Silver Lake Enters Into Definitive Agreement to Acquire a Majority Stake in Facile.it from EQT and Oakley Capital to Support Management in the Next Phase of Growth, Making Facile Italy’s Second Unicorn

Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing, has today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Facile.it (“Facile”), the leading Italian online price comparison platform, from EQT VIII fund (“EQT Private Equity”) and Oakley Capital, a pan-European private equity firm. With the transaction, Facile will become the second Italian unicorn.

Tobias Stuber, CEO of Facile, said: “On behalf of the Facile management team and all employees, I would like to thank EQT for the successful, collaborative, and highly productive partnership over the past four years on our journey towards capitalizing further on our position as a landmark destination for Italy’s household spending. Thanks to EQT’s support, we are in an even better position today for the next phase of our growth with our new partner Silver Lake.”

Christian Lucas, Co-Head of Silver Lake EMEA, said: “Facile is an exceptional business with a differentiated and powerful value proposition for customers, channel partners and financial service providers. We are truly impressed by what Tobias and the rest of the team have built over the past years. The company is now Italy’s leading online destination for consumers to compare prices with a market-leading tech platform and unique omnichannel capabilities across its agent networks and stores.

Investing in high-growth and pioneering business models with differentiated technology capabilities is at the core of our mission. We look forward to partnering with Tobias and the rest of the management team to significantly invest in the business and drive further growth and value creation over the coming years by contributing our experience from investments in multiple similar businesses across Europe.”

Dominik Stein, Partner at EQT Private Equity, said: “Facile is a great example of how EQT can help unlock a company’s full potential by combining our local-with-locals approach and deep sector expertise, with our long experience from developing tech companies. EQT is proud of having been a part of Facile’s remarkable growth trajectory and development. We would like to thank the whole management team for the trusted partnership over the past four years. We would also like to thank our co-investor Oakley Capital, the Advisory Committee members and all employees for their daily commitment in making Facile the unique company it is today.”

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Milan, Italy, Facile originated with pioneering the offering of motor insurance brokerage online, for which it is the clear market leader in Italy today. Over time, Facile successfully diversified its offering by adding new product lines including gas & power, broadband, mortgages, consumer loans and, more recently, a new car sales marketplace platform. Facile has built a market-leading brand through several years of successful investment resulting in unparalleled brand awareness and leading website traffic volumes in the Italian market. Facile also benefits from a scaled omni-channel distribution approach across its online channels, its network of owned stores as well as its networks of insurance and mortgage & consumer loan agents it collaborates with, enabled by a market-leading tech platform that benefits from years of significant investment.

Silver Lake will leverage its extensive experience in the field from its many investments into similar companies across Europe to support Facile’s management team in the next phase of growth. Silver Lake intends to continue to invest in and broaden Facile’s product range to help accelerate the company’s strong growth trajectory across its core verticals, its recently launched growth verticals as well as future potential new product launches to strengthen the value proposition to both Italian consumers and partners.

The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals and is expected to close in Q3 2022.

Morgan Stanley acted as the exclusive financial advisor, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and BonelliErede as legal advisors to Silver Lake.

About Facile

Facile.it is the leading Italian Online Price Comparison platform, helping over 4 million customers every month to compare prices on key areas of their household spending, providing access to a wide product offering, helping them save time and money. The Company in 2021 generated approximately €140 million in revenue.

About Silver Lake

Silver Lake is a global technology investment firm, with more than $88 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a team of professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia. Silver Lake’s portfolio companies collectively generate nearly $254 billion of revenue annually and employ approximately 557,000 people globally.

About EQT

EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with €77 billion in assets under management across 36 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas with total sales of approximately €29 billion and more than 280,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

About Oakley Capital

Founded in 2002, Oakley Capital is a pan-European private equity firm backing ambitious growth companies across three core sectors – Technology, Consumer and Education. Oakley is able to deliver differentiated investment opportunities and superior returns by leveraging its entrepreneurial mindset and deep sector expertise. The Oakley team works closely with a unique network of entrepreneurs and successful management teams to help source primary, proprietary opportunities and gain valuable insights into the businesses in which it invests. Its ability to overcome complexity, and a flexible approach to value creation, allows Oakley to support its portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth.

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Contact information

Silver Lake
US:
Ginger.Li@silverlake.com
+1 (212) 401 6096

Europe:
Jess.Gill@edelmansmithfield.com
+44 (0)7980 684 247