Bahrain’s Investcorp Sells Skrill Group For $800m

Bahrain-based investment firm Investcorp announced the sale of online payments systems Skrill Group to funds advised by CVC Capital Partners for €600 million ($800 million), subject to regulatory approvals.

As part of the transaction, Investcorp will retain a “substantial” minority position in the company and will continue to retain a seat on Skrill’s board, it said in a statement.

Founded in 2001, online payment systems provider Skrill is among the world’s largest independent digital wallet providers with over 36 million account holders.

Investcorp initially invested €25 million for a controlling stake in the company in March 2007 when Skrill generated revenues of €7.8 million and EBITDA of €3.7 million.

Last year, the company’s revenues reached €200 million and EBITDA stood at €50 million.

Investcorp was advised on the transaction by Barclays (M&A) and SJ Berwin (legal).

Investcorp’s European Corporate Investment team has invested in three new portfolio companies in the last nine months including snacks maker Tyrrells, oil services provider Hydrasun and Scandinavian luxury brand Georg Jensen.

In the last one year, the company has also exited from Armacell, the German developer of technical insulation materials and IPH Group, a French distributor of industrial supplies, and partially exited its investment in Fleetmatics, the Irish-based global provider of fleet management solutions.