FDC advised TS in its development strategy through the acquisition of GTC Technics (Belgium)

Paris (France), July 28th 2022

TSG, the European leader in technical services for responsible mobility solutions, is pleased to announce the acquisition of GTC Technics, a key player in gas installations based in Belgium

GTC Technics, a Belgium-based (in Ghislenghein, South-East Bruxelles) company, is specialized in installation, maintenance and repair of industrial gas (propane, butane, LNG and LPG) infrastructures including cryogenic ones, for fueling stations, industrials sites and factories. They are also operating in gas tanks storage and renovation, small bulk installation, and maintenance. This acquisition allows TSG to integrate new highly skilled gas technicians and welders.

With GTC Technics acquisition, TSG is closing its first acquisition in Gas and accelerates its development in new energy for mobility where gas is playing a key role in the transition phase, in particular for heavy transportation. Acquiring GTC Technics will allow TSG to reinforce its gas competencies, to diversify its customer base and to reinforce its presence in Belgium to better serve its customers’ base.

TSG is a major player in the consolidation of technical services for mobility. The group wishes to pursue its strategy by relying on its strong entrepreneurial culture and its European leadership - presence in 30 countries, over €770m annual turnover, and over 5,000 employees.

FDC is proud to have advised TSG on this cross-border transaction, which allows TSG to strengthen its presence in Benelux and to affirm its ambitions in new energies for mobility.

 

Financière de Courcelles is advising TSG in its European development plan of external growth, through its multi-buy-side offer.

 


BEA Group welcomes Andera Acto to support its next development cycle

Paris (France), 20 July 2022,

FDC advised BEA Group in a sponsorless financing transaction with Andera Acto to support the company's strong development. This investment marks the opening of a new phase of organic and external growth.

The group's objective is to strengthen its position as a key player in Civil Liability for public establishments in France, while expanding into new segments and to other clients.

Marco Favale, Chairman of BEA Group: "A new and ambitious page is being turned for the group with the support of Laurent and his team. I would like to thank him warmly and I am convinced that the skills and experience brought by Andera Acto will help us to write this new chapter successfully.

Founded in 2009, BEA Group is a broker specialising in civil liability for public institutions. The Group also offers bodily injury claims management services through its subsidiary AGSM as well as products for private institutions, local authorities, construction and healthcare professionals.

BEA Group has achieved strong turnover growth with 60 employees in France, Italy and the UK, and is currently pursuing external growth opportunities in Italy, while considering expansion into other European countries.

The group has built up a strong expertise through the development of services with increasing added value for insurers, enabling it to position itself as a key partner for risk carriers.

The FDC team is delighted to have supported BEA Group and its management in this transaction, having constructed a financial operation that corresponds to its objectives and needs for the years to come.

STAKEHOLDERS IN THE OPERATION

Company side:

  • Company: BEA Group (Marco Favale, Alexandre Martinache, Vincent Cartier)
  • Financial advisor: Financière de Courcelles (Christophe Brière, Charles Delbarre, Nikita Picard)
  • Legal advisor: Bolze Associés (Tiphaine Hue, Salomé Khanoyan, Chloé Marchadier)

Investor side:

  • Investors: Andera Acto (Laurent Fichter, Antoine Soucaze, Fadwa Dardar)
  • Strategic advice: Courcelles Conseil (Pascal Procureur-Chaix, Bertrand Dimont)
  • Legal, tax and social: Thémis (Xavier Roguet, Marina Cave, Rémi Kieffer)
  • Financial due diligence: Odéris (Aurélien Vion, Louis Templier, Corentin Burlot, Clara Jimenez)

Sell of Cercle Magellan to Mrs. Sandrine RAMPONT

Paris on July 18, 2022,

FDC advised Cercle Magellan on its sale to Mrs. Sandrine RAMPONT.


Investindustrial acquires COMAX France

Paris, July 18, 2022,

FDC advised Investindustrial on the acquisition of COMAX France, an independent producer of electrical and thermal energy specializing in cogeneration and peak production.


FDC advises Apax Partners on the acquisition of a majority stake in Vitaprotech

Paris (France), 13th July 2022,

FDC advised Apax Partners in the acquisition of a majority stake in Vitaprotech, the French leader in premium security solutions for sensitive sites.

