Disposal

RNS Number : 3523A

Caledonia Investments PLC

28 September 2015

 



 

 

Caledonia Investments plc

 

Sale of stake in TGE Marine

Caledonia Investments plc ("Caledonia") announces that it has entered into a binding agreement for the sale of TGE Marine AG ("TGE"), the leading Engineering, Procurement and Construction Supervision (EPCS) solution provider to the global cryogenic gas markets, to MES Germany Beteiligungs GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd ("MES").

Caledonia will receive €106.9m (£78.7m) in cash, net of transaction expenses, for its 67.9% equity stake in TGE, which together with a pre-transaction dividend received of €7.6m (£5.4m) will deliver total proceeds of €114.5m (£84.1m). Overall, the investment in TGE will have returned to Caledonia a net IRR of 39% and a money multiple of 3.5x. Completion will take place on 1 October 2015 and the proceeds received will be held on deposit for future investment.

Caledonia originally backed a management buy-out of TGE from the Tractebel Engineering, a member of the Suez group, in 2006 and over the period of its ownership invested a total of £34.8m. Prior to the current transaction, Caledonia had received £43.2m in loan note repayments, interest and dividends, including £5.8m of dividend income in its financial year to 31 March 2015. The residual investment was held in Caledonia's audited accounts at 31 March 2015 at a value of £64.9m and the total proceeds to be received from the sale will therefore represent a 30% premium to that value.

Commenting on the sale, Duncan Johnson, Caledonia's Head of Unquoted Investments, said:

"We believe that TGE is a strong strategic fit for MES' growing offshore energy services business. We are delighted that Caledonia's long term, supportive investment approach has both contributed to the development of TGE and delivered good returns for our shareholders. TGE has been a very successful investment for Caledonia and we would like to recognise the contribution of the management team, led by the CEO, Dr Manfred Küver, to making this so."

28 September 2015

For further information contact:

Caledonia Investments plc	[phone]
Will Wyatt, Chief Executive
Duncan Johnson, Head of Unquoted Investments
Media contact:
Tulchan Communications	[phone]
Peter Hewer

END

Notes for editors:

Caledonia Investments plc

Caledonia is a self-managed investment trust company listed on the London Stock Exchange with net assets of approximately £1.5bn as at 31 August 2015. The company maintains a concentrated portfolio of international quoted, unquoted and fund investments and has paid an increasing annual dividend for forty-eight years.

In the unquoted arena, Caledonia seeks to invest £25m to £100m in private companies, either on a majority or minority basis, providing a meaningful presence and growth capital supporting double-digit operating margins. Its current unquoted portfolio includes Park Holidays (a UK caravan parks operator), Cobehold (a European unquoted investment house), The Sloane Club (a London residential club), Choice Care Group (a UK learning disability care homes provider) and Seven Investment Management (a provider of discretionary fund management, asset management and self-invest platform services).

For additional information on Caledonia, please visit www.caledonia.com.

TGE

Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, TGE is the leading EPCS solution provider to the global cryogenic gas markets, specialising in cargo handling systems and tanks for LPG, LEG, Ethane and LNG carriers.

Caledonia first invested in TGE in 2006, backing a management buy-out from the Tractebel Engineering, a member of the Suez group. Over the period of Caledonia's ownership, TGE's revenues and earnings before interest and tax have respectively grown from €82m and €10m (FY2006/7) to €178m and €22m (FY2014/5).

For additional information on TGE, please visit www.tge-marine.com.

Transaction

The sale of Caledonia's stake in TGE was led by Charlie Edwards, Sally Flanagan and Duncan Johnson.

Caledonia was advised by DC Advisory (financial) and Taylor Wessing (legal).

Neither the contents of Caledonia's nor TGE's websites, nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on these websites (or any other website) are incorporated into, or form part of, this announcement.

 

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