Morning all, Craig McGlashan here with the Europe Wire from the London newsroom.
It might be early August but it’s a fairly busy morning for deals – and in a variety of styles.
Starting with a sponsor-to-sponsor deal, Partners Group has entered exclusive discussions to acquire beauty and wellness company Aroma-Zone from Eurazeo. We’ve got the enterprise value on that one.
Next, we’ve got a potential take-private, with both CVC and Veritas Capital pursuing heat treatment and metallurgical services provider Bodycote – a company that had drawn interest from Apollo earlier this year.
To finish, we’ve got a carve-out. KKR has signed definitive agreements to acquire Medicover India, the India hospital operations of Stockholm-listed Medicover.
Brand identity
Partners Group has entered exclusive discussions to acquire Aroma-Zone from Eurazeo. The enterprise value is around €2 billion, PE Hub understands.
Founded by the Vausselin family in 1999, Aroma-Zone offers a range of beauty and wellness products directly through its owned stores and online.
Since 2021, Aroma-Zone has tripled its revenues, which have risen at 36 percent CAGR over the last four years; increased its number of stores seven-fold; and expanded its active customer base to more than five million, according to a press statement.
Partners Group plans to support management and other shareholders in accelerating key value creation initiatives that further distinguish Aroma-Zone’s brand. Key priorities include scaling the company’s platform to make its products available to more consumers, investing in product innovation, and rapidly building footprints in existing and new markets, the statement said.
“We aim to drive Aroma-Zone’s growth, positioning it as an omnichannel destination for accessible, effective beauty and wellness products across Europe,” said Andreas Holzmüller, managing director, private equity goods and products, Partners Group, in a statement.
Eurazeo will retain a significant minority stake in the business.
Take-private tussle
Another day, another take-private move for a London-listed company.
Bodycote, a heat treatment and metallurgical services provider that had earlier drawn attention from Apollo, has received conditional proposals from CVC and Veritas Capital.
CVC is offering 915p per share, comprising 907.8p in cash and the interim dividend for the 2026 financial year of 7.2p. That would value the total equity at £1.56 billion ($2.1 billion; €1.8 billion).
The Bodycote board said it was “minded to recommend unanimously” the proposal to shareholders, should CVC make a firm intention.
Veritas’ offer meanwhile is a smidge lower, at 914p per share. It also includes the 7.2p dividend portion. The Bodycote board said that value was also sufficient for a unanimous recommendation, should Veritas go ahead with a firm intention.
What of the Apollo interest? It had made a conditional offer for Bodycote of 885p per share in May – valuing the total equity at around £1.53 billion – but withdrew the offer in June.
Apollo gave no reason for its decision to withdraw at the time but stated that the firm “continues to hold Bodycote and its management team in high regard.”
Healthcare carve-out
KKR has signed definitive agreements to acquire Medicover India, the India hospital operations of Stockholm-listed Medicover.
Medicover India, established in 2017, operates a multi-specialty hospital network comprising 24 hospitals and approximately 4,800 beds across south and west India. The company provides care across more than 80 clinical specialties, supported by more than 1,900 doctors, and treats millions of patients annually.
KKR intends to invest in the company’s talent, technology, infrastructure and clinical capabilities as part of its next phase of growth, Akshay Tanna, partner and head of India private equity at KKR, said in a statement.
For more on why KKR is bullish on India, check out our deep dive into the subject. It includes interviews with Tanna, as well as Amit Dixit, a senior managing director and Asia head for Blackstone Private Equity, and Hari Gopalakrishnan, head of private capital India and global co-head of services at EQT.
That’s all from me today. Michael Schoeck will bring you the US Wire later today and Nina Lindholm will write to you from Europe tomorrow.
Cheers,
Craig