24 Nov, 2021

Deal Wrap: CVC to sell Etraveli; Symphony eyes $2B capital markets business

Deal Wrap is updated as of 4 p.m. ET.

* Online travel service provider Booking Holdings Inc. agreed to buy flight booking provider Etraveli Group from CVC Capital Partners Ltd.-managed funds for roughly €1.63 billion, subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions. Etraveli will operate as an independent unit of Booking Holdings out of its current headquarters in Sweden.

* A consortium led by Nordic Capital finalized its $7.3 billion take-private deal for healthcare technology platform provider Inovalon Holdings Inc., which has been delisted from the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The consortium includes Insight Partners as lead coinvestor, 22C Capital LLC, Inovalon founder and CEO Keith Dunleavy and certain of the company's class B stockholders. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Evercore were the respective financial advisers to Inovalon and its special board committee, while Latham & Watkins LLP was their legal adviser. Goldman Sachs was lead financial adviser to Nordic Capital and Insight Partners, and Citigroup was also their financial adviser. Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP were legal advisers, respectively, to Nordic Capital and Insight Partners.

* The Carlyle Group Inc. and CVC Capital are exploring a possible sale of Neptune Energy Group Ltd. in a deal that could give the U.K.-based oil and gas explorer an equity value of roughly $5 billion, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Advisers to the private equity owners will seek takeover offers from interested parties next month, sources said.

* Symphony Technology Group LLC is negotiating to buy parts of Fidelity National Information Services Inc.'s capital markets business, which could be worth approximately $2 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

* PAI Partners is in pole position to buy Veonet Group from Nordic Capital in a deal that could value the German eye-care operator at €2 billion, Bloomberg Markets reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

* Coda Payments Pte. Ltd., which counts Apis Partners LLP among its investors, is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as it explores a possible sale, IPO or minority investments, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The Singaporean online payment processing company is targeting a valuation of $4 billion or more, two sources said.

* TA Associates Management LP will make a strategic growth investment in Nactarome SpA to become the European natural flavor and ingredient manufacturer's majority shareholder. Nactarome's management team and its current backer Ambienta SGR SpA will retain minority stakes in the business. Lazard, Pedersoli, Facchini Rossi Michelutti Studio Legale Tributario, Ramboll and EY advised Nactarome's shareholders, while Fides Partners advised the company's management team. Nomura, LABS Corporate Finance, Latham & Watkins, EY, Golder and Alix Partners advised TA on the deal, which could be finalized during the first quarter of 2022.

* Bridgepoint Development Capital will invest in independent video game distributor Plug In Digital, the firm's first transaction in France from its BDC IV fund. Plug In Digital CEO Francis Ingrand and other existing shareholders are reinvesting significantly in the business.

* Midmarket investor Baymark Partners closed its acquisition of Bogey Free LLC, which provides server racks and other computer system and network peripherals to the technology, government, construction and other sectors. Generational Equity advised Bogey Free, doing business as Rackmount Solutions, on the deal.

* Lower-middle-market private equity firm CenterGate Capital LP sold its portfolio company TSC Apparel LLC, an imprintable apparel distributor behind the Tultex brand, to S&S Activewear LLC. McDermott Will & Emery LLP was TSC's legal counsel.