Jul 31, 2017

Tweet on Twitter CVC Capital Partners has exited German metering business Ista in a €4.5bn deal. The company has been sold to Cheung Kong Property Holdings, a company owned by Hong Kong magnate Li Ka-shing. Ista provides energy management services to more than 12 million commercial and residential properties. Based in Essen, it employs 5,400 people and operates in 24 countries. CVC has a long and storied history with Ista . It first invested in the company, then known as Viterra, in 2003, paying €845m. In 2007 it sold the business to Charterhouse Capital Partners, only to buy back a 24 per cent stake shortly thereafter. When Charterhouse put Ista on the block in 2013, CVC sold its minority stake to its fifth fund and acquired the business outright. “It has been a pleasure working with Ista over the course of the last 14 years, following CVC Fund III’s original investment in 2003. We have enjoyed a close partnership with the company as it has grown from a German-centric analogue business into a digital European energy efficiency champion,” said CVC partner Marc Strobel. Li Ka-shing Li Ka-shing is founder and chairman of CK Hutchison, a conglomerate with interests ranging from ports to 3, the UK mobile network. According to Forbes he is the second richest person in Asia and the 18th richest in the world. Following the deal ownership of Ista will be split between Cheung Kong Property and CK Infrastructure, another of Li’s vehicles. TAGS