3i, the private equity investor, had bought out the co-owner of its ferry group Scandlines. The firm also finalized the refinancing of existing debt facilities of the ferry group.
Previously, 3i had purchased Allianz Capital Partners' 49% shareholdings for EUR165 million or USD223 million. The transaction is expected to be closed before the year's end. This was confirmed by 3i in a statement last Tuesday.
Both 3i and ACP had cancelled an auction for the whole company earlier this year. In September, 3i offered to take full control of Scandlines through a deal valued at EUR1.35 billion including existing debt. 3i benefited from the fact that its lone competition in the bidding was private equity investor TPG. TPG's bid was no more than EUR1.3 billion.
3i was able to purchase the whole asset at a valuation quite near a price it can allow to sell for a profit in the next few years, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction. In 2010, another minority investor was bought out by 3i.
In a later transaction, 3i and ACP had purchased Scandlines for EUR1.5 billion in 2007. The said purchase was backed up by debt totalling EUR1.28 billion.
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