European private equity firm, Cinven today announces it has reached agreement to acquire Prezioso Technilor ("Prezioso" or the "Company") from Indigo Capital for an undisclosed consideration.

Prezioso is a leading provider of coating and insulation services which maintain vital industrial infrastructures in the energy and infrastructure sector. Prezioso's services are critical to protecting the integrity of off-shore oil and gas and nuclear installations.

The Company is the market leader in its core markets where it primarily serves blue chip Western energy companies, such as EDF, Total, BP and Exxon. Prezioso's markets in the O&G and nuclear industries are expected to deliver double digit growth over the next five years, driven by the increase in the number of off-shore O&G installations - and their maintenance requirements - and by the lifetime extension of nuclear reactors and more stringent maintenance requirements following Fukushima.

Over the last five years, the Company has delivered outstanding revenue growth of over 15% per annum. In 2011, it generated sales of €320 million. Headquartered in France, the Company was founded in 1957 and employs over 2,700 staff globally.

Commenting on today's announcement, Nicolas Paulmier, Partner at Cinven Partners LLP, said:
"Prezioso already has strong international operations. Together with management, we have identified significant growth opportunities in other markets including Brazil, the Middle East and Northern Europe. This investment reinforces our strategy of finding European-headquartered businesses whose growth prospects are primarily driven by exposure to rapidly growing emerging markets."

"Our investment in Prezioso demonstrates the combined strength of Cinven's sector expertise and our local European network. Our Business Services team had been actively looking at investment opportunities in the energy services sector that can benefit from the growth in energy production without direct exposure to volatile commodity prices. Our team in Paris was instrumental to the successful execution of this investment."

Erwoan Naour, CEO of Prezioso, added:
"The economic value of the assets Prezioso maintains is very high. Performing maintenance work in operational conditions without disrupting the production is a challenge we take up every day for our customers. Customers, therefore, will only rely on a provider like Prezioso with a strong knowledge and a long track record of a 'zero defect' service."

"We are very excited about working with Cinven. We believe they are the right partner to help grow the business globally organically and through acquisition given their experience of doing this successfully with other companies."