Macquarie and BC Partners join for Techem

Macquarie Bank and BC Partners, a European private equity firm, will share control of Techem, a German energy and water billing data services provider, if Macquarie’s €1.36 billion offer, which it made in December, is accepted, BC Partner said in a statement yesterday.

Macquarie and BC Partners will share 50 percent of the capital of MEIF II’s subsidiary, MEIF II Energie Beteiligungen, which launched the offer for Techem in October last year with a €1.1 billion bid in Germany’s first ‘hostile’ public-to-private.

The €55 per share offer is a premium of 48.6 percent to the three month weighted average share price before MEIFF II said it would launch an offer.
Techem chief executive officer Horst Enzelmüller, said in a statement that he welcomes the partnership.  The supervisory board of Techem has now recommended that shareholders accept the offer.

The agreement is subject to anti-trust clearance by the European Commission.
Governance for Owners, a UK fund, has offered its 4.1 percent stake to Macquarie, the Financial Times reported.   Governance for Owners previously refused Macquarie’s €55 per share bid. 

The offer acceptance period has been extended from January 15 until January 29, a statement said, after which the shareholders must make a decision.
Morgan Stanley, Latham & Watkins, Ernst & Young and CMS Hasche Sigle, a German law firm, are advising BC Partners.

Macquarie bank’s London division, Macquarie Corporate Finance Niederlassung Deutschland, Dresdner Kleinwort and Clifford Chance are advising MEIF II.
MEIF II was established in May 2006.  It has commitments to date of €1.8 billion primarily from European pension funds and institutions, and aims to make between eight and 15 investments in European infrastructure and essential service businesses.

MEIFF II is a cornerstone investor in the Macquairie-led consortium that acquired Thames Water on 16 October 2006.

BC Partners has invested in 63 acquisitions with a total transaction volume of €48 billion since the firm was established in 1986. Its latest fund, BC European Capital VIII, closed in 2005 with nearly €5.9 billion commitments and is one of the largest European buyout funds to date.