ZURICH (Reuters) – A consortium led by Swiss asset manager Partners Group Holding PGHN.S will buy Techem from Macquarie MQG.AX in a deal that values ​​the German metering company at an enterprise value of 4.6 billion euros ($5.4 billion), Partners Group said on Friday.

The buyers are the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan as well as Techem’s management team, she said in a statement.

They plan to work with Techem management to further grow the business, which provides building energy billing and management, in existing markets and expand into new geographic markets.

“A value creation initiative will focus on introducing new technologies to Techem’s strong existing platform and installed base to improve the customer experience,” Partners Group said.

The deal values ​​Techem at around 13 times expected 2018 core earnings, higher than the 11 to 12 times valuation sources had told Reuters bidders were hoping to pay.

People familiar with the matter had told Reuters last month that the other parties to a latest tender were a consortium made up of buyout firm CVC, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) as well as the Silver Lac buyout group.

Macquarie bought Techem for 1.5 billion euros in 2007. The company was founded in 1952 and has more than 3,600 employees.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018, Macquarie said in a separate statement.