Equistone Partners Europe (Equistone), a private equity firm specialising in European mid-market buyouts, has sold its stake in CH&CO, a provider of premium contract and hospitality services in the UK and Ireland valued at £475m, to Compass Group, a major European contract catering provider.
According to a press release, CH&CO currently has over 10,000 employees and saw its annual revenues grow from £286m in 2018 to approximately £450m.
The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is the latest in a series of exits for Equistone, with the company having generated €2bn across six divestments in 2023.
The firm is currently investing its sixth buyout fund, Equistone Partners Europe Fund VI, which closed at a hard cap of €2.8bn in March 2018, in addition to its Equistone Reinvestment Fund, which is focused on building a portfolio of minority positions in companies that the firm has sold to other financial sponsors.
