Blackstone and Lion Capital will be pleased too. While many other buy-out houses look to public markets for exit opportunities, Orangina’s sale to a strategic buyer spares them the time and expense of a public listing. Estimating returns are difficult, but the two companies bought Orangina at about two times sales. If Orangina now sold to Suntory at the same multiple, they would almost double their money. That is equivalent to a 16 per cent internal rate of return; enviable profits for a battered industry
