Montagu sells Sebia to Cinven for €800m

Montagu Private Equity has sold medical technology business Sebia to Cinven in a deal understood to be worth €800 million. Montagu, which led the buyout of Sebia in 2006 alongside mezzanine specialist ICG and French private equity firm Astorg Partners, will generate a return of three times its invested capital, said a source close to the situation.

Astorg partially exited its investment in Sebia by selling a 50.1 percent stake to Montagu Private Equity for an undisclosed sum in 2008. It retained a 16 percent equity interest. ICG, a mezzanine and equity finance provider in the original buyout, then become a significant investor with around 13 percent of the share capital.

Jason Gatenby

Sylvain Berger-Duquene, head of French investments at Montagu, said in a statement that the sale would generate “a substantial return for Montagu’s investors”.

Nicolas Paulmier, a partner at Cinven, said the acquisition fitted the firm’s strategy of investing in “high value diagnostic categories”.

Goldman Sachs acted as exclusive financial advisor to Montagu and the law firm Weil Gotshal acted as legal advisor.

This is the third major asset sale by Monagu, led by recently promoted chief executive Jason Gatenby, to a private equity buyer in the last three months, having recently agreed the sales of Survitec to Warburg Pincus for £280 million (€308 million; $422 million) and Kalle to Silverfleet Capital for €213 million.

The trio of exits will prove valuable for Montagu, which is led by recently promoted chief executive Jason Gatenby, when it returns to market to raise its fourth fund, something market sources expect to happen in the latter part of 2010. The firm has not yet set a target or begun marketing. It raised €2.26 billion in July 2005 for its third fund, which is now around two-thirds invested, said a source close to the situation.