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Direct Lenders Submit Unitranche Pitches at 5x Leverage to Support Potential Buyout of FluidOne; Clearwater Running Debt Process

Relevant Document: FY’22 Financial Report Direct lenders have submitted unitranche pitches at 5x leverage to support the potential buyout of U.K. cloud solutions FluidOne Ltd., sources told Reorg. Clearwater International is running the debt process, which has launched ahead of the M&A. A debt package of more than £70 million is being outlined alongside an ACF to fund the company’s roll-up strategy. The company is being marketed off EBITDA of about £15 million and Raymond James is the M&A advisor, as reported. Other cloud and IT services providers have recently commanded leverage levels of more than 5x, including Dutch IT services hallo, but some lenders have been considering how much of a focus FluidOne has on mobile and telecoms services as opposed to the more cash-generative managed services and IT sectors. FluidOne reported a revenue increase of 24.1% year over year to £41.7 million for the year ended March 31, 2022. Underlying EBITDA was down 16.5% year over year to £4.2 million, reflecting an erosion of margins to 11.2% from 14.9%. During the 2022 financial year, FluidOne acquired connected cloud company SAS. A restructuring of the group was undertaken in the first quarter of fiscal 2023, which resulted in a[...]