Founded in 2012, Vitaprotech addresses all customers' needs in terms of securing sensitive sites, through an integrated offering built around three complementary areas of expertise: access control management, perimeter intrusion detection, smart monitoring.

Backed by Eurazeo since 2018 and led by its Chairman Eric Thord, the group has demonstrated a strong organic growth driven by dynamic underlying markets and accelerated by a proven buy&build strategy (9 completed acquisitions in the last 4 years). Vitaprotech has also continued its transformation by strengthening the weight of software solutions and managed services (c.45% of its activity), supported by significant R&D investments.

With a targeted turnover of €80m+ in 2022, Vitaprotech has tripled its size since 2018 and now manage 400+ employees in France and internationally.

FDC advised Eurazeo in 2018 in structuring a preemptive offer. With Apax, Vitaprotech will partner with a leading Private Equity fund to deal with its technological and international transformation.

This transaction once again illustrates FDC’s expertise in the Technology sector and its ability to support successful and resilient companies in a dialogue with leading financial partners to build a sustainable development around favorable market fundamentals. In an intense international competitive process, FDC advises financial and strategic investors to acquire rare assets. The acquisition of Vitaprotech by Apax comes shortly after the acquisition of Orolia by Safran, also advised by FDC.


FDC advised Safran in the acquisition of Orolia

Paris (France), 11th July 2022

Safran finalized the acquisition of Orolia, one of the world leaders in the Resilient PNT (Positioning – Navigation – Timing) value-chain with full system capabilities, and a provider of PNT equipment, simulation and test solutions. Orolia is also providing emergency locator beacons for commercial aviation and military applications.

Orolia generated revenues in excess of EUR 100 million in 2021 and has approximately 435 employees with facilities in France, The United States, Switzerland, Spain and Canada.

FDC advised Safran in this deal, which represents a unique opportunity for Safran and Orolia to extend their Resilient PNT solutions, through their remarkable complementarities. With this addition, Safran will be able to build a world-leading position in all aspects of PNT, inertial navigation, time and GNSS receivers and simulators, covering aerospace, governmental and high integrity applications.

This transaction is an example of FDC's deep knowledge of the Electronics, High Tech, Defense and Space sectors, and demonstrates its ability to accompany large corporates in their strategic acquisitions.


TSG, the European leader in technical services for responsible mobility solutions, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Hemag, a key player in Electrical services and engineering based in Madrid, Spain

Paris (France), July 4th 2022

TSG, the European leader in technical services for responsible mobility solutions, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Hemag, a key player in Electrical services and engineering based in Madrid, Spain.

Hemag has more than 40 years’ experience in the field of engineering and installation / maintenance of electrical infrastructure, offering high quality and professional solutions. With its national network of 160 engineers and technicians, Hemag is becoming one of the top players in the installation of electric vehicles charging points in Spain.

Hemag has achieved a turnover over €13m. Eduardo Marco, current Hemag’s CEO, will take over Electrical division of TSG Iberica under which Hemag will be integrated.

With Hemag acquisition, TSG reinforces its teams in the electrical field with experienced electrician experts to further accelerate its strategic transformation towards new mobility in Spain. Integrating Hemag’s team will allow TSG to leverage on a solid and established organization and to answer every customer’s needs in design, building and maintenance of electric mobility infrastructures. Both companies will benefit from commercial synergies and from their respective network’s complementarity in Spain.

After other similar acquisitions in the new mobility, Hemag’s acquisition fully falls into TSG strategy to enable the responsible mobility transition by developing new energy for mobility, quality infrastructures and to offer a one-stop shop for innovative energy & retail solutions.

Both members of the international network Global M&A Partners (GMAP), Financière de Courcelles (France) and Anquor CF (Spain) are proud to have advised TSG on this cross-border transaction, which allows TSG to strengthen its presence in Spain and to affirm its ambitions in new energies for mobility.

Financière de Courcelles is advising TSG in its European development plan of external growth, through its multi-buy-side offer.

