Acquisition of a 40% minority stake in European Camping Group by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan from Carlyle and Montefiore
FR
Sycomore Corporate Finance acted as exclusive financial advisor to European Camping Group and its management
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (“OTPP”) has agreed to acquire a 40% minority stake in European Camping Group (“ECG”), a European provider of mobile-homes holiday rentals, from private equity firms The Carlyle Group and Montefiore Investment. According to the terms of the transaction, Carlyle and Montefiore are maintaining majority control over ECG.
Rationale
Created in 1989, European Camping Group is positioned exclusively in the mobile-homes holiday market and is the European leader, generating consolidated revenues of €230 million in 2017. As of March 30, 2018, ECG owns and operates a rental fleet of more than 20,000 units, of which more than 90% are mobile-homes. These are located across c. 300 camp sites owned by either partners or ECG, mainly in France, Italy, Spain and Croatia. ECG offers holiday solutions to its customers through five complementary brands: Eurocamp, Homair, Al Fresco, Roan and Go4Camp, and its distribution platforms Allcamps and Lux-camp.
The Carlyle Group is a global alternative asset manager with $195 billion of assets under management across 317 investment vehicles (31 December 2017). Carlyle’s investment objective is to create value for its investors which are mainly pension funds. Carlyle’s investments are divided into 4 business segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Market Strategies and Investment Solutions – deployed globally in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East and North & South America. Carlyle’s sectors of focus are aerospace, defence & government services, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, real estate, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. Carlyle Group employs over 1,600 staff throughout its network of 31 offices across 6 continents.
Created in 2005, Montefiore Investment is the reference investor for small and medium sized service companies in France. In 12 years, the company has demonstrated its ability to transform French SMEs into true European champions. Thanks to its strong sector expertise and know-how, Montefiore Investment successfully accompanies companies in their growth and development projects. Its performance has enabled it to establish itself as an authority in mid-market private equity. Based in Paris, Montefiore Investment currently has over €1 billion in assets under management, and invests €20-100 million per company. Among its investments: Interflora, Voyageurs du Monde or Isabel Marant. Montefiore Investment is also developing a complementary specialized real estate investment activity.
The Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan invests and manages Canada’s largest single-profession pension plan, with C$189.5 billion in net assets as of December 31, 2017. OTPP holds a diverse global portfolio of assets, approximately 80% of which is managed in-house, and has earned an annualized total fund net return of 9.9% since the Plan’s founding in 1990. OTPP is an independent organization headquartered in Toronto.