Turnaround specialist Triton Partners will acquire Alpine-Energie, a German infrastructure services company, from publicly listed construction business Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC).
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but media reports have stated the deal could be worth close to €100 million. Funded entirely by equity from the Triton funds, the deal remains subject to regulatory clearance.
Based in Linz, Austria, Alpine-Energie sets up and maintains energy, telecoms and transport infrastructure. The company employs 3,000 staff and generated €462 million in sales last year, mainly from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Triton’s investment in Alpine-Energie comes a few months after FCC announced a strategic plan to help it shed part of its €7.9 billion debt load. As Spain continues to reel from the turmoil of its building sector, the construction group said it would sell large chunks of non-core assets to cut its debt pile by €2 billion over the next three years.
The group, which is listed on the Madrid stock exchange, has seen its shares sink by 80 percent since 2008. FCC reported a €1 billion loss last year.
The persistent challenges faced by industrial groups stand in contrast to a renewed enthusiasm for Spanish private equity, as illustrated by a number of Iberian-focused funds in market. Portobello Capital, for example, is looking to secure a €150 million first close on its €300 million fund by the end of the year, as Private Equity International reported earlier this month.
“There are a lot of people exiting non-core assets,” a source told Private Equity International at the time. “There’s little equity so there’s low competition and that means that prices are very attractive.”
Corpfin Capital, a Madrid-based fund, is also in market to raise its latest fund, which has €200 million target. The firm hopes to reach a first close by the end of the year.
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