London, February 14, 2022 – Bain Capital Private Equity (“Bain Capital”), a leading global private investment firm, announced that it has received a definitive binding offer from D’Ieteren Group, a family-controlled listed investment firm, to purchase Parts Holding Europe (“PHE”), also known as Autodistribution, a leading European digitally-enabled automotive parts distributor.
With c.€2 billion total sales, PHE is a European leader in B2B and online B2C distribution of spare parts for light vehicles and trucks. Under Bain Capital’s ownership, PHE has built a truly pan European footprint expanding in the Benelux, Italy and Spain, and invested in state-of-the-art logistic capabilities and industry-leading digital services to its customers contributing to a consistent trajectory of organic growth above its end-markets and peers.
“I would like to thank Bain Capital for their partnership and valuable support”, said PHE CEO Stéphane Antiglio, who will continue to lead the business. “In the past five years, PHE has achieved a remarkable acceleration of its trajectory and significantly enhanced its competitive position through continuous investments. We have consolidated our strong leadership position in France and repositioned the business through digitalization and a successful and accretive pan-European expansion. We look forward to building on this strong foundation going forward under D’Ieteren Group’s ownership.”
“We are proud to have participated alongside PHE’s management in the creation of a pan European leader in B2B distribution with differentiated digital capabilities” said David Danon, managing director of Bain Capital. “The success story of PHE builds on Bain Capital’s strong track record investing in European B2B distribution, which includes IMCD, Brenntag, MKM and Brakes.”
Completion of the proposed acquisition will be subject to obtaining the necessary clearances from the competent antitrust and regulatory authorities, as well as the information and consultation processes of the relevant employee representative bodies in accordance with applicable laws. Further announcements will be made in due course.
Bain Capital was advised on this deal by Rothschild & Co and Latham & Watkins LLP.
About Parts Holding Europe
Parts Holdings Europe is a leading, integrated, digitally-enabled omnichannel distributor of automotive spare parts in continental Western Europe, contributing to affordable and sustainable mobility. The Group operates in the independent aftermarkets in Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, and has nearly 60 years of experience and a winning business model that drives superior value creation in distribution. Since the acquisition of Oscaro in November 2018, the Group has become an omnichannel (online and offline) distributor focused on both business-to-business (“B2B”) and business-to-consumer (“B2C”) offerings. The Group considers its target market to be vehicles aged over three to five years and up to 30 years. The Group benefits from having a wide assortment and strong purchasing advantage, a state-of-the-art logistics footprint, a powerful network of affiliated garages, and a differentiated value proposition with digitalization across the value chain.
About Bain Capital Private Equity
Bain Capital Private Equity has partnered closely with management teams to provide the strategic resources that build great companies and help them thrive since its founding in 1984. Bain Capital Private Equity’s global team of approximately 270 professionals creates value for its portfolio companies through its global platform and depth of expertise in key vertical industries including healthcare, consumer/retail, financial and business services, industrials, and technology, media and telecommunications.
Bain Capital has 22 offices on four continents. The firm has made primary or add-on investments in more than 1,000 companies since its inception. In addition to private equity, Bain Capital invests across asset classes including credit, real estate, public equity and venture capital, managing approximately $155 billion in total and leveraging the firm’s shared platform to capture opportunities in strategic areas of focus. For more information, visit www.baincapitalprivateequity.com.
This announcement does not constitute or form part of, and should not be construed as, an offer or invitation or inducement to subscribe for, underwrite or otherwise acquire, any securities of Parts Europe S.A. or any of its affiliates, nor should it or any part of it form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any investment decision with respect to securities of Parts Europe S.A. or its affiliates or any other company.
This announcement includes forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and projections about future events. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this document, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future financial position, risks and uncertainties related to the business, strategy, capital expenditures, projected costs and the plans and objectives for future operations, may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “may,” “assume,” “plan,” “intend,” “will,” “should,” “estimate,” “risk” and similar expressions or the negatives of these expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. In addition, any forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this announcement, and Bain Capital does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update forward-looking statements set forth in this announcement.
