TY - JOUR T1 - Case Study ista: <em>Digging Deep into CVC’s Long-Term Investment</em> JF - The Journal of Private Equity DO - 10.3905/jpe.2019.1.075 SP - jpe.2018.1.075 AU - Ilja Schaab AU - Eric Frère Y1 - 2019/02/06 UR - https://pm-research.com/content/early/2019/02/06/jpe.2019.1.075.abstract N2 - In 2017, CVC sold its target company ista to a Chinese infrastructure investor after an investment period of 14 years. This transaction was the largest private equity exit from a German target company up to date. The authors investigate the transaction structuring and financing as well as CVC’s impact on the financial performance and business development of the target company. The analysis shows that ista grew steady regarding revenue and EBITDA, employed more people, and performed comprehensible internationalization and business area extension decisions. However, the company seems also condemned to success. With each new transaction cycle, the level of liabilities and interest payment obligations increased. ista had to grow and increase efficiency continuously to meet the expectations of debt, mezzanine and equity capital providers. This article provides a holistic overview of the investment phase enabling the reader to form an opinion about CVC’s long-term involvement and to adapt the strategies used in this practical application. ER -