Eurazeo parks up in APCOA

APCOA, which is headquartered in Stuttgart, operates in 13 countries with a significant presence in its home country, in the UK and across Scandinavia. It manages more than 3,300 car parks offering around 725,000 car parking spaces, and employs 2,900 staff. It manages town centre car parks as well as shopping centre, airport and hospital parking. In 2006 APCOA had sales of €489m, a 7% increase on 2005.

Investcorp acquired the company in 2004, paying €67m for its equity stake in a €265m deal. It put the company up for sale in the autumn of last year, and was hoping to achieve a sales figure of between €600m and €700m, and NCP – owned by 3i – and Macquaire were said to be interested.

As part of Investcorp’s private equity portfolio, APCOA added around 900 car parks, cut about 300 jobs and increased turnover by almost €90m.

Thilo Sautter, head of the German private equity practice at Investcorp, said: “We are delighted with the sale of APCOA to Eurazeo, after having led the successful transformation of APCOA to the leading European car park operator. Eurazeo is an excellent shareholder for APCOA and will provide APCOA with the necessary resources to continue the international expansion and support the growth strategy initiated under Investcorp’s stewardship.”

Eurazeo’s track record in the vehicle services sector includes Fraikin, the French commercial vehicle rental company recently sold to CVC for €1.35bn, and Europcar, the French passenger and other light vehicle rental company it acquired in March last year for €1.26bn from Volkswagen.

Xavier Marin, member of the Eurazeo executive board, said: “APCOA enjoys excellent operational performance. It benefits from major advantages which have allowed it to become the leading pan-European parking operator based on the commitment of its people, expertise, brand recognition and quality locations. We will be working with the management to pursue this growth strategy and to further the group’s development in areas of Europe where it is not yet present.”