June
Deals List

Private equity firms are pursuing European deals at a pace not seen since 2007. According to data from Mergermarket, there have been 16 European buyouts with a total disclosed deal value of over £7 billion in the first two weeks of June alone. Companies are increasingly viewing private equity as a solution for their challenges, as they face pressure from activist investors to sell non-core businesses to improve returns. JPMorgan expects more than 40 sizeable carve-outs in Europe over the next 12-18 months, while a report by accounting firm EY reveals that about 76% of European companies anticipate accelerating their divestment plans due to the impact of COVID-19¹.

A consortium of private equity and venture capital groups agreed to sell Depop to Etsy, the U.S.-based marketplace for handmade and vintage goods. Founded in 2011, Depop is a fashion resale app that allows users to buy and sell second-hand clothing and accessories, with about 90% of its users under the age of 26. The deal underscores the growing attraction of clothing resale platforms after rival Vinted raised £214 million in a funding round last month. Following the transaction, Depop will continue to be headquartered in London and will operate as a standalone marketplace run by its existing leadership team.

Alkuri Global Acquisition Corp., a U.S.-based SPAC, has agreed to acquire Babylon Healthcare Services, after which the UK-based online health group will trade on the Nasdaq. Babylon operates through two primary channels – Babylon 360, its digital-first, value-based care service, and Babylon Cloud Services, a suite of digital self-care tools for patients and clinicians. These services cover 24 million people across the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa and 13 countries in Asia. The capital raised will help Babylon expand its services in the £7 trillion global healthcare market and accelerate the company’s move into preventative healthcare.

Headquartered in Spain, Urbaser is one of the world’s largest providers of environmental services, responsible for cleaning more than eight million kilometres of streets and maintaining 25 million square metres of green areas around the world. Urbaser has also made substantial investments in R&D, with a focus on circular economy solutions like bioplastics. Platinum Equity views this acquisition as a strong addition to its growing portfolio of Europe-headquartered companies, which includes vacation rentals group Awaze in London and Italian wine producer Fantini.

Northvolt AB, a Sweden-based battery developer and manufacturer, raised £1.94 billion from a group of investors including carmaker Volkswagen, Sweden’s national pension funds and Canada’s OMERS, to ramp up electric vehicle battery production in Europe. The company is planning to expand its facility in northern Sweden to enable it to produce batteries for up to one million EVs a year. To date, Northvolt has raised more than £4.6 billion and secured over £19 billion worth of contracts from key customers, including BMW and Volkswagen. The funding round makes it one of Europe’s largest start-ups with a valuation of almost £8.5 billion.

The deal with the U.S.-based SPAC formed by Canadian private equity group Kensington Capital Partners will take Barcelona-based Wall Box Chargers public on the New York Stock Exchange. Wall Box sells its products in 67 countries and is the developer of the world’s first bi-directional DC charger, allowing users to charge their EV or use the energy from the car’s battery to power their home, business or send it back to the grid. Kensington Capital was the same SPAC group that took Quantumscape Corp, an EV battery maker backed by Bill Gates and Volkswagen, public last year. The deal will enable Wall Box to develop new products and increase manufacturing capacity as it expands sales globally.