Deals

Macquarie, Goldman Sachs agree €1.3bn deal for HES

Carlyle and Riverstone are selling the bulk terminal operator just under four years after acquiring it for €408m.

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Macquarie and Goldman Sachs have secured a deal for the Netherlands-based bulk terminal operator HES International, believed to be worth in the region of €1.3 billion.

The pair’s Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 5 and West Street Infrastructure Partners III have teamed up to buy the company from Riverstone and Carlyle Group, which have held HES since a €408 million deal in 2014.

Macquarie and Goldman Sachs will hold HES on a 50:50 basis. The parties declined to comment on the transaction value, but according to one source, the deal value is based on a 13x multiple of the group’s €100 million EBITDA.

The company had been in the midst of a €700 million growth strategy, which has seen it increase its capacities in both liquid and dry bulk storage. HES owns the OBA and EMO bulk terminals in Amsterdam and Rotterdam respectively, the two largest dry bulk import terminals in Northwest Europe. HES’s portfolio is predominantly based in the Netherlands, although assets are also held in Germany, UK, Belgium and Poland.

“With the support of Riverstone and Carlyle, we have become one of Europe’s most successful independent bulk handling companies, providing products and services to our customers at 18 sites across eight countries,” said Jan Vogel, chief executive of HES International. “Over the past three-and-a-half years, we have implemented a focused strategy that makes optimal use of our prime real estate in Europe’s key ports and allows us to adjust flexibly to future changes and opportunities that the energy transition will bring to our sector.

“We have also built a strong pipeline of additional growth projects for both our liquid bulk and dry bulk businesses to support our strong position in each of our core businesses,” he added.

The investment is the second such deal by the €4 billion MEIF5 fund, which bought a 20 percent stake in Spanish oil pipeline and storage owner CLH. Goldman Sachs’s first $6.5 billion infrastructure fund invested in Kinder Morgan, the US-based oil pipeline and terminal owner.