Q-Park expands in Scandinavia with biggest takeover in its history
Q-Park, the European car parking company, has today announced the further expansion of its international operation with the acquisition of the Swedish parking firm CP Group AB, also known as Carpark for an undisclosed sum. The takeover puts the company in a top 2 position as a private parking company in Europe.
Carpark was founded in 1959 and was acquired by European private equity firm Bridgepoint in 2001. It is a leading car park operator in the Nordic region. Headquartered in Stockholm, it occupies the No. 1 market position in Sweden and Denmark and the No. 2 position in Norway and Finland.
“This acquisition fits in perfectly with our strategy of expanding in those countries in Europe where Q-Park can bring its quality parking concept to consumers with maximum effect. Carpark is known for its efficient business model and excellent quality standards. This combination of quality focus on the parking business and the fact that the Nordic region parking revenues are set to grow faster than the overall economy makes it a perfect match. With this takeover our strategic growth plans in Europe are coming true. We are delighted that Carpark has joined us to operate in the Nordic region as part of the Q-Park group. We are happy to welcome them to the group and are confident that it will be a highly successful operation”, said Ward Vleugels, chairman of the Executive Board of Q-Park.
“We are very pleased that Q-Park, one of the leading parking companies in the industry with a strong market position in Europe, acquires CP Group AB. This will give us a great opportunity to continue the growth in the Northern part of Europe”, says Mats Kullman, CEO of Carpark AB.
Graham Oldroyd, Partner responsible for Bridgepoint’s Nordic Region investment, commented “CP Group has grown substantially under Bridgepoint’s ownership. The acquisition of CP Group AB by Q-Park combines two leading businesses and creates a major new force in the European car park industry. We wish the management and employees of the company every success under this new ownership.”
Important gateway to Nordic region
This acquisition by Q-Park adds a further 285.000 parking spaces to the Dutch company’s parking portfolio in Europe, and provides Q-Park with an important gateway to the Swedish, Norwegian and Finish parking market. It further strengthens its position in the Danish market, where it took over a Danish carpark company called DKParkering end 2005.
‘Move to the Northern countries is a logical step’
Ward Vleugels: ‘The Nordic region provides us a solid position in our portfolio in Europe. The move to the Northern countries is a logical step. Its culture and ways of doing business is in line with our own beliefs and working ethics. We feel comfortable with the excellent management, under the leading Carpark CEO Mats Kullman.”
Q-Park is already a leading player in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Ireland and Denmark. The addition of the Carpark operation brings Q-Park’s portfolio up to 510.000 parking spaces in Europe.
‘We expect further sales growth and a further increase in the number of parking places’
‘We strengthened our market position and further increased confidence in our business model amongst our investors. Our partners and customers recognise the strength of the Q-Park brand and the quality of our services. In the years ahead, we expect further sales growth and a further increase in the number of parking places. The mobility market is still going strong and as a leading partner in this chain, we strive to offer best value for money to both our business partners and to our customers’, Ward Vleugels said.
Q-Park is one of the leading players in the European parking industry and owns, operates, manages and runs – fully, or in combination – multi-storey car-parks. The Q-Park mission is to deliver high-quality parking and related customer-oriented services, focusing on speed, convenience, safety, and hospitality at key locations such as city centres, airports, railway stations and hospital sites.
UBS Investment Bank acted as sole financial adviser to Bridgepoint with Linklaters acting as sole legal adviser and Ernst & Young as provider of vendor accounting due diligence.
For more information, please contact:
Q-Park NV Mr E.J.M. Vleugels, Chairman of the Executive Board
Telephone: +31 (0) 43 329 71 71
CP Group AB
Mats Kullman, Chief Executive Officer
T: +46 (0) 8 722 1595
Bridgepoint
James Murray or Graham Oldroyd
T: +44 (0) 207 432 3555 or +46 (0) 8 545 168 20
Notes
Bridgepointis a European private equity firm focusing on the acquisition of companies valued up to €750 million. With €6 billion under management, it typically focuses on acquiring well managed companies in attractive sectors with the potential to grow organically or through acquisition.
In 2005 Bridgepoint completed the €2.5 billion fundraising for its third independent fund. For further information see www.bridgepoint-capital.com. In 2005, Bridgepoint invested €804m in nine new investments. It also completed 12 exits returning €1.2 billion to its investors. Bridgepoint has made ten investments in the Nordic region since 1995, its latest being the €230 million acquisition of Swedish elderly care homes and services group Attendo and the acquisition of Finnish vehicle inspection group A-Katsastus.
