Claranet refinancing strengthens financier line-up for future growth

Claranet, the European managed services provider, today announced a refinancing agreement, securing a long-term facility for the company. Goldman Sachs’ Private Capital Team has joined Claranet’s existing and well-established finance providers RBS, ABRY Partners and Ares Management, L.P.’s European Direct Lending Team for the first time in a move that reflects the strengthening performance of the privately owned company in the B2B technology space.

Commenting on the new agreement, Charles Nasser, Claranet Group founder and CEO said: “Our new arrangements reflect the strength of Claranet and the confidence of our funders as we continue to expand both organically and through acquisition across Europe. Our financing now extends to 2020 and achieves greater flexibility for us as we plan for further growth and the development of our products and services.

“RBS, Ares and ABRY, our existing funding partners, have shown long-term commitment to Claranet and our strategy. Additionally, we are thrilled to partner with Goldman Sachs to support our evolution.”

Ares and Goldman Sachs have provided a unitranche facility of £82m with RBS providing further support of a committed facility of up to £25m.The arrangement takes advantage of the lower cost of debt made possible from Claranet’s strengthening position, and gives greater flexibility to the company as it continues to grow across Europe.

Mohith Sondhi, Director, Structured Finance Corporates at RBS said: “We believe the market remains fragmented in continental Europe and hope with the support of committed facilities in what we regard as an innovative structure, that Claranet will carry on their impressive growth and the successful delivery of their strategy.”

Nicolas Massard, Partner at ABRY Partners and non-executive director of Claranet said: “We are thrilled about our continued partnership with Charles and his exceptional management team. Claranet is uniquely positioned to become the European consolidator of advanced network and hosting managed services.”

Graham Smith, Director at Ares Management, said: “We look forward to continuing our successful relationship with Claranet and to supporting the company in its next phase of growth.”

The latest refinancing follows a successful financial year-end in June 2014 that saw 24 per cent revenue growth across Europe reaching a total of £127.4m (€175.8m).

The strong results demonstrate the success of Claranet’s acquisition strategy, expanding its product portfolio and increasing its customer base and overall market position. This led to an adjusted EBITDA figure of £23.0m (€31.7m) – 97 per cent up on the company’s 2013 result of £11.7m (€16.1m). The total contracted future revenue of the Claranet Group as of 30 June 2014 was in excess of £185.7m (€256.3m).

Charles concludes: “The refinancing is just the latest step to secure the long-term success of Claranet. We now have greater financial support that strengthens our hand in responding to the growing consolidation of the managed services sector in Europe.”