Hana Fin to buy stake in French car park company from Ardian

Hana Financial Investment Co. Ltd. has agreed to buy a 15% stake in France’s leading car park operator Indigo Group from Ardian through a co-investment vehicle of Mirova which would acquire a 35% stake of the French company from the private equity firm.

In late March,  Ardian said that it had entered into exclusive negotiation to sell its 50% stake in Indigo Group to Core Infrastructure Fund II and its co-investment vehicle managed by Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers.

MEAG, the joint asset manager of Munich Re and ERGO, will take the remaining 15%, Ardian added in a press release.

Crédit Agricole Assurances will retain its stake of 49.2%, with the remaining shares being held by Indigo Group’s management and employees.

Hana is buying the 15% stake via a domestic fund of KB Asset Management Co. Ltd. for an undisclosed sum, according to sources with knowledge of the matter last week.

They declined to disclose the value of the deal.

In 2014, Ardian acquired shares in Indigo, formerly known as VINCI Park, reportedly assessing the company’s enterprise value at 1.96 billion euros, or nine times EBITDA.

In 2018, Indigo Group’s EBITDA increased to 308 million euros from 281 million euros in 2015. Revenues climbed to 960 million euros from 795 million euros during the period.

EYING 20-YEAR HOLD

The equity investment by Hana Financial is the first such move by a South Korean brokerage firm, diversifying its global portfolios into mobility services.

The investment comes as Hana, part of a leading South Korean banking group, is preparing to apply for a domestic license as a general financial investment services company.

Indigo Group has a strong foothold in Europe and North and South America. It has over 5,050 car parks in 750 cities in 10 countries and more than 2.3 million managed parking spaces.

To expand into Asia, Indigo launched a joint venture with China’s Sunsea Parking in March.

Betting on the growth of Indigo Group's new businesses such as ride-sharing services for cars, bicycles and scooters, Hana has decided to hold its shareholding in the French company for 20 years via the vehicle of KB Asset.

It is also considering participating in its management.

“We’re optimistic about the outlook for not only Indigo Group’s existing services but also its new businesses,” Hyungjoo Jin, head of Hana Financial’s alternative investment department, told the Korean investors.

In 2017, KB Asset raised around 165 million euros in South Korea for Mirova’s 1-billion-euro infrastructure fund, Mirova Core Infrastructure Fund II.

By Hyunil Lee

hiuneal@hankyung.com

(Photo: Getty Images Bank)

(Modified on April 27, 2019 to remove the estimated value of the deal at the sources' request and to clarify that Hana Financial will acquire the stake through a co-investment vehicle managed by Mirova.)