About TSG

TSG, the European leader in technical services for responsible mobility solution, is a key enabler of the energy transition for mobility: With unequalled presence in 30 countries, TSG designs, builds and maintains all types of energy distribution infrastructures for mobility: electric vehicles charging network, GPL/LNG, hydrogen and also fuel / biofuel service stations. TSG offers a one-stop-shop (equipment sale, projects and maintenance services, digital payments and systems) for innovative energy and retail solutions. TSG serves all types of clients, in the public and private sectors from local authorities and retail to gas station networks and companies fleet installations. TSG has over 4,500 employees, and revenue over €700m. TSG’s technicians are uniquely skilled, with recognized expertise in all new mobility energy solutions: electric vehicles, hydrogen, biofuels and natural gas as well as related systems and payment services. TSG is a privately-held company, owned by its management and the entrepreneurial investment firm HLD.


FDC conseille le groupe oktogone dans le cadre de sa cession au groupe ad education soutenu par ardian

Paris (France), June 21st, 2022 – AD Education, backed by Ardian, acquired Oktogone group, a leader in online education and training

Created in 2002 by Régis Micheli, Oktogone developed a large offer in online training in verticals such as Digital, Communications & Marketing or Management, through two platforms: ISCOD, a fully online higher education school offering 100% apprenticeship degrees, and Visiplus, an online professional training platform for professional.

In 2021, the group realised growth over 165%, which will accelerate in 2022 and in the coming years with the launch of new degrees.

Capitalizing on a high-growth market and well recognized brands, AD Education aims at pursuing Oktogone’s growth momentum and accelerate the launch of new degrees, particularly by relying on AD Education group’s large portfolio of face-to-face training.

Régis Micheli, Founder of Oktogone group: “We are thrilled to join AD Education group and open a new chapter in the development of Oktogone group. The mix of distance and face-to-face learning, as well as the strong complementarity with AD Education’s brands and training portfolio open exciting perspectives to accelerate our growth in the years to come. This association is a unique opportunity to create a leader in face-to-face and distance learning for creative professions, in France and in other countries where AD Education is present.”

Kévin Guenegan, Chairman of AD Education group: “We have very happy to welcome Oktogone to AD Education. We share common values as well as an entrepreneurial group DNA. The complementarity of our offers and expertise anchors the group in a lasting leading position on the booming market of higher education. We cannot wait to work with Oktogone teams and accelerate the group’s digitalization in France and abroad, by relying on high quality teams and platform.”

Financière de Courcelles team is thrilled to have advised Régis Micheli, Founder and Chairman of Oktogone in this key step for the group’s development. This sale of one of the leading Digital Learning platforms highlights and confirms our in-depth knowledge of the sector.

About Oktogone group

Oktogone group is a reference actor of training and employment in the digital era. The group combines a set of expertise to support workers, students, and jobseekers in the management of their career. Oktogone also supports businesses in helping their employees gain new skills in a professional training, internal mobility, or recruitment context.

About AD Education

Founded in 2009, AD Education is a leading European higher education platform dedicated to the fields of Creative Arts and training over 22,000 students in 15 schools, on 66 campuses in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Greece. AD Education covers 4 main training segments: Design & Graphic Arts, Media & Digital, Audio-visual and Culture & Luxury. Following the acquisition, AD Education will widen its presence in online training and will achieve revenue of over 220 million euros.

About Ardian

Ardian is a global leader in private equity with 130 billion dollars managed and/or advised in Europe, America, and Asia. Ardian benefits of an international network of over 880 employees in 15 offices in Europe (Frankfurt, Jersey, London, Luxemburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, and Zurich), in North America (New York, San Francisco), in South America (Santiago) and in Asia (Beijing, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul). The company manages funds for 1,200 clients through its 5 investment pillars: Fund of Funds, Direct Funds, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Private Debt.


Neftys pharma accueille à son capital ui investissement accompagne de geneo capital entrepreneur et credit agricole centre france

Paris (France), the 15 of June 2022,

Financière de Courcelles advised Neftys Pharma in a €30m fundraising from a trio of institutional and complementary investors (led by UI Investissement, with GENEO Capital Entrepreneur and Crédit Agricole Centre France) to support the company’s strong development. This fundraising opens a new development phase allowing the group to lead the consolidation of the European market.

With a €300m expected sales in 2022, the group intends to strengthen its position as a key player in the sector in Europe by pursuing its consolidation strategy. The €30m capital increase led by UI Investissement – together with GENEO Capital Entrepreneur and Crédit Agricole Centre France – coupled with structured financing of more than €52m obtained in April 2022 from the group’s historical bankers, materialises this ambition by enabling the group to take external growth opportunities. Neftys Pharma also intends to continue its development on the African continent.

