Category: Deals

The website designer and digital solutions integrator is gearing up for acquisitions with the arrival of a new shareholder, Socadif, which will replace the former minority shareholder, Alliance Entreprendre, while CEIDF CI reinvests. Thanks to this operation, Chairman Stéphane Hudyma will become the majority shareholder in the company.

 

Following a new Management Buy-Out (MBO), Webnet is now under the control of its Chairman, Stéphane Hudyma. In this new operation, the majority of the capital of this company, which specializes in website design and the integration of digital solutions, already belonged to the management team. Prior to the MBO, Stéphane Hudyma held 50.1% of the capital, while two former non-operational executives owned the remainder. However, the latter left the company completely by selling their shares, enabling Stéphane Hudyma to increase his stake to 52%. In addition, five other managers took over around 7% of the shares.

 

The former minority investment fund, Alliance Entreprendre, which had been part of the company’s capital, was replaced by Socadif, while Caisse d’Epargne Île-de-France Capital Investissement reinvested. Stéphane Hudyma explained that the search for a new partner was due to the end of the investment cycle, and not to any urgent need for an exit.

 

The transaction, which was managed by DDA & Company, was arranged with senior debt provided by BNP Paribas and Caisse d’Epargne d’Île-de-France, corresponding to a small leverage of less than three times Ebtida.

 

Following this new MBO, Webnet plans to carry out two to three external growth operations over the next six years. These operations will preferably be aimed at targets representing 30 to 50% of the company’s size, enabling it to further expand its presence in the territory. Webnet currently employs 180 people in the Paris region, Lyon, Nantes, Lille and Bordeaux. Future plans include expansion into Europe.

 

Joffe & Associés (Virginie Belle and Paddy Pascot) advised SOCADIF and CAISSE D’EPARGNE ILE DE FRANCE CAPITAL INVESTISSEMENT on this transaction.

 

---

 

Target company : WEBNET

Transaction date: 07/26/2023

Buyer or Investor : MANAGER(S) , Stéphane Hudyma , SOCADIF CAPITAL INVESTISSEMENT , Emmanuel David , CAISSE D’EPARGNE ILE DE FRANCE CAPITAL INVESTISSEMENT , Guillaume Guin , Tom Lorin

Vendor : SEVENTURE PARTNERS , Thibaut Canton , CAISSE D’EPARGNE ILE DE FRANCE CAPITAL INVESTISSEMENT , Guillaume Guin , Tom Lorin , MANAGER(S) , Stéphane Hudyma

Company Investment banker / M&A advisor : DDA & COMPANY , Anthony Wimbush , Charles-Antoine Cayez

Corporate Lawyer : LAMARTINE CONSEIL , Philippe Barouch , Périne Estephan

Tax Law firm : LAMARTINE CONSEIL , Bertrand Hermant

DD Financial : ADVANCE CAPITAL , Olivier Poncin , Mehdi Adyel , Prescillia Dard

Purchaser Corporate lawyer : JOFFE & ASSOCIES , Virginie Belle , Paddy Pascot

Debt: BNP PARIBAS (FINANCEMENT) , David Eyraud , Germain Pardon , Daniel Ardeljan , CAISSE D’EPARGNE ILE DE FRANCE (CEIDF) , Camille Borie

Lyon-based deeptech company Mob-Energy has taken a major step forward in expanding its horizons. After moving into new industrial premises at USIN Lyon Parilly, it has just announced a €10 million fund-raising round to support its growth.

 

After three years since its launch, Mob-Energy sees Charles, the very first autonomous recharging robot deployed in Europe, which charges 10 to 20 cars a day wherever they are parked with a single mobile “terminal”, as well as Eiko, a scalable recharging solution for private company and government parking lots, public parking lots, logistics hubs and airports, benefit from further financial backing. At a time when the start-up is beginning to industrialize its recharging solutions, which are manufactured in Lyon, France, it is closing a major €10 million fund-raising round, three years after a seed round.

 

The fund-raising was orchestrated by Axeleo Capital and organized by the investment bank Wagram Corporate Finance. It brings together a consortium of investors including a fund managed by Santander AM, Bpifrance, UI Investissement, Crédit Agricole, Fonds Énergies CMA CGM, EIT InnoEnergy and two private investors. This fund-raising marks an important turning point for the company, which also plans to expand internationally outside Europe in the coming years.

 

“The year 2023 marks a turning point for Mob-Energy. This Series A is our passport to an exciting and challenging chapter: industrial ramp-up. We made a choice in 2018 (date of the company’s creation, editor’s note) to have a share of industry in our project, a choice that today is bearing fruit. The know-how we’ve built up over the past five years, particularly in the reconditioning of used car batteries, gives a great deal of strength and meaning to the project“, says Salim El Houat, co-founder and president of Mob-Energy.

