5 March 2008, Boston - We are pleased to report that Spanish leisure park operator Parques Reunidos was named 'European Deal of the Year' at the prestigious 2008 Buyouts Awards Dinner in New York on 5th March 2008.
The awards, organised by one of the leading US private equity trade magazines, celebrate outstanding achievements by leveraged buyout firms and service providers in 2007. More specifically, the European deal of the year recognises the exit of a company of any size with headquarters in Europe.
The honour follows on from last year’s win when Advent scooped the award of Exit of the Year for the sale of Boart Longyear to Macquarie Bank. The sale followed a highly successful strategic restructuring which rationalised the group’s operational and geographic complexity to transform a formerly sprawling conglomerate into a global leader.
The Buyouts Yearbook summarised why Parques Reunidos won. “Advent International blazed a buyout trail in Spain with the country’s first PE-backed take-private. The company’s EBITDA grew from roughly €26 million to about €80 million. Advent parlayed its international reach to expand the Parques Reunidos footprint from one country to six and to obtain exotic animals for the company’s parks. Parques Reunidos realised its five-year growth plan in three years.”
Juan Diaz-Laviada was delighted to receive the award: “The deal captures the very essence of Advent’s international DNA, with close co-operation between five of our deal teams to secure the company’s acquisitions in Spain, Belgium, France, Italy, Norway, and Argentina. Admittedly, we had to demonstrate an atypical skill set to transform this struggling Spanish group of amusement parks and zoos into a leading pan-European operator. How often do you negotiate the acquisition of giant pandas, orang-utans and roller coasters in addition to introducing cost-efficiency measures and diversifying the park’s geographic footprint?”