EQT Bids for European Car Park Operator Q-Park
Q-Park expects proliferation of self-driving cars and increasing urbanization will increase demand for its services
EQT Holdings AB, a private equity firm founded by Sweden’s billionaire Wallenberg family, is among bidders for Q-Park NV, one of Europe’s largest car park operators, according to people familiar with the situation.
Q-Park has more than 835,000 parking spaces and 2,500 employees from the U.K. to Belgium. The Netherlands based company had €809 million ($868 million) of sales and earned a net profit of €90.9 million for 2015, after reporting a loss the previous year. It is owned by a group of mainly Dutch insurance companies and pension funds. The shareholders have started a sale process, Sacha Oerlemans, a Q-Park spokeswoman, said in an interview.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is advising on the sale. If the sale process is successful, Q-Park would be among the largest European private equity deals in 2017, bankers working on the transaction said.
Q-Park expects that the proliferation of self-driving cars and increasing urbanization will increase demand for its services. “We anticipate that our parking facilities can form an essential and practical part of autonomous mobility,” the company said in its annual report for 2015. It anticipates a “completely self-driving ecosystem” by 2050.
Private-equity firms use a combination of their own funds and bank loans to buy companies. They try to boost sales and profits before selling companies on, typically within five years, aiming to earn a multiple of the equity they invested. EQT was founded in 1994 and has raised €31 billion to invest in companies. EQT’s past investments include Thule Group, a maker of rooftop boxes for cars, and European hotel chain Scandic.
Private equity firms have had mixed success with European car park operators. 3i Group Plc and Cinven Ltd., both London-based private equity firms, made profits from investments in the U.K.’s National Car Parks. French private equity firm Eurazeo struggled with its €885 million acquisition of German parking company Apcoa in 2007. Lenders later took control of Apcoa after the company struggled with its debts.