 

Joffe & Associés (Thomas Saltiel, Charlotte Viandaz and Rudy Diamant) advised AXELEO CAPITAL, BPIFRANCE INVESTISSEMENT and SANTANDER ASSET MANAGEMENT on this transaction.

Read the original article in Les Echos Capital Finance here.

 

Joffe & Associés (Christophe Joffe, Charlotte Viandaz, Clémence Bressolin and Clément Peillet), advises Aktid on the opening of its capital to Initiative & Finance Tomorrow, for its international development.

 

Against a backdrop of growing ecological awareness and legislative constraints, Aktid, the French leader in sorting center design, celebrates its 18th anniversary by opening up its capital to a financial investor for the first time. Following a process led by Mazars CF, this Savoie-based SME, founded by Pierre André Payerne in 2005, has chosen to entrust between 30% and 45% of its capital to Initiative & Finance’s new mid-cap fund, Tomorrow.

 

This fund specializes in investments in mid-cap companies committed to the environmental transition. Crédit Agricole des Savoies, the company’s long-standing banking partner, is also participating by co-investing via its regional private equity structure, C2AD, and co-arranging senior debt with Arkea and Caisse d’Epargne Rhône-Alpes.

 

Proudly claiming its number-one position in the market for the design and construction of sorting and recovery facilities for non-hazardous solid waste, Aktid has seen remarkable growth in its sales, which have doubled in just one year, from 40 to 80 million euros in 2023. This significant increase can be explained in part by the company’s high visibility on its order book and its ability to anticipate the increase in its activity by actively recruiting some thirty employees over the last few years, bringing its workforce to around one hundred.

With the support of Kresk, Isatis and Bpifrance, the Mulhouse-based engineering consultancy, which generates revenues of €65 million, strengthens its competencies by acquiring Grenoble-based Automatique & Industrie, which posts sales of €12.7 million.

 

Following the acquisitions of Toulouse-based BTM Consultants, Enerjia and Altitem, C-Beyond, the parent company of engineering consultancy B-Hive, is continuing its growth by acquiring Grenoble-based Automatique & Industrie for just over 20 million euros. This transaction was made possible by unconfirmed financing lines that had been provided for in last year’s LBO.

 

In 2018, Pascal Mioche, chairman of the Isère-based company, had anticipated the transfer of the business by putting in place an OBO (Owner Buy-Out), involving executives Arnaud Vanden Borre and Régis Ruckert, as well as Crédit Agricole Sud Rhône Alpes’ 10% shareholding, and the participation of four employees at a very minority level. Régis Ruckert, Managing Director of Automatique & Industrie, explains: “To accelerate our growth and move from an SME to an ETI, it was necessary to be backed by a group larger than our own”.

 

As part of this sale, the members of the management team will reinvest in the C-Beyond holding company, while the managers and employees will retain their respective positions. Pascal Mioche, who is nearing retirement age, will occupy cross-functional positions within the Group.

 

Joffe & Associés (Aymeric Dégremont, Romain Soiron) advised Automatique & Industrie (A.I) and its shareholders on this transaction.

Read the original CFNEWS article here.

 

Joffe & Associés (Christophe Joffe, Océane Christman and Clémence Bressolin) advises Avignon Ceramic on welcoming Capza Transition as lead investor. Capza Transition will invest between 10 and 20 million euros to acquire the majority of the company’s shares from the management team.

 

Five years after completing its first buyout with Adaxtra and Ouest Croissance, who invested around €4 million to acquire a majority stake, the Chérier-based manufacturer of technical ceramic parts and cores is aiming to take the next step with the help of Capza Transition.

 

The selection process, led by Mazars CF, was won by this small cap fund from the multi-strategy platform, which plans to invest between €10 and €20 million to take control of this SME, in partnership with its management team led by Philippe Coulon.

 

“The manager examined the two possible scenarios: industrial backing and a second buyout (LBO bis), with the main objective of preserving Avignon Ceramic’s specialized know-how in France and Europe, in order to counter the domination of the main American competitor”, explains Matthieu Boyé, partner at Mazars CF.

 

Founded in 1870, Avignon Ceramic has undergone a gradual evolution, moving from decorative ceramics to an industrial niche focused on the design of ceramic cores and technical parts. These products are mainly intended for critical applications in engines used in civil and military aeronautics, the power generation sector and the medical field. This Cher-based SME is forecasting sales of 12 million euros this year, with average growth of 10%, excluding the negative effects of the Covid-19 crisis. More than half of these sales are generated in the aerospace sector.

