Carlyle, Seven to retain ownership of Australia's Coates Hire

Goldman Sachs was appointed last November to assess sale options, with China International Capital Corp. and Nomura assisting in China and Japan, respectively. This came after plans for an A$800 million ($831 million) IPO were abandoned due to weak capital markets.

Although investor sentiment is gradually improving, the decision to hold on to Coates was likely driven by uncertainty over pricing in a still volatile market.

Simon Moore, a managing director at Carlyle, noted earlier this year that exit options can be limited for the PE owners of large companies in Australia. "You'd like to do trade sales but the reality is a lot of us are going to end up taking them public," he said.

Carlyle and National Hire Group acquired Coates Hire in late 2007 through a A$2.2 billion deal, with each party committing A$339 million in equity for a 47% stake. China Development Industrial Bank held the remaining 6%. National Hire's equity contribution included the transfer of its rental business to the acquisitions vehicle.

In 2011, Seven Group, which already owned a substantial portion of National Hire, completed a buyout of the business.

Carlyle and Seven currently own 46% each in Coates, which posted revenues of A$1.3 billion for the year to June 2012. With over 125 years' experience in the industry, Coates operates over 200 branches and satellite locations in Australia across industries such as engineering, building construction and maintenance, mining and resources and manufacturing.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Exits
• Support services
• Buyout
• Exit
• Australia
• IPO
• Trade sale
• buyout
• The Carlyle Group