DUBAI: Bahrain-based Investcorp said yesterday it agreed to sell a majority stake in British online payments services firm Skrill Group to private equity group CVC Capital Partners for ¤600m ($800m).
As part of the deal Investcorp will keep an approximate 25 percent stake in the company, sources said. It will also retain a seat on Skrill’s board, the company said in a statement.
Investcorp Technology Partners, the private equity firm’s technology arm, bought Skrill, or Moneybookers as it was formerly called, for ¤105m in March 2007, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data and put the company up for sale earlier this year, hiring Barclays to run the process.
CVC’s acquisition of a 75 percent stake in Skrill will be funded with around ¤250m of equity as well as debt financing provided by Credit Suisse, RBS and Jefferies.
The leveraged loan financing includes a ¤275m term loan B, paying 500bps over Euribor as well as a ¤30m revolving credit facility. Debt totals around five times Skrill’s approximate ¤55m earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), two banking sources said.
Investcorp initially invested ¤25m for a controlling stake in Skrill in 2007, when Skrill generated revenues of ¤7.8m and EBITDA of ¤3.7m.
Reuters
