Pitch Best Deal 2019: 3i Infrastructure – Joulz

De beste deal van het jaar is meer dan het hoogste cijfertje in de krant en de kunst van het dealmaken is meer dan het opstellen van een contract. De Awards voor de beste deal zou dus niet alleen op de prijs van de deal gebaseerd moeten zijn, maar vooral op de – toegevoegde – waarde voor een bedrijf en de exit. 

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Name of the deal:       3i Infrastructure acquires Joulz from Stedin Groep.
Date announced:        13th of March 2019
Published value:        €310 million    
Buyer:                         3i Infrastructure
Target:                        Joulz 
Seller:                         Stedin Groep
M&A Database:          Bekijk de details van deze deal.

Involved firms and advisors sell side:    
M&A:       Emendo Capital – Matthijs Vink, Elmer Jutte, Kevin Koppen. 
FDD:       Alvarez & Marsal – Casper de Bruyn, Steffen Boode. 
Tax:         EY – Marc Sanders, Roos Jongeneel. 
Legal:     Stek – Ruben Tros, Jan Erik janssen, Reijnoud Hornveld, Gwenn Korteweg, Eva van Hees, Paulien Boiten. 

Involved firms and advisors buy side:
M&A:     ABN AMRO – Max ter Linden, Martin Knipper, Tammo Gunst, Niels Pietersen, Rutger Mitterdorfer
              DNV GL – Martijn Maandag, Bieuwe Pruiksma, Mats de Ronde.  
FDD:     PwC – Chris Durieux, Wilmer Kloosterziel, Deepak Chadha. 
Tax:       PwC – Bart Weijers, Floris-Jan Drost, Zoe Reijn. 
Legal:    Loyens & Loeff – Herman Kaemingk, Harmen Holtrop, Roland de Vlam, Gearte Sijens, Ingrid Hijdra, Amit Havenaar, Lucas Hoogervorst, Barbara Elion, Rob Schrooten, Myrthe Thomassen, Maureen te Poel, Gief de Gruijter, Irmgard Olthof. 

Pitch

Brief description deal / Deal outline:
3i Infrastructure plc (“3i”) acquired 100% of Joulz Diensten B.V. (“Joulz”) a leading owner and provider of essential energy infrastructure equipment and services in the Netherlands. Joulz is being acquired from Stedin Holding N.V. (“Stedin”), a Dutch distribution grid operator. Joulz leases essential energy infrastructure equipment and meters to a large and diversified customer base of industrial, commercial and public sector customers. It has two business units, each generating c. 50% of total revenue: Infrastructure Services and Metering.The Infrastructure Services business unit designs, installs, leases and maintains medium voltage electricity infrastructure such as transformers, switchgear and cables under long-term contracts. Medium voltage equipment is used in large commercial, office and multi-storey residential buildings and industrial sites with high electricity load, and is critical for customers’ operations. The Metering business unit leases, operates and reads c.50,000 electricity and gas meters for non-household customers under medium-term contracts. Joulz is one of the market leaders in this sector and also provides data analytic services to help customers understand their energy usage and improve energy efficiency.

Deal rationale:
Joulz is set to benefit from the Dutch Government’s commitment to decarbonising the economy (the “Energy Transition”) through the electrification of heat and transport, a focus on increased energy efficiency and the expansion of renewable generation. The Energy Transition is expected to increase electricity consumption and demand for medium voltage equipment, and the focus on increased energy efficiency is expected to drive growth in sub-meters and data analytics.

What is the impact of this deal for the company?
This has been well described by Marc van der Linden, CEO Stedin Groep: “In 3i Infrastructure Stedin has found a powerful new owner for Joulz who will enable the company to take advantage of the accelerating Energy Transition and provide exciting opportunities for its 150 employees”. Phile White, managing partner and Head of Infrastructure of 3i added: “3i has a long and successful track record of investing in the Netherlands as well as relevant experience to bring to bear from previous investments in the electricity and asset leasing sectors”.

What is the impact of this deal for the direct stakeholders?
There is no impact for the direct stakeholders other than that Joulz itself will benefit from a powerful and experienced new shareholder that is looking forward to support the management team to achieve the ambitious goals it has for the business.

What is the impact of this deal on the society?
The society has positively been confronted with a new chapter in which a part of a state-owned company has been privatized, allowing it to rapidly gain a stronger position on the energy market and to take advantage of the accelerating Energy Transition.

Why does this deal deserve a nomination?
This deal deserves not only to be nominated but also to win the Awards because Joulz as an energy infrastructure company has a long term and predictable cash flow as a result of which Joulz was attractive to a lot of potential buyers (private equity as well as strategists) and it became therefore a very competitive process. 3i paid a lot of attention and put a lot of effort in becoming Stedin’s preferred buyer and Joulz’s preferred new owner, whereby it has to the fullest extent possible taken into account the importance of all stakeholders at Stedin and Joulz, including but not limited to the works council. 3i also had a particularly good eye for the context in which Stedin operates as a publicly owned company.

Comments Panel of Judges
Deze deal sprong bij de jury in het oog omdat het niet alleen zakelijk gezien een intensieve en gecompliceerde transactie was, maar het ook een carve-out is die van maatschappelijk gewicht is. De verwachting is dat de vergroening van het netwerk in het kader van de energietransitie in een stroomversnelling komt nu de overheid een stap terug doet. 

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