10 Standout Private
Equity Deals of 2021

A consortium of investors, which included Bill Gates’ wealth manager Cascade Investment, agreed to buy Signature Aviation – a leading provider of aircraft services and ground handling for private jets – at a valuation of over £4.4bn. The company attracted significant private equity interest as private aviation withstood the impact of COVID-19 better than commercial travel, with sponsors launching competing offers before teaming up for a recommended bid.

Another take-private focusing on perceived weakness in UK public market valuations. Aggreko, a world-leading provider of mobile modular power, temperature control, and energy services, was severely hit by the pandemic. However, sponsors saw an opportunity to reposition the business to benefit from the transition to clean energy and net zero objectives.

Glovo, the Spanish delivery app, raised £383.08mn in its series F funding round led by New York-based investment managers Luxor Capital Group and Lugard Road Capital. Glovo was seeking funds to expand its Q-Commerce unit, which is responsible for its quick-delivery services and grocery operations, as well as “dark stores” – small warehouses Glovo uses to fulfil orders from retailers. The deal exemplified the rapid growth in the superfast delivery sector and logistics management, following large fundraisings by Getir, Rohlik and Gorillas in the same sector.

Northvolt AB, a Sweden-based battery developer and manufacturer, raised almost £2bn to ramp up electric vehicle battery production in Europe, making it one of Europe’s largest start-ups with a valuation of almost £8.5bn. The company has been tapping into fast-growing demand among auto manufacturers for the transition to EVs. At the time of the investment, it had secured over £19bn worth of contracts from key customers, including BMW and Volkswagen.

SUEZ business divisions, including its drinking water and utilities business (SUEZ Eau France SAS), the recycling & recovery business, and the water business in Europe and Asia Pacific, attracted a number of offers from rival consortia. In the end, Meridiam, GIP and CDC Group struck a deal at a valuation in excess of €10bn to carve out the assets into a new company. The deal is scheduled to complete simultaneously with Veolia’s and SUEZ's merger, now expected in January 2022. The investment underscored appetite for deals in the infrastructure space that can derive both long-term yield, as well as the potential for growth in emerging and developed markets.

U.S. private equity firm Advent International and Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC teamed up to buy biotech company Swedish Orphan Biovitrum. The pair’s offer received backing from the company’s largest shareholder – the holding company for Sweden’s Wallenberg family – which paved the way for one of the biggest European healthcare buyouts in recent years. The deal highlighted growing appetite from sovereign investment funds to co-sponsor deals, as well as private equity’s ever-expanding interest in the pharmaceutical sector.

Listed French media group Vivendi SA agreed to acquire a near-18% stake in Lagardere SCA, a French publishing and travel retail company, from Amber Capital. The deal should trigger a mandatory offer for the remaining 54.9% stake in Lagardere, which would create one of Europe’s biggest media companies, spanning television, gaming and publishing. The deal values the whole of Lagardere at €6.22bn and underscores the ongoing corporate consolidation trend benefitting private equity sellers.

Following a four-month process, in which the UK’s Takeover Panel stepped in to organise a formal auction, UK grocer Morrisons was sold to U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice at a valuation of £9.97bn. The deal represents a 61% premium to the Morrison’s share price before the process began. Among the attractions for private equity were the company’s large real estate portfolio of owned stores and manufacturing sites. The deal also exemplified the trend in 2021 for strongly contested competing bids for publicly listed companies.

European consumer goods group Unilever announced the deal to sell ekaterra, the world’s largest tea producer, on a cash-only, debt-free basis following an auction process featuring mainly private equity and sovereign investors. The sale is part of a refocusing at the company as it looks to exit slower-growing brands and enter other fast-growing segments. The deal also highlights the continuing flow of company carve-outs in Europe, as well as the rise of investor activism on the continent as hedge funds push for disposals and break-ups at large, established companies in order to extract value.

U.S. private equity firm KKR launched a friendly bid for Italy’s biggest telecoms group Telecom Italia, which, if it succeeds, will be the largest ever buyout in Europe and the largest private equity deal globally last year. KKR offered a 46% premium to the company’s share price, valuing company equity at €10.8bn. The offer follows KKR’s successful consortium bid for Spain’s Mas Movil late last year and reflects the relatively low valuations being ascribed to telecoms groups by public markets investors.