Diego Mignot, CEO of Alliando, holding of Neftys Pharma:”I am delighted to welcome new investors to Neftys Pharma’s capital, which will enable me to structure the group, build loyalty and attract new talent, and above all take acquisition opportunities in a highly fragmented European market. I was convinced by the UI Investissement team, which is recognised for its expertise in healthcare and its benevolence towards managers, and by GENEO Capital Entrepreneur, which specialises in assisting small and medium-sized companies, particularly in their international development and CSR. Crédit Agricole is a long-standing partner and has always supported us in our various development plans. Our project is ambitious as we aim to double in size within 5 years and become a European player to support our partners in their various markets”.

Founded in 1987 within the OCP Group, Neftys Pharma is a wholesale distributor specialising in the distribution of veterinary products to animal health and welfare professionals. Formerly known as Veto Santé, the Group became independent in 1997 when Jacques Mignot carried out an MBO and strongly expanded in France (No. 3 in the sector) and then internationally under the management of his son Diego Mignot who arrived in 2013 to gradually take over the direction.

Neftys Pharma is now a reference one-stop shop capable of managing the supply, storage and distribution of veterinary medical products (vaccines, medicines) and non-medical products (food, food supplements, hygiene products). The company positions itself as an intermediary between veterinary pharmaceutical laboratories and manufacturers of non-medical products and retailers (veterinary clinics, animal breeders, specialist shops and pharmacies). The group also provides depository services, sales promotion and services to laboratories.

Drive organic and external growth

Neftys Pharma operates in a European market for veterinary products estimated at €24B in 2020. It is driven by an increase in the number of pets and livestock per capita (for consumption), as well as an increase in spending per animal and the development of insurance for animals.

The Group plans to achieve organic growth by diversifying into new products distributed to new customers and new markets (e-commerce, supermarkets, etc.). At the same time, Neftys Pharma will pursue its external growth strategy, illustrated by the completion of 9 acquisitions over the last 24 months and continue to be one of the only consolidation platforms in the European market capable of carrying out a buy and build strategy.

Financière de Courcelles’s team is delighted to have supported the Neftys Pharma group and its management in this transaction. Alongside the management team, we first conducted a strategic review of the appropriate financing for the group’s development and then built a financial structure that corresponds to its objectives and needs for the coming years.     

PARTICIPANTS IN THE OPERATION

Company side:

  • Company: Neftys Pharma (Diego Mignot, Elisabeth Siachoua)
  • Financial advisor: Financière de Courcelles (Michaël Petit, Jacques Schwab, Nikita – Picard)
  • Legal counsel: Gide (Axelle Toulemonde, Clara Abidri)
  • Management package advisor: Mayer Brown (Laurent Borey, Paul de Préval, Pauline Barbier)
  • Financial due diligence: Alvarez & Marsal (Donatien Chenu, Julien Szaleniec, Clément Allouard, Mohamed Benkirane)

Investor side:

  • Investors: UI Investissement (Olivier Jarrousse, Thomas Schmidt, Louis Champion, Matthieu Le Campion); GENEO Capital Entrepreneur (François Picarle, Louis Charrier); Crédit Agricole Centre France (Xavier Deyra, Laure Julien)
  • Legal counsel: De Pardieu Brocas Maffei (Magali Masson, Jeanne Rochmann and Sarah Dirani (corporate M&A); Priscilla Van Den Perre and Pierre-Alexandre Pujol (tax law)); Philippe Rozec, Clodoald de Rincquesen and Perrine Piat (employment law); Sekri Valentin Zerrouk (Pierre-Emmanuel Chevalier, Natacha Baratier, Chloé Metivier)
  • Financial due diligence: PwC (Benoit Cambournac, Sophie Brunot, Medhi Chafai); Grant Thornton (Françoise Mechin, Alain-Régis Grail, Pierre Aubrun)
  • Banking advisor: Etxe Finance (Luc Demarre)

Debt: LCL (Sylvain Delomier, Benoît Astier, Vincent Casse, Guillaume Moreau); Crédit Agricole Centre France (Vincent Becquevort, Romain Filhon, Jean-Philippe Garetier)


