Canadian CPPIB buys 39% of Europe's largest parking operator

Canadian pension plan CPP Investment Board (CPPIB) has signed a deal to acquire a 39% stake in Interparking, Europe's largest parking lot operator, for €376 mln.

Belgian insurer AG's real estate arm, which owns a 90% stake in Interparking, is selling the interest in the parking lot specialist for a price corresponding to a 13 multiple of 2013 EBITDA.

AG Real Estate is retaining a 51% stake in the unit, which employs 2,300 people. Parkimo, an existing shareholder controlled by the founding family, will also keep its 10% holding.

Based in Bruxelles, Interparking has been owned by AG since 2002 and is currently active in nine European countries. It had a turnover of €344 mln in 2013.

'AG Real Estate wanted to add a strong, experienced partner, favouring a vision of long-term development to support the growth of the company in Europe and possibly in other international markets,' the majority owner said in a statement.

The sale is expected to decrease the parking business of AG Real Estate from 25% previously to 15% at present.

SUCCESS STORY
'Interparking is a real ‘success story’ for AG Insurance,' said Antonio Cano, Chief Executive Officer of AG Insurance.

'This deal allows us to further expand our real estate portfolio which we will do progressively in our target markets and through new partnerships,' added Serge Fautré, Chief Executive Officer of AG Real Estate.

The acquisition is part of CPPIB's strategy to increase the share of real estate (property and infrastructure) to around 20%.

Morgan Stanley and Linklaters advised AG Real Estate while Citigroup Global Markets Limited and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer acted for the buyer.

Interparking is a major operator in Europe, with a portfolio of 670 car parks in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain and the Netherlands, for a total of 302,247 parking spaces.

The group was created from the merger in 2008 of Vinci's and Fortis Bank's public parking businesses.