LPC-Bankers line up around 780m debt as Thom sale gets going
08/02/2017 16:04
By Claire Ruckin
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Bankers are working on debt
financings of up to 780m to back a potential sale of jewellery
retailer Thom Europe, banking sources said.
Thom, which is majority owned by private equity firm
Bridgepoint alongside France-based Apax, hired Rothschild and
Goldman Sachs for a dual-track sale or IPO process last year,
valuing the company at around 1bn. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1DV0NZ
An exit via a sale is the current focus and the company is
attracting a lot of attention from potential buyers, which are
due to bid in the first round of an auction process on February
20, the sources said.
Bankers are working on debt financings equating to around
4.0-5.0 times Thom's approximate 130m Ebitda. This would
account for up to 650m of drawn debt, expected to be in form of
leveraged loans and around 130m of undrawn facilities, the
sources said.
Leverage is likely to remain around this level, rather than
pushing into the 5.0-6.0 times context, contrary to what many
large leveraged buyouts are doing of late, given the company is
in the retail sector, the sources said.
The company - which operates in the market for affordable,
rather than luxury goods - is expected to draw interest from
other private equity funds, who could take over from Bridgepoint
and Apax and help drive expansion across Europe. It could also
appeal to Asian investors.
Bridgepoint declined to comment. Apax was not immediately
available to comment and Thom's other backers, Altamir ALMP.PA
and Qualium Investissement, were also not immediately available
to comment.
Created from the 2010 merger of French chains Histoire d'Or
and Marc Orian, Thom Europe purchased Italy's Stroili and
Germany's Oro Vivo last year.
(Editing by Christopher Mangham)
((claire.ruckin@thomsonreuters.com; +44)(0)(207 542 1891;
Reuters Messaging:
claire.ruckin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: THOM LOANS/