Oakley Capital Private Equity II is to sell its 38.5 per cent stake in Parship Elite Group (PEG) and 9.9 per cent stake in Verivox to NuCom Group (NuCom), ProSiebenSat.1’s Commerce unit. The agreement is subject to approval by the responsible antitrust authorities.
The Company will realise estimated cash proceeds of approximately GBP51.1 million on completion of these transactions. The realisations would represent an increase of GBP10.6 million to the NAV range announced on 31 January 2018, lifting the NAV per share of GBP2.43 – GBP2.45 by 5 pence.
Following increased focus on the digital consumer sector, Oakley partnered with the management of Parship, the leading German online dating site, in April 2015. A combination of strong organic growth and the synergistic acquisition of premium matchmaker ElitePartner has resulted in EBITDA increasing by more than 3x since Fund II’s original investment.
In September 2016 Fund II sold a controlling stake in Parship to ProsiebenSat.1 valuing the business at EUR300 million and returning GBP38.6 million to the Company. Today NuCom is acquiring Fund II’s remaining 38.5 per cent stake in PEG based on an enterprise value of EUR440 million. Fund II will receive further gross proceeds of circa EUR138 million generating overall returns of 4.7x gross money multiple and a gross IRR of approximately 119 per cent for Fund II. This represents an uplift of approximately GBP6.4 million (22 per cent) over the carrying value in the NAV of the Company at 31 December 2017.
In a separate transaction, Oakley has also agreed to sell its remaining 9.9 per cent stake in Verivox to NuCom at an enterprise value of EUR530 million marking the end of a long and successful relationship with the business.
Oakley originally partnered with Verivox, the online price comparison website, back in 2009 and sold a majority stake to ProSiebenSat.1 in August 2015. The partnership with ProSiebenSat.1 has helped drive further growth through media investment, with revenues more than doubling since 2014. Fund II will receive gross proceeds of circa EUR53 million, crystallising returns of approximately 2.5x gross money multiple and approximately 43 per cent gross IRR for Fund II. This represents an uplift of approximately GBP4.2 million (38 per cent) over the carrying value in the NAV of the Company at 31 December 2017.
Christopher Wetherhill, Chairman of OCI, says: “The Investment Adviser, Oakley Capital, has once again generated significant value for the Company. OCI continues to enjoy the return of capital from Fund II and the realisation of these digital consumer assets demonstrates Oakley’s deep knowledge of online business models and their ability to identify market leaders with substantial potential for growth.”
Peter Dubens, Managing Partner of Oakley Capital Private Equity, says: “The success of our digital consumer strategy continues. In this case we identified the lead players in developing local markets and combined with strong management teams have enjoyed impressive organic growth. In addition, Oakley facilitated ambitious and transformative M&A in combining Parship with ElitePartner shortly after our investment. Alongside ProSiebenSat.1 we have supported Verivox in their continued diversification into new product verticals and increased investment in offline advertising to drive revenue growth.”
“We would like to thank Tim Schiffers, Henning Rönneberg and Marc Schachtel at Parship Elite Group and Chris Öhlund at Verivox along with their respective management teams, as well as the team at ProSiebenSat.1. We wish them all the very best as they take the businesses forward to the next phase of growth.”
“The digital consumer sector remains a focus for Oakley and with our investments in Facile.it and Casa & atHome, we continue to build on our expertise in the area.”