Financière de Courcelles a conseillé les actionnaires d’Equance dans le cadre de l’ouverture du capital de la société au fonds d’entrepreneurs Calcium Capital en investisseur minoritaire aux côtés des fondateurs

Paris (France), le 1er juin 2022,

Financière de Courcelles a conseillé les actionnaires d’Equance dans le cadre de l’ouverture du capital de la société au fonds d’entrepreneurs Calcium Capital en investisseur minoritaire aux côtés des fondateurs. Cet investissement marque l’ouverture d’une nouvelle phase de croissance du groupe, à l’international et en France.

L’arrivée de Calcium Capital au capital d’Equance illustre l’ambition de la société de renforcer ses équipes, d’accélérer le déploiement de son réseau international, de nouer des partenariats stratégiques et de saisir les opportunités de croissance externe sur le marché français.

Olivier Grenon-Andrieu, fondateur d’Equance : « Nous avons choisi un partenaire financier qui partage nos valeurs entrepreneuriales et notre ambition de développement et qui saura nous accompagner dans cette nouvelle étape de développement. Rejoindre l’aventure Equance, c’est intégrer une équipe robuste, dynamique, chaleureuse et soudée malgré l’éloignement géographique de certains consultants. Une équipe où chacun peut exprimer ses talents pour la réussite de tous. »

Depuis sa création en 2005, Equance a su développer une offre de services haut de gamme en nouant des partenariats avec des sociétés de gestion de renom et propose des placements en architecture ouverte adaptés aux besoins, à la situation et au profil de chacun de ses clients : assurance vie, non coté, immobilier financier, immobilier direct, etc… Equance propose également des solutions de crédit et de prévoyance plébiscitées par sa clientèle expatriée et française.

Depuis son siège social à Montpellier, Equance anime un réseau d’une cinquantaine de consultants basés dans les principales régions du monde (Asie, Océanie, Amérique du Nord et du Sud, Europe, Afrique et Moyen-Orient) ainsi qu’à Paris et en Occitanie. Ses clients sont présents dans plus de 100 pays dans le monde.

Equance a été distinguée de plusieurs récompenses pour son expertise en gestion privée internationale et sa stratégie d’épargne innovante (précurseur dans le non coté, le capital-investissement et la pierre-papier), et parait régulièrement dans la presse spécialisée.

Cédric Duchamp, associé gérant de Calcium Capital : « Le positionnement très différenciant d’Equance sur une clientèle d’expatriés, restant en outre fidèles à la société lors de leur retour en France, a immédiatement attiré notre attention. Dans un secteur où les exigences en matière de qualité de service, d’outils digitaux et de réglementation augmentent d’année en année et encouragent les acteurs du métier à se rapprocher, la qualité des fondateurs et des équipes que nous avons rencontrés nous a convaincu de la capacité d’Equance à attirer et à fédérer toujours plus de talents. »

L’équipe FIG de Financière de Courcelles est ravie d’avoir accompagné les fondateurs d’Equance dans cette opération de LBO primaire et confirme ainsi sa très forte dynamique dans le secteur des services financiers.

INTERVENANTS SUR L’OPÉRATION

Côté société :

  • Société : Equance (Olivier Grenon-Andrieu, Didier Bujon)
  • Conseil financier : Financière de Courcelles (Michaël Petit, Christophe Brière, Julien Page, Hamza Lahna)
  • Conseil juridique : Eleom Avocats (Didier Puech, Jean-Marie Aussedat)
  • Due Diligence financière : RSM (Jean-Marc Capdevila, Grégory Azemar)

Côté investisseur :

  • Investisseur : Calcium Capital (Cédric Duchamp, Antoine Gravot, Louis Michel)
  • Conseil juridique : Viguier Schmidt & Associés (Fabrice Veverka, Victor Cann, Thomas Aulibe, Christel Alberti, Mélanie Teixeira, Charles Fillon)
  • Due diligence financière : PwC (Céline Appel-Schneider, Arnaud Thibesart, Ludovic Boucher, Yanzhang Yuan)
  • Due diligence juridique : D’Ornano & Co (Thomas Priolet, Saliha Bardasi, Adèle Daudre-Vignier, Alexia Suptil, Cécile Auvieux, François Proveau)
  • Due diligence réglementaire : PwC (Daniel Berlioz, Camille Dehez-Joyeux)

Côté financement :

  • Crédit Agricole Languedoc (Fanny Le Goff, Magali Champion)
  • Société Générale (Peter Burghard, Anne-Maelle Brezac)
  • LCL (Matthieu Minetto, David Paquin)

FDC advises Skill & You (IK Partners) in ICS Learn acquisition from Primary Capital Partners

Paris (France), 22nd March 2022 – Skill & You acquires the online training platform ICS Learn from Primary Capital Partners.

