RLPC-CVC Looks Set to Bag British Insurer Domestic & General

Private equity firm CVC has entered into exclusive talks to buy British home appliance insurer Domestic & General from Advent International, banking sources told Thomson Reuters Loan Pricing Corp.

(Reuters) – Private equity firm CVC has entered into exclusive talks to buy British home appliance insurer Domestic & General from Advent International, banking sources said on Monday.

Private equity group Advent International took Domestic & General private for 524 million pounds ($803.26 million) in 2007 backed with 434 million pounds of debt, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data.

It tried to sell it earlier this year, hiring Goldman Sachs to run a sale which was expected to fetch around 1 billion pounds.

The sale process stalled when a handful of private equity firms withdrew which prompted Advent to consider alternatives, including refinancing debt in the company and paying itself a dividend
But CVC is now in exclusive talks with an outcome expected shortly, banking sources said.

CVC and Advent declined to comment.

Bankers are arranging debt packages to back a buyout of around 540 million pounds or about 6 times Domestic & General’s approximately 90 million pounds earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA). Debt is likely to be provided in the form of high yield bonds but leveraged loans could also be considered, bankers said.

Domestic & General, which provides extended warranty protection for domestic appliances, has operations in 11 countries, employs around 2,500 staff and services 15 million customers. Its turnover was 570 million pounds in 2012, according to its website.