Blackstone’s acquisition of Belgian mobile filtration provider Desotec has been supported by a €320 million cov-lite unitranche provided by Macquarie Lending and Blackstone Credit at 5.5% margin and 8x leverage levels, sources told Reorg.
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Previous incumbent lenders Investec and Pemberton will exit their positions, sources said.
The acquisition of Desotec was based on a run-rate EBITDA of about €40 million and could have reached a valuation of €800 million based on a 20x multiple, sources said.
Blackstone
announced its acquisition of Desotec from EQT on March 18, as
reported. The competitive sale process was preempted. The company’s incumbent lenders included ING Belgium, KBC Bank, Investec, NIBC and IKB for the first lien debt. Private debt Pemberton provided a second lien facility to back EQT’s acquisition of the company in August 2017. When EQT acquired Desotec, the company was valued at about €280 million based on €20 million EBITDA and a multiple of 14x at the time.
Founded in 1990, Desotec provides purification of liquids and gases through mobile-activated carbon filters. Headquartered in Roeselare, Belgium, the company also has offices in Italy, Spain and Poland.
Blackstone declined to give further details. Macquarie declined to comment.
-- Lucía Camblor, Kerstin Kubanek