Oakley offloads controlling share of German dating service

Oakley Capital Investments announced on Monday that the Oakley Capital Private Equity II fund has reached an agreement to sell a controlling stake in Parship Elite Group, an online dating service in the German-speaking world, to ProSiebenSat.1 Media.

The AIM-traded firm said Fund II and existing management would retain stakes totalling just under 50% of the group.

It said the transaction values OCL's indirect economic interest in Parship Elite Group at €67m, including its expected net cash returns of approximately €44m.

That will result in an expected uplift of £25m - or 77% - over the carrying value reported on 31 December 2015, equivalent to a 9.4p per share increase to the interim net asset value range announced in OCL's NAV trading update released on 4 August.

The deal means that, since the initial acquisition 16 months ago, the equity investment has generated a 2.3x cash return and a money multiple of 3.6x overall, including Fund II's retained stake in the group.

In addition OCL provided £5.2m of debt to Parship Elite Group, which is to be repaid as part of the transaction.

“The sale of this stake in Parship Elite Group locks in an impressive return for OCL and a continued stake in a fast growth business,” said OCL director Peter Dubens.

“Oakley Capital has a successful history of working with ProSiebenSat.1 with both parties currently invested in online consumer business, Verivox.

“We are excited by the opportunity that Fund II has created to once again partner with ProSiebenSat.1 and the management of Parship Elite Group, and believe that the value of our retained stake will be significantly enhanced within the ProSiebenSat.1 group of companies by allowing Parship Elite Group to leverage ProSiebenSat.1's leading position in the media sector,” Dubens explained.

Oakley Capital Private Equity partner Rebecca Gibson said the strong growth of Parship Elite is a demonstration of Oakley's expertise in the online sector and its ability to identify value generating opportunities.

“We have worked in partnership with the management team to drive organic growth whilst encouraging ambitious strategic acquisitions that have brought scale and operational leverage.

“It also highlights our ability to deliver impressive returns in a relatively short amount of time, and we are highly confident that we will continue to see the business go from strength to strength,” Gibson commented.

“We would like to thank the Parship Elite Group management team, and look forward to working with them and ProSiebenSat.1 in creating further growth and value.”