Apax IX agrees to sell stake in Authority Brands

RNS Number : 2038A

Apax Global Alpha Limited

22 September 2022

 

Apax Global Alpha Limited

Apax IX agrees to sell its stake in Authority Brands

The Apax IX Fund ("Apax IX"), in which AGA is a limited partner, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell portfolio company Authority Brands, a leading US franchisor of residential services. As part of this transaction, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation ("BCI") will invest in consortium with majority shareholder the Apax X Fund ("Apax X"). The purchase price was established by an independent third-party valuation set by BCI. The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2022, subject to customary closing conditions.

The transaction values AGA's current look through investment in Authority Brands at approximately €47m. This represents an uplift of c.7% to last Unaffected Valuations¹ and an uplift of c.€3m (c.€0.01 per share) in the Adjusted Net Asset Value ("Adjusted NAV") of AGA at 30 June 2022.²

As AGA is also a limited partner in Apax X, on a look through basis, AGA is expected to invest approximately €49m in the company.³ In July 2019, AGA made a commitment of c.$450m⁴ to Apax X.

Since the Apax Funds' initial investment in 2018, Authority Brands has grown from two home service franchisors into the premier home service franchisor in North America with 12 franchisors currently, expanding into new geographies and services, and building out a powerful infrastructure.

The new consortium intends to build on this success, backing a scaled, market leading business with a large and stable addressable market, which still has significant room for continued market share capture and outperformance. The consortium will continue to partner with the management team in the next phase of the company's journey as they look to extend their platform through M&A, and strategic initiatives including franchise development, technology transformation, and international expansion.

"We could not be more pleased than to continue to build the premier residential services franchisor in partnership with Apax and BCI," said Craig Donaldson, Chief Executive Officer of Authority Brands. "Both partners will add substantial value as we aim to capture further share in the highly fragmented home services market."

For more information about the transaction, please visit: https://www.apax.com/news/press-releases/ 

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Contact details

Investor Relations - AGA

Lorraine Rees

T: [phone]

E: [e-mail]

Footnotes

1 . 2 .

Unaffected Valuation is determined as the fair value in the last quarter before exit, when valuation is not affected by the exit process (i.e. because an exit was signed, or an exit was sufficiently close to being signed that the Apax Funds incorporated the expected exit multiple into the quarter end valuation) These figures relate to AGA's look through position of Apax IX's overall investment in Authority Brands and are stated before taking into account any closing adjustments and translated based on Bloomberg closing rate of EUR/USD FX rate on 19 September 2022 of 1.0024.

3. 4.

These figures relate to AGA's look through position of Apax X's overall investment in Authority Brands and are stated before taking into account any closing adjustments and translated based on Bloomberg closing rate of EUR/USD FX rate on 19 September 2022 of 1.0024. AGA's commitment in Apax X of c.$450m represents a commitment of $225m in the Apax X USD tranche and €199.8m in the Apax X euro tranche

Notes

1.	Note that references in this announcement to Apax Global Alpha Limited have been abbreviated to "AGA" or "the Company". References to Apax Partners LLP have been abbreviated to "Apax Partners" or "the Investment Adviser"
2.	Please be advised that this announcement may contain inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) NO. 596/2014 ("MAR")
3.	This announcement is not for release, publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, into or within the United States or to "US persons" (as defined in Regulation S under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act")) or into or within Australia, Canada, South Africa or Japan. Recipients of this announcement in jurisdictions outside the UK should inform themselves about and observe any applicable legal requirements in their jurisdictions. In particular, the distribution of the announcement may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions
4.	The information presented herein is not an offer for sale within the United States of any equity shares or other securities of Apax Global Alpha Limited ("AGA"). AGA has not been and will not be registered under the US Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act"). In addition, AGA's shares (the "Shares") have not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act or any other applicable law of the United States. Consequently, the Shares may not be offered or sold or otherwise transferred within the United States, or to, or for the account or benefit of, US Persons, except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and under circumstances which will not require AGA to register under the Investment Company Act. No public offering of the Shares is being made in the United States
5.	This announcement may include forward-looking statements. The words "expect", "anticipate", "intends", "plan", "estimate", "aim", "forecast", "project" and similar expressions (or their negative) identify certain of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are statements regarding AGA's intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, AGA's results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth and strategies. The forward-looking statements in this presentation are based on numerous assumptions regarding AGA's present and future business strategies and the environment in which AGA will operate in the future. Forward-looking statements involve inherent known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of AGA to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond AGA's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as future market conditions, currency fluctuations, the behaviour of other market participants, the actions of regulators and other factors such as AGA's ability to continue to obtain financing to meet its liquidity needs, changes in the political, social and regulatory framework in which AGA operates or in economic or technological trends or conditions. Past performance should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of future results, and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made regarding future performance. AGA expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any updates or revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect any change in AGA's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based after the date of this announcement, or to update or to keep current any other information contained in this announcement. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement.

About Apax Global Alpha Limited

AGA is a Guernsey registered closed-ended collective investment scheme incorporated as a non-cellular company that listed on the London Stock Exchange on 15 June 2015. It is regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.

AGA's objective is to provide shareholders with capital appreciation from its investment portfolio and regular dividends. The Company is targeting an annualised Total Return, across economic cycles, of 12-15% (net of fees and expenses) including a dividend yield of 5% of Net Asset Value.

The investment policy of the Company is to make Private Equity investments in Apax Funds, and Derived Investments which are investments in equities and debt derived from the insights gained via Apax Partners' Private Equity activities.

Further information regarding the Company and its publications are available on the Company's website at www.apaxglobalalpha.com.

About Apax

Apax Partners LLP ("Apax") is a leading global private equity advisory firm. For nearly 50 years, Apax has worked to inspire growth and ideas that transform businesses. The firm has raised and advised funds with aggregate commitments of more than $60 billion. The Apax Funds invest in companies across four global sectors of Tech, Services, Healthcare and Internet/Consumer. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. For further information about Apax, please visit www.apax.com .

Apax is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.

 

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