European Event-Driven Analyst

Jesus Rodriguez Aguilar

Jesús is an Insight Provider (Event-driven) on the Smartkarma network, where he looks across sectors at opportunities arising from securities mispricing (both credit and equity), share classes, bid announcements, prospective bids, and special situations. He has served as Economic and Business Advisor at the Spanish Congress in Madrid. Prior to that, he has worked in the City of London: as a Credit Analyst at Bloomberg; Event-driven associate at former boutique European Research; and doubled as Special Situations and Equity-linked VP (convertible bonds) at Merrill Lynch. Jesús has an MBA from the London Business School, a BA (Hons.) degree in Economics from the Complutense University in Madrid, and a BA (Hons.) in Law from U.N.E.D., also in Madrid.

Event-Driven

On 21 October, Bloomberg reported that Clayton Dubilier &amp; Rice LLC and other undisclosed private equity firms expressed interest in acquiring German industrial service provider <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/bilfinger-se" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21630:1" rel="noopener">Bilfinger SE (GBF GR)</a>.
On 6 November, Bloomberg reported that Bilfinger launched a sale process and hired an adviser to formally gauge buyout interest. Certain prospective private equity buyers reportedly are looking to take over and expand Bilfinger through acquisitions and eventually take the larger entity public. Bilfinger has not yet finalized its plans and could still decide against a sale.
Bilfinger has released Q3 results, the shares have dropped 7.5%.
I value Bilfinger as a SOTP: using comparable companies, the average of the median implied EV/Forward EBITDA and Forward P/E is €20.62 per share, plus the BV of Apleona, €5.95 per share (€240 mn vs. Bilfinger's market cap of €899 mn), gives a total of €26.57 per share.
<ul>
<li>So either the market is very pessimistic about the growth and margins recovery of Bilfinger (for a reason) or the stake in Apleona comes for free.</li>
<li>Both the ongoing takeover speculation and the potential sale of Apleona currently seem to be the main drivers for the share price, but both are factors beyond the control of Bilfinger's management. Results remain challenging due to weakness in the markets where Bilfinger operates, but cost controls and higher FCF are positives.</li>
</ul>
Recommendation: BUY on SOTP higher than the current market value.
The Insight is marked bullish, although it comes with a health warning.

On 21 October, Bloomberg reported that Clayton Dubilier &amp; Rice LLC and other undisclosed private equity firms expressed interest in acquiring German industrial service provider Bilfinger SE (GBF GR).
On 6 November, Bloomberg reported that Bilfinger launched a sale process and hired an adviser to formally gauge buyout interest. Certain prospective private equity buyers reportedly are looking to take over and expand Bilfinger through acquisitions and eventually take the larger entity public. Bilfinger has not yet finalized its plans and could still decide against a sale.
Bilfinger has released Q3 results, the shares have dropped 7.5%.
I value Bilfinger as a SOTP: using comparable companies, the average of the median implied EV/Forward EBITDA and Forward P/E is €20.62 per share, plus the BV of Apleona, €5.95 per share (€240 mn vs. Bilfinger's market cap of €899 mn), gives a total of €26.57 per share.

So either the market is very pessimistic about the growth and margins recovery of Bilfinger (for a reason) or the stake in Apleona comes for free.
Both the ongoing takeover speculation and the potential sale of Apleona currently seem to be the main drivers for the share price, but both are factors beyond the control of Bilfinger's management. Results remain challenging due to weakness in the markets where Bilfinger operates, but cost controls and higher FCF are positives.

Recommendation: BUY on SOTP higher than the current market value.
The Insight is marked bullish, although it comes with a health warning.

Bilfinger SE

Bilfinger SE: Private Equity Interest