Euro LBO Volume On The Rise: Slideshow

LBO volume for 2011 inched up close to 2004 levels as private equity firms took advantage of lower margins and slightly looser lending conditions, according to data from Thomson Reuters LPC.

Zygmunt Solorz-Zak‘s acquisition of Polish mobile firm Polkomtel took the lion’s share of the LBO volume in 2011, accounting for almost 10% of the market at $4.3 billion. This helped push overall volume for the year to $44.5 billion in 112 deals, an increase of 74% over last year.

Despite all that deal flow, there is still $6.4 billion in hung deals stuck in the market, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Buyouts constituted the lion’s share of EMEA sponsored deals in 2011, representing 37 percent of total volume (excluding the leveraged overhang). Amend & extend (an extension of the loan in return for better terms) activity became more significant, with 30 percent of volume. Thomson Reuters lists borrowers such as Flint (CVC), ISS (Goldman Sachs and EQT), Polyconcept (Investcorp), ProSieben (KKR/Permira), TDF (TPG Capital), Ziggo (Warburg Pincus), AVR (CVC and KKR), Springer (EQT), Merlin (Blackstone), PagesJaunes (KKR) and Telenet (Liberty Global/GIMV) which all sought to push out their maturities.

Meanwhile, leveraged repricings, recapitalisations and refinancings made up 21 percent of volume as sponsors took advantage of lower margins.

Take a look at our slideshow to see some of the figures and the top five leveraged buyouts and lenders on those deals in 2011.

[slideshow]

[slide title=”EMEA Primary Buyout Volume Rises”]

[slide title=”EMEA Leverage Purpose”]

[slide title=”Number One LBO 2011″]

1. Telediffusion de France
Deal Value: $5.7bn
Private Equity Backer: TPG Capital
Banks: Goldman Sachs & Co; Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Dexia Bank; Citi; BNP Paribas; HSBC Banking Group; Morgan Stanley; Societe Generale; Natixis

[slide title=”Number Two LBO 2011″]

2. Polkomtel
Deal Value: $4.9bn
Private Equity Backer: Spartan Capital Holdings
Banks: Societe Generale; Deutsche Bank; Royal Bank of Scotland; Investkredit Bank; BAWAG PSK; Citi; UniCredit; WestLB AG; Commerzbank AG, among others

[slide title=”Number Three LBO 2011″]

3. Spie
Deal Value: $2.5bn
Private Equity Backer: Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec
Banks: Credit Agricole CIB; Societe Generale; Deutsche Bank; BNP Paribas; Intesa Sanpaolo; Morgan Stanley; HSBC Banking Group; Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group; Natixis

[slide title=”Number Four LBO 2011″]

4. Com Hem
Deal Value: $2.3bn
Private Equity Backer: BC Partners
Banks: Goldman Sachs & Co; Bank of America Merrill Lynch; Commerzbank; Morgan Stanley; Deutsche Bank; Macquarie Group; Nordea Bank; UBS; Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group

[slide title=”Number Five LBO 2011″]

5. Securitas Direct
Deal Value: $2.2bn
Private Equity Backer: Bain Capital
Banks: AIG Mezzvest; Sankaty Advisors; Noonday Asset Management Asia Pte; Partners Group

[/slideshow]