Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets has agreed to acquire Antin Infrastructure Partners’ 35.6 percent stake in Pisto, a French oil storage business.
The Sydney-based firm already owned the remainder of the company, and is understood to have used its right of first offer to position itself as a preferred buyer for Antin’s shareholding.
No value was disclosed for the transaction, but calculations based on a 12-13x EBITDA multiple, which sources say are common in the sector, suggest the transaction could value the business at more than €1.2 billion.
Antin declined to comment. Macquarie had not responded to a request for comment at press time.
The transaction allows the European fund manager to divest a third asset from its €1.1 billion Fund I, which it closed six years ago. Assets the firm previously exited comprise Antin Solar Investments, a renewables portfolio sold last year to a tie-up between Quercus Assets Selection and Swiss Life, and UK rolling stock business Porterbrook.
The firm closed a successor vehicle in 2014 on €2 billion. Fund II is now close to being fully deployed, according to sources familiar with the firm, with possibly enough dry powder left for another deal. It is understood that Antin may look to exit further assets from Fund I before the end of the year.
Antin had originally bought its stake in Pisto from various Macquarie funds in 2010. Last March, Infrastructure Investor reported that the firm was in the process of appointing sell-side advisers.
Incorporated in 2003 and based in Paris, Pisto owns an oil pipeline network connecting Le Havre, Paris, Orléans and Tours. It also transports refined oil products. The company generated an EBITDA of about €95 million last year, according to sources, accounting for Pisto’s 32 percent stake in French pipeline operator TRAPIL.
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