001-001couverture DEF 29/05/07 17:10 Page 1 Special Issue • ENGLISH EDITION EACH MONTH • LE JOURNAL DES PROFESSIONNELS DU CAPITAL INVESTISSEMENT PRIVATE EQUITY MAGAZINE Special Issue ■ June 2007 The new president paid a visit during his campain to Moteurs FRENCH PRIVATE EQUITY 2007 Baudoin, under LBO with Axa PE. A good omen for the industry? A year in France PE INDUSTRY VENTURE STORY EXPANSION: HOW TO LIVE IN THE SOCIAL IMAGE… IPOs ARE BACK DIANA INGRÉDIENTS THE SHADOW OF THE LBO? In front of countless The momentum is good. The pet food and culinary Sustaining growth, maintaining control attacks from unions and Buyoant market has ingredients company has over the company, getting used to a politicians, French LBO opened up the found the right recipe world is preparing horizons for with the LBO financier are the main reasons why a social riposte. French VCs. from Cognetas. managers choose this way of financing. >p. 22 > p. 26 > p. 30 > p. 24 PUBS 29/05/07 18:34 Page 7 003-003editorial-tableofcontents.qxd 29/05/07 17:54 Page 3 B TALKING EDITORIAL | TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUTS 21 Centrale Partners 6 Access Capital Partners 9 Activa Capital 4 A NEW EDITION OF OUR ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE FRENCH PRIVATE AGF Private Equity 6 Alven Capital 32 EQUITY MARKET. We left it buoyant to find it again in an excellent shape. In between, the Amec Spie 36 industry had to face an unprecedented opposition which questioned the very nature of its model. Apax Partners 8 M. Osti Franck Caron, Editor. Although this surge of social contestation spread over Europe and the United States, it has to be Argos Soditic 6 AtriA Capital Partners 5 taken particularly seriously in France considering the country reluctance towards anything that looks Audacia 4 like “pure finance” game. This is the challenge of a successful industry which makes the covers of economic newspa- Auriga Partners 8 pers everyday. Success oblige. By addressing the contestation seriously, members of the industry have shown a maturity Axa Private Equity 6 Banexi capital Partenaires 4 that should help find their way through more troubled time. Batisanté 38 Bretèche Industrie 38 CAAM AI 8 CIC LBO Partners 4 News from France Cognetas 8, 30 04 Cytheris 40 > Sagard raises 1 billions euros in 2006 DailyMotion 40 > French investors pass the 10 billions mark Demeter Partners 6 > New funds for wind farms in France Desjonquères 37 > France Investissement and CDC support the promising SMEs Ed. de Rothschild CP 28 EolInvest 6 Portrait 10 Epsilon Finance 6 > Denis Metzger: a man with moral standards ERYtech Pharma 40 Eurazeo 4 Cover story Euromezzanine 8 12 Exalead 40 > CHALLENGES AHEAD EyeGate 40 With allt the Private Equity Magazine’s 2006 league tables Forté Pharma 41 FRR 6 Comments 18 GE Leveraged Finance 4 > LBO debt: have recent legal changes made it a safer job? Gerflor 37 > France, a favourable environment for private equity Go Voyages 38 IES Sinergy 39 Leveraged buyout IFE Mezzanine 8 22 Industri Kapital 4 > The social image of private equity Initiative & Finance 4 KP1 37 Expansion capital Lafarge Roofing 36 24 Laho Equipement 41 > How to live in the shadow of the LBO? LBO France 8 Venture Capital Médica 41 26 Metall Technologie 38 > New IPOs are regaining momentum at “the Bourse”… Natixis Private Equity 4, 8 Novasep 37 Strategy OFI Private Equity 9 28 Pasteur Cerba 38 > Edmond de Rothschild Capital Partners: growth accelerators Platina Finance Ltd 6 the Stories RBS 8 30 Sagard 5 > Cognetas transforms Diana Ingrédients Sebia 41 > Newsweb, constructing a web portal for men SeLoger.com 41 Siparex 4 fundraisings, deals and exits tables Sofitel Royal Casino 39 34 Sopromec 6 > A global view of the fundraising market in France Sportfive 41 > A selection of the main deals or exits in France TDF 36 Pictures: DR Triago 9 Business restaurants Turenne Capital 8 Cover photograph: 42 © MARLENE > A selection of the latest reviews of our favorite business tables UFG Private Equity 8 AWAAD/IP3/MAXPPP Un Jour Ailleurs 38 Vacances Directes 39 Via Location 37 SARL Lipari Presse - 100, boulevard de Sébastopol 75003 Paris - FRANCE - Phone: 33 (0)1 40 33 71 93 - Fax: 33 (0)1 40 33 71 90 - [email protected] Vivarte 36 PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Armelle Escoffier ([email protected]) - EDITORIAL: Editor in chief: Franck Caron ([email protected]) - Journalist: Fabrice Anselmi Wendel Investissement 9 ([email protected]) - Art Director:Philippe Abellard (ETIK-PRESSE) - CONTRIBUTORS: Marie Guilhem, Erwan Seznec, Patrick Caroli, François de Soulanges, Weinberg Capital Partners 6 Othman Ferdaous, Emmanuel Rubin - GRAPHIC CONCEPTION: ETIK-PRESSE - Photo-engraving: Magie Bleue, Paris - Printing: Tanghe