London-based private equity firm announces sale to Ardian
London-based private equity firm Agilitas is to announce the sale of a portfolio company today.
It is due to report the acquisition of Ionisos by private equity giant Ardian, which is based in Paris.
Agilitas invested in the company, alongside management, in 2014.
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Based in the Lyon region and founded in 1993, Ionisos is a global provider of cold sterilisation facilities for medical devices, raw and unfinished materials for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. It employs around 100 employees across France, Spain and China.
The sale is understood to be valued at around £150m.
Agilitas declined to provide details of the deal, but managing partner Martin Calderbank told City PM the firm was “extremely happy with the return that we have received from our investment”.
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“Ionisos is a very, very good example of what we like to do at Agilitas,” he said. “We have been invested in it for just over 18 months. But in that time they were able to deliver the bulk of transformations that we had set out to do when we first invested.”
Asked how the Brexit vote affects his business, Calderbank said: “In general, I would say that the kind of investments we like to make at Agilitas are quite well defended against the possible negative consequences of a Brexit. In that… these companies are satisfying needs, not wants.”
He explained that this gives them “cycical defensibility”.