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water In addition, Gilauri says he is de - lighted to have agreed the sale of the water services business to such a high quality strategic bu- yer as Aqualia. He also noted that “the strong management team of this company can add substantial value to water services in this new scenario, and it has our full support as a minority shareholder”. High standards of performance and quality For his part, Felix Parra, CEO of Aqualia, stressed that “Aqualia’s interest in Georgia and in the Tbi- lisi water system goes back a long way, as we participated in the first privatisation process of the water supply and sanitation system in 2008, and we have followed close - ly and with interest the evolution of the asset to date”. TheAqualia and GCAP teams have been working for months on an agreement that creates value for both parties. In the case of Aqua- The amount of the transaction, 180 million dollars for 80% of the company, implies a business valuation (BV) of 8.9 times EBITDA at the end of the current financial year 2021 lia, this operation represents ano - ther milestone in the company’s significant growth in recent years in the management of the com- plete water cycle, whether in the award of long-term concessions or the acquisition of regulated assets, in property, as in the case of GGU. GCAP will maintain a 20% stake in GGU in the coming years. In this way, the combination of its in-dep - th knowledge of the country’s re - gulatory framework and the pro - fessionalism of its team, together with Aqualia’s technology and ex- perience in the water sector, gua - rantees the company’s continued success and high standards of per- formance and quality of services. Georgia R U S S I A T U R K E Y A R M E N I A A Z E R B A I J A N B L A C K S E A ting costs with adequate returns. It is a system familiar to Aqualia as it is very similar to the one in place for SmVaK, a wholly-owned subsi - diary of the company in the Czech Republic. The independence and professionalism of the GNERC regulator have been some of the factors that have determined the decision to carry out the operation. Commenting on the deal, Irakli Gi - lauri, president and CEO of GCAP, explained that it is “an important milestone for Georgia Capital and marks the achievement of a key strategic priority with the success- ful completion of the full investment cycle of our strategy: invest, grow and monetise through a cash exit”. B U S I N E S S 18 B U S I N E S S