Two French financial firms, Ardian, formerly known as Axa Private Equity, and Credit Agricole Assurances have announced that they have started exclusive talks to take control of Vinci Park, a manager of parking spaces.

The firms plan to create  a company that would own 100% of VINCI Park's share capital. The company would be owned 37.5% by Ardian, 37.5% by Crédit Agricole Assurances and 25% by VINCI Concessions.

The deal would involve the external investors aquiring the equity interest in VINCI Park on the basis of an enterprise value of €1.96 billion (US$2.67 billion). That enterprise value is around 16 times Vinci Park's 2013 operating profit and in line with analysts' expectations.

The new owners will support the expansion of Vinci Park outside France, in markets such as North America, Latin America and Asia.

VINCI Park, a world player providing comprehensive solutions to urban mobility issues, manages almost 1.6 million parking spaces and associated services in 14 countries. VINCI Park, a subsidiary of VINCI, a world player in concessions and construction, offers a complete range of parking solutions, on- or off-street, under concession, full ownership or as a service provider.

The company had an EBITDA of nearly €200 million on revenues of €700 million in 2012.

In a similar transaction, in March 2013, Isolux Corsán Aparcamientos, a subsidiary of Isolux Corsán attracted Edifice Capital Group to invest a total of €150 million for the management of car parks in Spain.

In December 2013, Astaldi Concessioni, a 100% subsidiary of Astaldi S.p.A., announced that it has signed an agreement to sell to a group of institutional investors 95% of its car parks unit.