By Eyk Henning and Shayndi Raice
FRANKFURT--A consortium headed by the infrastructure arm of
German insurer Allianz SE said Monday it will acquire Tank &
Rast Holding GmbH, a German service station chain, from Terra Firma
Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.
The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Monday that a deal was
imminent. According to people familiar with the matter, the
consortium will spend more than EUR3.5 billion ($3.84 billion) to
buy Tank & Rast, which is more than three times what the
service station chain was sold for a decade ago.
The consortium consists of Allianz Capital Partners GmbH,
Borealis Infrastructure Management Inc., Munich Re AG's asset
manager MEAG, and Infinity Investments SA, a subsidiary of Abu
Dhabi Investment Authority.
Allianz Capital Partners and two co-investors sold Tank &
Rast to U.K.-based private-equity firm Terra Firma in 2004 for EUR1
billion. Terra Firma, founded by former Goldman Sachs Inc. banker,
Guy Hands, later sold half its stake in the company to Deutsche
Bank's investment arm, RREEF.
The deal, one of the largest German infrastructure agreements on
record, casts a spotlight on the sell and buyback strategy of some
infrastructure and private equity investors.
"As market leader in Germany, Tank & Rast is an attractive
investment for all of us due to its long-term and stable investment
characteristics and its stable regulatory and contractual
environment," the consortium said in a joint news release. The
consortium characterized itself as like-minded investors that are
pursuing "a strategy of generating stable and predictable returns
over the long term."
Terra Firma and RREEF put Tank & Rast, which operates about
350 gas stations and 390 service stations on German highways, up
for sale earlier this year. The company recorded earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about EUR235
million in 2013, the most recently available data.
The ACP consortium has outbid two rival bidders. China
Investment Corp., as well as a consortium headed by the
infrastructure arm of Macquarie Capital, both placed binding bids
in the past week.
Write to Eyk Henning at eyk.henning@wsj.com and Shayndi Raice at
shayndi.raice@wsj.com
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