3 minute read | June.17.2024
Leading private investment house Ardian has acquired CampusParc, the concessionaire that manages, operates, and maintains the parking facilities at The Ohio State University’s flagship campus in Columbus, Ohio. Ardian acquired the company from funds managed by QIC.
Orrick advised Ardian.
Ardian is a world-leading private investment house, managing or advising $166 billion of assets on behalf of more than 1,600 clients globally. The company’s broad expertise, spanning private equity, real assets and credit, enables it to offer a wide range of investment opportunities and respond flexibly to clients’ differing needs.
The Paris-based firm has more than 1,050 employees in 19 offices in Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East.
Formed in 2012 as a public-private-partnership (P3), CampusParc is the first and largest university parking concession in the U.S., with over 38,000 parking spaces for students, faculty, staff and visitors at The Ohio State University – the fifth largest public university in the U.S., with more than 90,000 students and faculty – as well as the staff and visitors at Wexner Medical Center, a nationally recognized research facility and teaching hospital on campus.
CampusParc is operating under a 50-year Concession Lease Agreement, with 39 years remaining.
Working alongside the management team, Ardian will support CampusParc in its operations to deliver parking solutions and maintenance of assets that drive customer satisfaction. It will also leverage digital strategies from across its infrastructure portfolio to optimize CampusParc's operations and performance. Additionally, it will leverage its ESG expertise to implement additional sustainability initiatives for the company.
“CampusParc is Ardian's first transportation investment in the U.S., and it’s an ideal fit within the broader strategy of our Americas fund. We are particularly excited to work with such a strong management team and support its commitment to the growing community. We look forward to assisting CampusParc in the years ahead and working closely with The Ohio State University, a premier academic institution,” said Stefano Mion, Co-Head of Infrastructure Americas, Ardian
Orrick’s Young Lee led the team that advised Ardian. The team also included Adam Kowis, John Donaleski, John Narducci, Spencer Sinclair, John D. Grant, Marissa Prieto, Jason D. Flaherty, Jeanine P. McGuinness, Craig Falls, Sue Cowell, Marlowe Mitchell, Matthew Coleman, Jimmy Frost, Karen S. Cannon, Robert M. O'Connell Jr.
Lee and Kowis have a track record of successful M&A representations in the infrastructure space, having recently advised Vinci Highways, a subsidiary of VINCI Concessions, on its agreement to acquire a company that holds the P3 concession contract for Denver’s Northwest Parkway, an eight-mile (14-km) section of Denver’s ring road, and ACS Infraestructuras on its acquisitions and subsequent divestiture of interests in the SH-288 toll road project in Texas .