Ardian confirms its ambitions for us infrastructure market through acquisition of stake in LBC

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Press release

Ardian confirms its ambitions for us infrastructure market through acquisition of stake in LBC

  • 22 May 2017

  • Infrastructure

  • England, London

6 minutes de lecture

Ardian, the independent private investment company, today announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire a stake in LBC Tank Terminals (“LBC”) from State Super and Sunsuper. LBC, headquartered in Belgium, is a top-tier global independent operator of bulk liquid storage facilities, predominantly for chemical & base oil products.

Following the transaction, Ardian will hold a 35% stake in LBC. Current shareholders APG and PGGM will remain invested in the company with a 32.5% stake each.

LBC benefits from its strategically located asset base with operating sites well positioned within major global trading hubs. Despite its origins as a European company, LBC has a global presence with its largest operations located in the US Gulf Coast region, namely at Houston and Baton Rouge. The Company also operates critical sites in the key trading region of Rotterdam and Antwerp in Europe, as well as Shanghai in Asia. LBC works with the world’s leading petrochemical producers and distributors, providing them with an independent solution for their liquid tank storage requirements. In many cases, LBC’s business is physically integrated into the customer production chain and therefore represents a critical infrastructure for those clients.

Walter Wattenbergh, Group CEO of LBC Tank Terminals, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Ardian as a new shareholder. LBC is at a significant transition point in its business strategy, in particular as the business shifts its focus toward expansion of its facilities in USA and Europe. This trend has been identified by Ardian and we value the experience and support they can provide to LBC during this period of strategic change.” 

Mathias Burghardt, Member of the Executive Committee, Head of Ardian Infrastructure, added: ”LBC is a unique company with fantastic value creation potential. We are very excited to support the management vision alongside our partners APG and PGGM. Our LBC investment illustrates the existing potential for long term investors like Ardian in the US infrastructure market.“

Andrew Liau, Managing Director of Ardian Infrastructure, further added: “We have been impressed by the quality of LBC’s management team and share the vision that exists for the company. We look forward to supporting the company in delivering upon its growth ambitions whilst maintaining safe and secure operations for all of LBC’s employees, customers, and other stakeholders.“

LBC represents the 3rd US dollar denominated investment undertaken by Ardian Infrastructure team in recent months. Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions including relevant regulatory approvals.

ABOUT LBC

LBC Tank Terminals is a top-tier global independent operator of bulk liquid storage facilities for petrochemicals, petroleum products and base oil products.

LBC owns and operates a global network of terminals at key locations in the United States, Europe and China, while offering loading / unloading services for all modes of transportation.

ABOUT ARDIAN

Ardian, founded in 1996 and led by Dominique Senequier, is an independent private investment company with assets of US$62bn managed or advised in Europe, North America and Asia.

The company, which is majority- owned by its employees, keeps entrepreneurship at its heart and delivers investment performance to its global investors while fuelling growth in economies across the world. Ardian’s investment process embodies three values: excellence, loyalty and entrepreneurship. Ardian maintains a truly global network, with more than 450 employees working through twelve offices in Paris, London, Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, Zurich, New York, San Francisco, Beijing, Singapore, Jersey, Luxembourg.

The company offers its 580 investors a diversified choice of funds covering the full range of asset classes, including Ardian Funds of Funds (primary, early secondary and secondary), Ardian Private Debt, Ardian Buyout (including Ardian Mid Cap Buyout Europe & North America, Ardian Expansion, Ardian Growth and Ardian Co-Investment), Ardian Infrastructure, Ardian Real Estate and Ardian Mandates.

Press contact

ARDIAN Headland

Francesca Tuckett

ftuckett@headlandconsultancy.co.uk

+44 207 367 5222