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Spain’s Nazca sells hair treatment business

The Madrid-based private equity investor has posted an 8.5 times money multiple on its original €22 million investment in Spanish and German hair treatment chain Svenson.

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Madrid-based private equity firm Nazca Capital has sold its remaining majority stake in European hair treatment business Svenson in a transaction valuing the business at approximately €120 million.

Nazca Capital sold its holding in Svenson, a Spain and Germany-based chain of hair treatment centres, to Southern European mid-market private equity firm Investindustrial for €82 million ($98 million).

Nazca Capital acquired 100 percent of Svenson in April 2002 in a €22 million leveraged buyout, comprising €10 million of equity and €12 million of debt provided by BBVA. The firm then sold a 25 percent share of Svenson to Spanish private equity firm Valmenta in October 2004 for €12 million, recovering its initial investment.

The sale of Nazca Capital’s remaining stake in the business generated an 8.5 times money multiple for the firm and an IRR of 80 percent over the four years of its investment.

According to Nazca Capital, the firm hired a new CEO, a CFO, a business development director and an international controller, and opened 16 new outlets in Spain and a facility in Portugal during the period of its ownership.

Nazca Capital made the investment through its Fondo Nazca I vehicle, which closed on €100 million in September 2001. The vehicle is currently 80 percent invested and the firm said that it will begin marketing its second fund, Fondo Nazca II, later this year.

Following the sale of Svenson, Nazca Capital will have made three realisations from Fondo I, including the sale of Spanish postal operator Unipost to Deutsche Post in September 2004; and the exit of Spanish sandwich chain Rodilla to its founding shareholders in May 2005.

Founded in Spain in 1962, Svenson is one of the largest hair solutions companies in Spain and Germany, with 55 centres, more than 15,000 customers and over 400 employees. According to Nazca Capital, Svenson is the market leader in Spain, with a share of over 60 percent, offering a range of products including capillary treatments, hair pieces and micrografts.