Tikehau and Hayfin combine on €72m unitranche

Two private debt firms have supported French private equity group Chequers Capital’s acquisition of construction company Alkern Group with a €72 million unitranche facility.

Tikehau Investment Managers and Hayfin Capital Management co-arranged the unitranche facility, which is around 3.5x EBITDA. Hayfin underwrote around two-thirds of the package with Tikehau providing the other third, a development first reported by French media and subsequently confirmed by market sources.

According to a market source, the duration of the loan is seven years and contains three covenants that cover restrictions on leverage and capex limits.

Neither Hayfin nor Tikehau would comment on the transaction.

Chequers acquired Alkern Group from private equity firm Fondations Capital in December for between €140 million and €150 million.

Fondations purchased Alkern in 2010 and oversaw an increase in revenue by 50 percent up to the sale, according to a statement from the firm. Alkern, which is a precast concrete solutions provider, has locations in both France and Belgium and in 2015 was generating revenue of around €180 million.

Tikehau and Hayfin have a history of working together. At the end of 2014, they participated in a unitranche bond financing to support the management buyout of Group Salins. Along with Macquarie, all three firms combined to underwrite the €170 million debt package, which was the largest unitranche deal of the year.

At the end of last year, Tikehau arranged a €72 million bond issuance for private healthcare software provider Dedalus Group, which is backed by French private equity group Ardian. In September, the firm reached a final close on its third direct lending fund after raising €610 million in investor commitments.

Hayfin is on the road collecting for its second direct lending fund as well as its second special opportunities fund, targeting €2.25 billion and €1.5 billion respectively, according to PDI data.