Highlights

  • The Spanish private equity sector finished 2020 with an aggregated investment total of c.€5.6bn,35% lower than in 2019[1].This overall decline in aggregated investment value has been caused by a lower number of large transactions above €100m which have decreased by nearly 50% from 2019 to 2020[2]. That said, whilst Spain has experienced fewer large transactions, the market is clearly still active as private equity firms have participated in a historically high level of transactions overall in 2020 (765)
  • Positively, private equity fundraising in Spain amounted to over €2bn in 2020, 6% higher than levels recorded 2019. The positive trend is expected to continue into 2021 as LP’s seek to achieve optimised returns in alternative asset classes at a time where interest rates are at a historic low
  • Trends that continue to manifest themselves in the region are:
    • An increasing inflow of private companies into the market
    • Companies that have benefited from the pandemic are starting to seek transaction opportunities which is generating discrepancies in terms of business recurrence and valuation
    • Investors are showing increasing interest and appetite in pandemic proof sectors, such as Technology & Software, Infrastructure (energy services), Healthcare, and Consumer Goods, whilst other sectors such as Leisure and Retail are shadowed. We expect M&A activity across private equity funds to intensify over the remaining period of 2021 and the outlook remains promising

Key deals[3]

Business & Tech-Enabled Services

  • Magnum Capital Industrial Partners has agreed to acquire Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economia, a Spanish-based online postgraduate law school, for an undisclosed consideration

Consumer, Leisure & Retail

  • DeA Capital Alternative Funds, has agreed to acquire Alimentacion y Nutricion Familiar, a Spanish-based baby food producer, for an undisclosed consideration
  • Intermediate Capital Group has agreed to acquire Alvinesa Natural Ingredients, a Spanish-based producer of alcohols, tartaric acid and nugget oil, from Jesus Cantarero and Arta Capital, for an undisclosed consideration

Healthcare

  • Advent International has agreed to acquire Dentix, a Spanish-based portfolio of 76 dental clinics, for an undisclosed consideration

Industrials Products & Services

  • Atitlan Capital has agreed to acquire Imex Products, a Spanish-based manufacturer of kitchen and bathroom fittings, for an undisclosed consideration
  • Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has agreed to acquire Logoplaste, a Portuguese plastic packaging maker, from Carlyle, for an undisclosed consideration

TMT

  • Oakley Capital has agreed to acquire Idealista, a Spanish-based online real estate platform, for a consideration of €175m
  • Accel-KKR has agreed to acquire Endalia, a Spanish-based provider of human resource management software, from for an undisclosed consideration

2014 – 2021 YTD total deals in Spain, by sector[4]

Go back to our European Mid-Market Private Equity Round-Up: Q1 2021

 

References

[1] El capital riesgo en España cierra su tercer mejor año en inversión pese a la pandemia, El Español Invertia, 21 January 2021

[2] El capital riesgo en España cierra su tercer mejor año en inversión pese a la pandemia, El Español Invertia, 21 January 2021)

[3] All Spain deals sourced from: Q1 2021 European mid-market deal report, Mergermarket, 04 March 2021 (criteria available on request)

[4] Spain graph sourced from: Q1 2021 European mid-market deal report, Mergermarket, 04 March 2021 (criteria available on request)