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☆ Private equity double-dips are a tasty faux pas
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Private equity groups are trying something similar in the capital markets: successfully listing a company, then coming back for a second bite by buying it back once its stock craters. Take Synlab (SYAB.DE), listed at the height of a Covid-19 boom in testing by investment group Cinven. European companies listed by private equity groups since 2020 are trading, on average, at a 22% discount to their IPO price, according to data from Dealogic and Breakingviews calculations. The message from such deals, however, is that it’s better to buy a private equity-owned company after it has listed. Follow @aimeedonnellan on XCONTEXT NEWSPrivate equity firm Cinven on Sept. 29 offered 10 euros a share to take Covid test maker Synlab private.

Persons: Russell Boyce, Synlab, Cinven’s, Cinven, Sweden’s, Dr Martens, Elliott, Neil Unmack, Oliver Taslic Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Revenue, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Cinven, France, Dealogic, Permira, Synlab

Cinven this month signed an accord with GIC, Singapore's sovereign fund, and another two investors to purchase from them 140 million euros of Tier2 Eurovita bonds, the source added. Cinven, which acquired Eurovita in 2017, also launched a tender offer to buy back another 20 million euros of bonds from investors including Italian financial institutions, so that only around 9 million remain outstanding, the source said. Italian insurance authorities placed Eurovita under special administration this year, the first time they have taken such a step, after rising rates blew a hole in the life insurer's cash reserves. Instead, Cinven was asked to carry out the debt buyback and cancel the bonds to support a solvent liquidation, one of the people added. Like other life insurers, especially those relying on banks to sell products, Eurovita was hit by early redemptions once rates started rising and savers sought better returns.

Persons: Matthew Childs, Cinven, Eurovita, Assicurazioni, Valentina Za, Emilio Parodi, Josie Kao Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, GIC, Germany's Allianz, Allianz, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Cinven

Cinven, CPP Investments, EQT, Evercore and Morgan Stanley declined to comment. Hotelbeds' shareholders had been considering a private sale as an alternative to an IPO, the people said. Should it list in Spain, Hotelbeds' would be one of the largest IPOs the country has seen in recent years. Majorca-based Hotelbeds offers travel agencies, airlines and tour operators access to hotel rooms worldwide in what it describes as a "bedbank". Hotelbeds said it had its best fortnight ever in booking revenue earlier this year, recording a booking per second at peak times.

Persons: Nacho, Evercore, Morgan Stanley, Cinven, Hotelbeds, Andres Gonzalez, Pablo Mayo, Anousha Sakoui, Nick Zieminski Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Investments, Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Thomson Locations: Santa Cruz, Canary, Spain, Madrid, Majorca, London

☆ Ghost of Silicon Valley Bank turns up in Italy
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The rapid collapse of Silicon Valley Bank earlier this year was largely down to an ill-advised bond portfolio and liabilities that were less sticky than assumed. While Italy’s Eurovita isn’t a bank, its demise has some similarities with events across the Atlantic. Eurovita, whose 2022 balance sheet was only about 15 billion euros, chiefly offered life insurance products that guaranteed policyholders’ invested capital and a fixed annual return. Follow @LJucca on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSItaly’s top four insurers and Germany’s Allianz have agreed a multibillion-euro rescue deal for ailing life insurer Eurovita, industry supervisor IVASS said on June 30. The deal also involves banks that sold the insurance products through their networks.

Persons: policyholders ’, Cinven, Intesa, redemptions, Eurovita, Marco Sesana, weren’t, IVASS, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: MILAN, Reuters, Banco, Reuters Breakingviews, Allianz, Germany’s Allianz, Thomson Locations: Silicon, Eurovita

☆ Italy's top insurers, banks strike Eurovita rescue deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-01 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, June 30 (Reuters) - Italy's top four insurers and Germany's Allianz (ALVG.DE) have agreed a multi-billion euro rescue deal for Eurovita, industry supervisor IVASS said on Friday after months of work to broker an accord which also involves 25 banks. Earlier this year, Eurovita became the first Italian insurance company to be placed under special administration, after running into trouble due to higher interest rates. Insurers Generali (GASI.MI), Intesa Sanpaolo Vita (PST.MI), Poste Vita (PST.MI), UnipolSAI (US.MI) and Allianz will set up a new company that will take on Eurovita life insurance policies. To prevent the five insurers from being hit by redemptions once the ban is lifted, banks that sold Eurovita the products are participating in the rescue. The lenders will provide financing to repay Eurovita customers who redeem their policies, while holding the underlying bonds to maturity and neutralising any losses.

