AXA Private Equity acquires Löwen Play GmbH Paris, 23 April 2008.

AXA Private Equity, the European diversified private equity house, has acquired the German amusement arcade operator Löwen Play from the Dutch investor Waterland Private Equity. The company headquartered in Bingen is the second largest amusement arcade operator in Germany with 215 arcades and generated revenues in excess of €85 million in 2007.

The two parties agreed not to reveal the purchase price.

There are approximately 5,000 providers in the German amusement market. They operate some 8,000 arcades with sales of around €3.2 billion. The four largest providers account for approximately 9% of the strongly fragmented market. These are also the only providers that operate more than 100 arcades each.

“There are opportunities for consolidation in the German and European amusement arcade market,” said Managing Director Christof Naményi.

“We believe that Löwen Play can continue growing even in difficult economic times as it has done in the past,” stressed Naményi.

“We are glad to have found in AXA Private Equity a first-class partner with a deep understanding of the sector. The AXA Private Equity team will provide our company with long-term support during the next development phase and will actively assist us in further reinforcing our business model,” said Managing Director Josef Kron commenting on the participation of the new shareholder.

Participants in this transaction:

On the purchaser side:

• AXA Private Equity: Christof Naményi, Wolfgang Pietzsch, Michael Reuther

 

• M&A advisor: CIBC WM - Bruce Moore, Bryan Pearson, Mark Landry
• Legal: Willkie Farr (M&A) - Mario Schmidt, Dr. Stefan Jörgens, Markus Kaepplinger, Ingo Bednarz
• Legal: Milbank (finance) - Dr. Thomas Ingenhoven, Anh-Duc Cordalis,Stephan Dulitz
• Tax: E&Y - Michael Kunz, Katharina Mylius
• Financial: E&Y - Axel Cihlar, Guido Althaus
• Commercial: LEK - Paul M. Jowett
• Financing: West LB - Eckhard Hoffmann, Felix Herfurth, Philipp Schäfers
• Mezzanine: ICG - Mark Brenke, Ottavia Tuinhout
• Legal: Clifford Chance (for WestLB) - Alexandra Hagelüken, Alexander Lampe

On the seller side:

• Waterland Private Equity: Lex Douze, Jelle van der Steeg, Konrad Meyer
• M&A advisor: UBS - Martin Suter, Thomas Ludwig
• Legal: CMS Hasche Sigle - Dr. Katharina Specht-Jonen, Marcus Wuntke

About AXA Private Equity

AXA Private Equity – an AXA Investment Managers company – is one of the world’s leading European diversified private equity houses. AXA Private Equity offers investors a broad selection of funds for every market segment: Buyout, Expansion Capital, Venture Capital, Co-investments, Infrastructure, Mezzanine, Primary, Early Secondary and Secondary Funds of Funds. The firm manages and/or advises on more than $22 billion of funds on behalf of leading international investors. Backed by its offices in Paris, Frankfurt, London, Milan, New York and Singapore, AXA Private Equity stands out from the competition through the expertise of its teams and its broad international presence. The firm maintains a constant focus on transparency, performance and sustainable profitability.

Visit our website: www.axaprivateequity.com

Press contact for AXA Private Equity:
Chris Salt - +44 20 7367 5224 - csalt@headlandconsultancy.co.uk
Clare Alison - +44 20 7367 5234 - callison@headlandconsultancy.co.uk

About Löwen Play

Löwen Play (www.loewenplay.de) is the second largest amusement arcade operator in Germany. It operates over 4.000 machines in more than 200 amusement arcades throughout Germany, providing a wide range of coin-operated and electronic gaming, sports and amusement machines offering top quality entertainment.