Private equity firm Cinven agreed two new deals to extend its reach into the fast-growing Turkish market and tap the resilient energy services sector, amid an otherwise subdued market for European private equity deals.
Cinven said on Monday it had reached agreement to acquire a majority stake in Pronet Guvenlik, a leading provider of security alarm systems in Turkey, from local private equity group Turk Ventures and the Dutch Development Bank.
Cinven said it had also agreed to buy Prezioso Technilor, a French maker of anti-corrosion paints and coatings for use in the oil, gas and nuclear industries, from Indigo Capital.
"Pronet and Prezioiso show that there are still excellent opportunities to invest in first class European-based companies whose prospects are not dependent on the European economy," said Cinven managing partner Hugh Langmuir.
The deals were worth more than $600 million in total, a person familiar with the situation said.
Despite some recent large private equity deals, such as EQT's purchase of bandages company BSN Medical, the market has been sluggish with the lack of affordable debt financing hampering new deals.
Globally, private equity deals are down 19 percent on last year at $103 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Cinven's deal for Pronet marks its first investment in Turkey, where the alarms company services some 130,000 customers and has seen growth of more that 40 percent over the last four years.
Meanwhile Prezioso, which has a 30-40 percent share of the coating and insulation services market in the French nuclear sector, generated sales of 320 million euros ($401 million) in 2011 and has had annual revenue growth of more than 15 percent over the last five years.
The deals will be financed by Cinven's fifth buyout fund for which it has already raised more than 3 billion euros and is hoping to raise 5 billion euros in total.
($1 = 0.7977 euros)
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