(Bloomberg) -- Carlyle Group LP is considering a U.S. listing for Addison Lee after attempts to sell the London minicab company generated muted interest, according to people familiar with the matter.
Carlyle would sell the company into a so-called special purpose acquisition company, a firm that’s floated in an initial public offering in order to raise funds for a deal, the people said. Addison Lee would take on the public listing in New York after the takeover is completed, they said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private.
The private equity firm is working with investment banks Jefferies Financial Group Inc. and Cowen Inc. on the potential listing, the people said. Discussions are at an early stage and no final decisions have been made, the people said. Carlyle could still opt to keep the unit for longer or sell it instead of pursuing the listing, they said.
Representatives for Carlyle and Jefferies declined to comment. Representatives for Addison Lee and Cowen couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Carlyle bought Addison Lee in 2013 for about 300 million pounds ($366 million) including debt, a person briefed on the matter said at the time. The business has been hit by fierce competition from ride-hailing businesses, particularly Uber Technologies Inc. The minicab firm reported a wider pretax loss of about 39 million pounds in the 12 months to August 2018, compared to a loss of 21 million pounds a year earlier, while revenue rose 13% to 390.3 million pounds.
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