Macquarie to invest in Austrian car park company Best in Parking

By Andres Gonzalez and Emma-Victoria Farr

LONDON (Reuters) - Infrastructure fund Macquarie Asset Management said on Wednesday it has agreed to buy a minority stake in Austrian car park company Best in Parking AG, as the sector recovers from lockdowns and aims for a boost from electric vehicles (EV).

Macquarie, which already owns Telpark, a car park business in Spain, said it would support Best in Parking to double its EV charging access points to 1,000 by 2025.

It did not disclose the amount of the deal, which is expected to be completed in the third quarter, but said Austria's Breiteneder family and its private foundation would retain a majority stake.

The company sought a 1 billion euro ($1.10 billion) valuation on a potential initial public offering last year, according to Bloomberg.

As car parking businesses expand into electric vehicle charging stations and other new technology, Best in Parking operates approximately 87,000 parking spaces in 40 European cities. It offers technology, traffic management, parking access control and smart city solutions.

In the first half of 2022, its latest available figures, Best in Parking revenues grew by 44% to 45.1 million euros and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) jumped 63% to 25.2 million euros.

It operates in countries including Austria, Croatia, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland and competes in a fragmented market against Germany’s Apcoa, France’s Indigo, Belgium’s Interparking, Spain’s Saba and Dutch Q-Park.

Dealmaking has contracted under the pressure of high interest rates and fears of a recession.

In Austria, deal activity has fallen by 66% year-to-date to 782 million euros, according to Dealogic.

($1 = 0.9117 euros)

(Reporting by Andres Gonzalez, editing by Barbara Lewis)