Persons: IVASS, Eurovita, redemptions, Intesa, Vitale &, Gatti Pavesi Bianchi, Valentina Za, Alvise Armellini, Alexander Smith Organizations: MILAN, Germany's Allianz, Allianz, Banco, Credit Agricole, Thomson Locations: Eurovita

☆ Exclusive: Italy prosecutors investigating Cinven-owned Eurovita - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, June 22 (Reuters) - Prosecutors in Milan have opened an investigation into Eurovita, a small life insurer which has been placed under special administration by Italian authorities after running into trouble, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. Italy is currently trying to orchestrate an industry rescue for Eurovita, which is owned by British private equity fund Cinven. The sources said that, at the moment, nobody was under investigation in the probe and no possible crime had yet been identified. The probe has been opened by the department of Milan prosecutors' office in charge of financial crime, the sources said. Reporting by Emilio Parodi in Milan and Pablo Mayo Cerquiero in London; Additional reporting and writing by Valentina Za; editing by Alvise ArmelliniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Cinven, Emilio Parodi, Pablo Mayo, Valentina Za, Alvise Organizations: MILAN, Prosecutors, Pablo Mayo Cerquiero, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy, London

☆ Italy's Poste CEO says firms to use balance sheet in Eurovita rescue
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, May 4 (Reuters) - Italian banks and insurers that are being called upon to rescue struggling life group Eurovita will help by using their balance sheet, Poste Italiane's CEO said on Thursday, without elaborating. The Poste Italiane chief executive said all the main Italian insurers and banks distributing products by Cinven-owned Eurovita were working on a possible solution. "Everybody would use their balance sheet instead of funding a recapitalisation," he said, adding he could not explain more. Italian authorities have taken over management of Eurovita and are working on brokering a rescue after strong-arming Cinven into pumping 100 million euros of capital into the insurer. For insurers that rely on banks and financial advisers for their distribution, redemptions totalled 119% of premiums.

FRANKFURT, Nov 28 (Reuters) - U.S. buyout firm Carlyle Group (CG.O) has raised more than three billion euros ($3.12 billion) for a pan-European technology fund that is taking advantage of "pockets of life" in the economy, the co-heads of Carlyle Europe Technology Partners told Reuters. Carlyle aims to invest in approximately 20-30 companies through the new fund and in most cases will buy a majority stake. It will, however, reserve about 15% of the fund for growth equity transactions, Wand and Lasocki said. The fund will write equity cheques of up to 250 million euros, resulting in deals from between 100 million euros and 500 million euros in enterprise value, they said. Targeting B2B technology businesses in Europe, Carlyle will support portfolio firms with plans to become more international, for example breaking into the U.S. market.

☆ Cinven seeks deal for Eurovita to meet demands to raise $250 million in capital
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Italy's insurance watchdog has told life insurer Eurovita to quickly boost its capital reserves by around 250 million euros ($250 million), prompting its owner British private equity firm Cinven to seek a sale, sources said. Three sources close to the matter said Cinven, which last year unsuccessfully attempted to sell Eurovita, was again working with advisers Deutsche Bank and Citi to find a buyer. Italian daily MF reported earlier this month specialist life insurer Athora was eyeing Eurovita, after it entered the Italian market last year with the acquisition of mid-sized player Amissima Vita. Like other Italian insurers, Eurovita has seen premiums shrink during the pandemic. Demands by IVASS for insurer Cattolica to raise capital eventually led to its takeover by bigger rival Generali.

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