ICS Learn is a British group founded more than 130 years ago offering 100% online training for students and professionals. The group covers many sectors such as human resources, accounting, leadership, marketing, and management.

ICS Learn’s trainings have received the most prestigious British professional certifications from renowned certification bodies such as CIPD and AAT, as well as academic certifications such as A-Levels, GCSE and iGCSE.

This acquisition will allow Skill & You to strengthen its presence in the European e-learning market. The management team will remain unchanged.

Eric Petco and Sonia-Levy Odier, Managing Directors of Skill & You, said: “We are very pleased to welcome ICS Learn to the Skill & You team and are excited to see what our combination will bring. Acquiring the Business is the natural next step for us as it will help us to realize our ambitious growth plans and enable entry into the UK market. We have been very impressed with ICS Learn’s growth to date and look forward to the years ahead.”

The Financière de Courcelles Education team is delighted to have advised Skill & You in this new step of its international development, this transaction allows the group to comfort its European leadership in Digital Learning.

This transaction illustrates the Financière de Courcelles expertise in conducting cross-border deals and reinforces its leadership as M&A advisor in the Digital Learning segment.

About Skill & You

Generating more than €150m in sales, Skill and You is a vocational e-learning provider with 150,000 students and 1,000 employees and has established itself as a market leader in France and Spain. The Group’s unrivalled portfolio of more than 220 courses largely leads to state diplomas and covers a wide range of professional fields (Healthcare, Childcare, Animal Health, IT & Digital, Accounting and Administration, Public Service, and Construction, amongst others).

About IK Partners

IK Partners (“IK”) is a European private equity firm focused on investments in the Benelux, DACH, France, Nordics and the UK. Since 1989, IK has raised more than €14 billion of capital and invested in over 160 European companies. IK supports companies with strong underlying potential, partnering with management teams and investors to create robust, well-positioned businesses with excellent long-term prospects.

About ICS Learn

ICS Learn is a leading online professional education platform offering learners flexible courses, accredited by industry-leading awarding bodies including CIPD, the gold-standard globally recognised Human Resources qualification, and AAT for finance professionals. The Business serves more than 25,000 students annually across over 100 countries. Training is delivered digitally, across B2B and B2C markets.

About Primary Capital Partners

Primary is an independent private equity firm which invests in middle-market management buy-outs and buy-ins in the UK. With offices in London and Manchester, Primary works closely with management teams to develop their business by providing long-term financial resources and strategic support over a three to seven year period.


Financière de Courcelles advised investors in the context of the capital increase of the technology company dataïads.

Paris (France), 16 March 2022,

Financière de Courcelles advised investors in the context of the capital increase of the technology company dataïads. A startup and SaaS player at the crossroads of Adtech and Martech, dataïads publishes a post-click experience technology to optimise the performance of the Google Shopping channel, the main traffic driver for e-retailers.

dataïads helps companies achieve a better ROI through optimised advertising campaigns, thanks to a proprietary technology. It enables digital and marketing managers to optimise their ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) by reducing the bounce rate and increasing conversions and the average basket per purchase.

dataïads was founded in 2021 by Raphaël Grandemange, former CEO of Webedia (Fimalac group), Thibault de Broissia and Benjamin Cozon, founders of Uptilab and Reeport, which were acquired by Webedia in 2017 and merged with Jellyfish in 2019, while Emile Caron, former Director of Development at Reeport, which specialises in datavisualisation tools, has joined the team as Chief Technology Officer

Following a fundraising process, the founders have chosen new financial partners to support them in the growth and development of dataïads on a very promising market.

This transaction is part FDC’s new strategy of supporting technology companies.