management reinvested in the remaining 40% of the business. SVG Capital, a London-listed investor in Permira’s funds, said that it had made £81.2m on the partial realisation.

Permira acquired Ferretti in 1998 before floating the business in 2000. The London-based firm then reacquired Ferretti in a €675m take-private in 2002, investing from its €5.1bn Permira Europe III fund, in which SVG Capital committed €425m.

The Ferretti deal was the first Candover had carried out in Italy and follows the opening of a Milan office headed by Aldo Maccari in September. Maccari, who works alongside investment manager Laura Marangione, said that the office will be opportunistic in terms of deals and will aim to add two or three more personnel in the next 12 months.

Both investments were made from the Candover 2005 Fund, which raised €3.5bn in November 2005. The fund is understood to be approximately 40% invested.