 

Avignon Ceramic’s objective is to pursue the diversification already begun in turbines for the energy sector, as well as in the medical field. At the same time, the company is studying external growth opportunities. Emmanuel Bonnaud, partner at Capza Transition, which is making its thirteenth investment under its first fund, explains this strategy.

The specialist in OLED microdisplay design signs a third round of financing of almost 21 million euros. Advised by Joffe & Associés (Thomas Saltiel, Camille Malbezin and Oriana Castelli), Jolt Capital and Bpifrance are leading this round of financing in front of historic shareholders, as part of Microoled’s drive to increase production capacity and fuel research and development.

 

A new series of full-color, high-brightness glasses for professionals and the first for the general public. Microoled is now seeking to justify a new round of financing to strengthen and diversify its business development, almost three years after its €8 million Series B round.

 

The Grenoble-based industrialist, led directly by Jolt Capital and Bpifrance, has mobilized the Innovation Défense fund to sign a third round of financing worth 21 million euros.

 

“We seized the opportunity to invest in a high-tech company that already has a broad industrial customer base,” managing partner at Jolt Capital, alongside a long-standing shareholder, Cipio Partners, with whom we have already invested.” Ventech, which joined in 2023 with the German-Luxembourg fund, is also back in the pot. MicroOled, which generated sales of almost €23 million in 2021, 95% of which were exported to 25 countries, now wants to take advantage of its new capital to increase capacity at its production unit in Grenoble.

 

 

Recent announcements about new consumer headsets, due to be available in 2024, are boosting the overall market for augmented reality, for all applications, including industry and security. And while it’s possible to use a smartphone or tablet as a gateway to this technology, glasses will eventually be unavoidable.

 

---

 

Buyer or Investor : JOLT CAPITAL , Pierre Garnier , BPIFRANCE INVESTISSEMENT , Nicolas Berdou , CIPIO PARTNERS , VENTECH

Company Corporate lawyer : JOFFE & ASSOCIES , Thomas Saltiel , Camille Malbezin

Purchaser Corporate lawyer : MAGS AVOCATS , Johann Charmette , Gabriel Joseph-Deparis

Read the official press release here.

 

The Public Business Law team at Joffe & Associés (Mathieu Gaudemet, Marie-Alix Mallet and Pierre Delarousse) is delighted to have assisted Hub One at every stage of the procedure (award, negotiation and finalization) leading to the award of a concession contract by the Société du Grand Paris, for the design, financing, implementation, operation and maintenance of a wifi and Internet of Things (IoT) network in the rights-of-way of the Grand Paris Express stations.

 

The contract will run for 14 years, and will cover stations on the extension of line 14, stations on the new lines 15 to 18, and the trains running on these lines. It will be operated by a project company owned by Hub One and Banque des Territoires (Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations group).

 

Hub One, a subsidiary of the ADP group and an operator of digital technologies for businesses, has been chosen to deploy the network and operate the wifi network and the network of connected objects in the stations and trains of the Grand Paris Express. A dedicated project company is to be set up rapidly, with the Banque des Territoires (CDC) as a minority shareholder, to carry out this 14-year concession. In particular, it will ensure the connection of the first stations on the line 14 extension, in June 2024, in preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

 

In addition to WiFi internet connection, the project company will also offer several additional services, such as professional WiFi offers, the marketing of advertising space on the connection portal, a connection service for passengers arriving from abroad, and an Internet of Things (IoT) network to facilitate services for professionals.

NumWorks, a Paris-based graphic design prodigy specializing in calculators, advised by Joffe & Associés (Thomas Saltiel, Antoine Lamy and Clémence Bressolin) went from venture to LBO when it was acquired by robotics designer Aldebaran, the first investment from its ATF I fund.

 

Few start-ups make the transition from venture capital financing to LBO. NumWorks joins this select group through a primary MBO. This transaction, facilitated by Alantra, enables Romain Goyet, founder of the Paris-based company specializing in the design and distribution of graphical calculators, which currently generates sales of €15-20 million, to hand over the reins to his management team.

 

Léo Solé, previously Operations Director, becomes President, and Clothilde Relin, Marketing and Sales Director, becomes Managing Director. Emilie Feral, already an engineer with the start-up, is appointed head of R&D and technical aspects. This transition is supported by Aldebaran, which is acquiring the majority of the shares by investing between 15 and 60 million euros. This is the first investment for their ATF I fund, which closed at 130 million euros in July 2021.

 

The fundraising process, which aimed to reach 300 million euros, is nearing completion, although the manager is not disclosing the amount currently raised. Oriane Durvye, Managing Partner at Alantra, describes the company as a genuine French technological nugget, having succeeded in disrupting the duopoly established by two global giants. The company is profitable and growing fast, attracting strong interest from family offices and agile funds. This operation stands out because of its “single-product” position, which makes it particularly attractive.

