Permira funds the acquisition of PARSHIP

Permira Debt Managers (“PDM”), the debt management and advisory arm of Permira and one of Europe’s leading specialist debt investors, today announces that direct lending fund Permira Credit Solutions II will act as sole lender in the financing of the acquisition of German online dating company PARSHIP by Oakley Capital.

The acquisition of PARSHIP by Oakley Capital is supported by a long-term investment loan provided and arranged by Permira Credit Solutions II which acted as the sole lender. In addition an acquisition facility is available to support potential add-on acquisitions. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Hamburg, PARSHIP is one of Europe’s original online dating businesses with leading market positions in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Its website PARSHIP.com is currently available in 13 countries and the company has over 50 cooperation partners in Europe. In 2014, PARSHIP grew its turnover by 35% to €60m. Thomas Kyriakoudis, Chief Investment Officer, from Permira Debt Managers added: “In recent years PARSHIP has emerged as leader in the DACH market through a combination of digital innovation and a true understanding of the needs of its large and growing customer base.We are delighted to back new owners Oakley Capital who we believe have the skills to take an already successful business to the next level.” Lincoln International acted as financial advisor while Ashurst acted as legal advisor to Oakley Capital and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer provided legal advice to PDM in connection with the acquisition financing.

Permira Debt Managers (“PDM”) is Permira’s independent debt investing arm. It is one of Europe’s leading specialist debt investors, with seven investment funds and products which have provided more than €2.4bn of debt capital to over 100 European businesses. Wholly owned by Permira, PDM was established in 2007 and aims to partner with businesses to provide the capital they require and generate market-leading risk adjusted returns for investors. To achieve this PDM follows three broad investing strategies: Direct Lending; Structured Credit and Primary CLO. PDM also has a distinctive origination platform which benefits from the strength of Permira’s extensive network including 6 European investing offices in UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Italy and Spain, and 5 sector teams specialising in Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare, Industrials and Technology.

Oakley Capital Private Equity is an unlisted mid-market private equity business with the aim of providing investors with significant long term capital appreciation. Oakley Capital Private Equity currently comprises two funds (the “Funds”). The Funds’ investment strategy is to focus on buy-out opportunities in industries with the potential for growth, consolidation and performance improvement. The Funds seeks to invest in companies with scale in their industry subsectors, thereby creating a sustainable earnings stream which should command a premium on exit. The Funds are advised by Oakley Capital Limited, a privately owned asset management and financial advisory business with over $1 billion of assets under management.