Scout24 buyout talks with PE bidders stall, sources say
Talks over a private equity buyout of Scout24 [ETR: G24], the German online listings company, have stalled, three sources familiar with the situation said.
Silver Lake, the US private equity group, was involved in one private equity consortium looking to make an offer, the first source said. Silver Lake was in a consortium with Singapore fund, GIC, while other large private equity groups were also looking at the asset, the second source said.
In December, The FT reported that Scout24 was exploring a sale for more than EUR 5bn. A sale would have returned the group to private equity ownership after three years on the stock market.
The process failed before Christmas due to a gap in price expectations, the three sources said. Scout24 had been seeking a valuation of around 24x EBITDA, the second source said.
Silver Lake, the US private equity group, was involved in one private equity consortium looking to make an offer, the first source said. Silver Lake was in a consortium with Singapore fund, GIC, while other large private equity groups were also looking at the asset, the second source said.
In December, The FT reported that Scout24 was exploring a sale for more than EUR 5bn. A sale would have returned the group to private equity ownership after three years on the stock market.
The process failed before Christmas due to a gap in price expectations, the three sources said. Scout24 had been seeking a valuation of around 24x EBITDA, the second source said.
Silver Lake’s GBP 2.5bn enterprise value buyout of UK property portal ZPG was completed at 23.3x pro-forma EBITDA.
There are concerns that Scout24, which operates in property and auto listings, could be impacted by potential changes in the fee structure of property agents in Germany, according to a source familiar with the company and a sector banker. There is pressure in Germany to create a more uniform approach across the country regarding the split of commission fee structures for agents for both the sale and rental markets, the source familiar said.
At the moment there are different solutions per state in Germany and the legal regulation for property sales is still in flux, creating uncertainty, which explains the discrepancy in valuations, the source familiar with the company said.
Despite the current hiatus, there is still interest in the company, and private equity continue to eye the asset, the second source said.
A sale to private equity would have seen Scout24 used as a platform in Europe to buy equivalent, smaller companies in the listed classified space, the sector banker said.
Scout24 was previously owned by Hellman & Friedman, which acquired a controlling stake from Germany’s Deutsche Telekom [ETR:DTE] in 2013.
Scout24 was previously owned by Hellman & Friedman, which acquired a controlling stake from Germany’s Deutsche Telekom [ETR:DTE] in 2013.
Scout24 and Silver Lake declined to comment. GIC was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
Shares in Scout24 are currently trading at EUR 41.56, giving it a market value of EUR 4.47bn.