 

“We therefore support the management team led by Léo Solé in its expansion, notably through the future recruitment of a CFO. NumWorks has established itself in France, and our ambition is now to develop its international presence in Europe and the United States. We also plan to further digitize our product range. This growth plan aims to double or triple the number of calculators sold in the medium term for a company that currently has 25 employees,” explains Amélie Brossier, President and Founder of Aldebaran.

Joffe & Associés (Aymeric Dégremont, Blaise Deltombe and Antoine Lamy) advises Precitrame Machines SA, a leader in precision transfer machines, on its 100% acquisition of ESPI SAS, a company specializing in hardware and software solutions for machine tool control.

 

“The complementary nature of the two companies in terms of skills and products, as well as the growing synergies between the worlds of machining and control, made this merger an obvious choice”, states Olivier Voumard, Managing Director of Precitrame Machines.

 

Precitrame Machines designs, develops and produces innovative solutions for the manufacture and finishing of complex micromechanical components in the field of precision machining.

 

This operation is in line with Precitrame Machines’ strategy of diversification and consolidation in the market, and strengthens ESPI, while guaranteeing the continuity of skills, products and jobs. Established and recognized, ESPI remains an entity and a brand of its own.

 

On June 2, 2023, Precitrame Machines completed the acquisition of the entire share capital of ESPI, a Lyon-based company, and its daughter company ESPI Suisse in Yverdon.

 

This acquisition will enable Precitrame to focus in the future on solutions dedicated to production and machining, and position ESPI as a leader in very high-speed three-dimensional measurement and control solutions.

 

This operation will also enable Precitrame Machines to strengthen its presence in the French Swiss machine tool market, and its international presence, as well as its positioning as a complete solutions provider.

Read the original CFNEWS article here.

 

Hygie31, a key player in the Pharmacie Lafayette and Pharmacorp networks, acquires Elsker Group in Roubaix. The Toulouse-based company, advised by Joffe & Associés (Christophe Joffe, Camille Malbezin & Carla Ferron) in this transaction, is taking a majority stake in Elsker alongside the three founders.

 

Hygie31 continues to expand. The company has become a majority shareholder in the Elsker group, a major player in the pharmaceutical sector, based in Roubaix. Founded in 2009 by Cyril Tétart, Alexis and Gaétan Bocahut, Eslker today brings together the Pharmacyal network of 127 independent local pharmacies, with sales of 225 million euros, the Norcap pharmaceutical purchasing group and the Mieux vivre à domicile medical equipment distributor, which serves 350 pharmacies and stores. It has recorded sales of 245 million in 2022, up 12%.

 

The group’s founders remain at the helm, and estimate that the number of pharmacies in the network will increase to 200 within the next five years.

 

The process, launched at the end of last year by Septentrion, attracted the interest of players in the sector, four of whom reportedly made an offer.

 

“Hygie31 quickly positioned itself to win the deal,” explains Guillaume Dubois, partner at the M&A consultancy. The Toulouse-based group, backed by Latour Capital and Bpifrance, which took over from FAPI last summer, is no novice. At the beginning of 2022, he took over Gener +, the holding company for the network of 740 pharmacies under the Pharmacorp banner and its €750 million in sales. A few months later, he crossed borders by signing the takeover of Ecoceutics, a group of 156 pharmacies (€200 million in revenues) in Catalonia.

 

This merger enables us to consolidate our approach to the French pharmacy market by offering complementary models (chain pharmacy with Pharmacie Lafayette and traditional pharmacy with Pharmacorp and Pharmacyal) to consolidate the pharmacy as the French people’s first point of contact for health,” explained Chairman Hervé Jouves in a press release. It also confirms our desire to welcome regional groups of local pharmacies and support them in their development.

 

 

---

• Target company : ELSKER GROUP (LA SANTÉ.NET, PHARMACYAL, NORCAP, MVD)
• Purchaser or Investor : GROUPE LAF SANTE (HYGIE31) , Hervé Jouves , LATOUR CAPITAL , BPIFRANCE INVESTISSEMENT , FIVE ARROWS PRINCIPAL INVESTMENTS (FAPI)
• Vendor : GROUPE IRD , David Leprêtre , FOUNDERS, Cyril Tétart , Alexis Bocahut , Gaétan Bocahut
• Purchaser Corporate lawyer : JOFFE & ASSOCIES , Christophe Joffe, Camille Malbezin, Carla Ferron
• Transferor Investment banker / M&A advisor : SEPTENTRION FINANCE , Guillaume Dubois