Printing, B-7780, Comines, Belgique World Flight Services 37 ADVERTISING: contact Coralie Legrand at 33 (0)1 40 33 79 81, or [email protected] Wyplay SAS 40 SUBSCRIPTIONS: contact Sophie Fleury at 33 (0)1 40 33 71 93, or [email protected] XAnge Capital 6 WEBSITE: www.pemagazine.fr Dépôt légal à parution - N° de commission paritaire: 1206 K 85732 - N° ISSN: 1771-3706 - Private Equity Magazine est édité par SARL Lipari Presse, RCS Paris B 478 182 710 - Prix au numéro: 89 euros, 10 numéros par an + hors-séries - Ce numéro est un supplément hors-série du numéro 26 daté de juin 2007. Targets in red | Special Issue | June 2007 | PRIVATE EQUITY MAGAZINE 3 004-009news.qxd 29/05/07 17:57 Page 4 A NEWS FROM FRANCE Audacia has just raised a mezzanine 2006. RESULTS fund of 100 millions for SMEs. This new team led by Charles Beigbeder will offer financings between 500,000 Natixis Private Equity increased its profits and 1.5 million euros to companies ll the indicators are pos- now on with Krokus Private of less than 50 million turnover. A itive for the capital in- Equity) and India (with Ze- The structuring of Audacia 1 is under vestment subsidiary of the phyr Peacock). The 89 new the responsibility of Commerzbank, new group comprising the deals represent total invest- which will securitize the shares of Banques Populaires (Na- ment of 464 million euros, the fund for the first 60 investments. texis) and the Caisse Na- with 139 millions additional tionale des Caisses d’Epa- investments and diverse in- rgne (Ixis). Its managed vestments. Eurazeo is near a final closing of its capital has strongly in- The excellent health of first co-investment fund at 345 mil- creased in 2006 and the net Natixis PE is also percepti- lions for an objective of 500 millions. profits of the group has been DR ble in the amount of funds Eurazeo Co-Investment Partners will multiplied by 2, increasing Jean Duhau de Berenx, president, and Pierre Hervé, secretary general. managed, which has sur- invest, as in Europcar in 2006, alongside from 103 to 218 million eu- passed the symbolic 3 bil- Eurazeo for each operation at a 20% level. ros, thanks to a very high with stock market floata- with a major proportion for lions figure (30% of which level of profit which reached tions in expansion and sec- LBOs (50%) and expansion is outside France), thanks to CIC LBO Partners closed 540 millions on all the man- ondary LBOs (and the latent (39%), as well as increasing a series of fundraisings of in 2006 its fund for the aged portfolios, with 404 mi- profit have increased glob- internationalisation: 22% of 933 million euros. Of this French mid-market at the llions for Natixis PE’s own ally from 346 to 399 mil- investment have been made total, 300 millions have been fund. Expansion capital and lions). in Europe (Germany, Italy allocated to the new fund of level of 135 million euros transmission operations con- Investments have also and Spain) and 9% in the funds activity, where Natixis (initial target of 120 millions). tributed 47% and 39% re- reached exceptional levels, merging economies, notably and the European Invest- Sponsored by CIC to the tune spectively of this amount, at 603 millions, there also China, Brazil, Poland (from ment Fund invest together. of 23%, CIC LBO Partners has already made 4 deals on Carré Blanc, Sateco, Tréfilac- FRENCH PE. HISTORIC PLAYER tion and Europe-Snacks. It has been a very good Very good results for Siparex in 2006, year for Banexi Capital Partenaires, with 9 deals and a new start in venture made and 93 million euros iparex has experienced between 2 and 10 millions, Returns to investors amou- invested. Notably MBOs on S an excellent year in and an equilibrium be- nted to 140 million euros Paprec, Bretèche Industrie, 2006, with a strong increase tween majority Lbos (for inclunding 76 millions of and Numalliance. in transfers (+64% at example CMR), owner buy- profit, the highest level The French fund also 181 million euros) having outs (Comat) and expan- since the creation of the counted 10 exits for a total led to attractive gross profit sion capital (Jalmat). group thirty years ago. Af- …NEWS FLASH… of 103 millions. (94.5 million euros) and Southern Europe, cho- ter having raised Siparex maintaining investments at sen as a strategic develop- Midcap (for the bottom Industri Kapital has open a Paris 73 millions, a slight reduc- ment axis since 2003, has end of the market) to office under Dan Soudry. The team tion due to venture funds also been a happy hunting 124 millions in March 2006, led by Chris Masek for France has made having almost entirely been ground with deals made by the team launched Siparex invested. The group insists the branches in Milan MidMarket II at the end 8 investments up to now, including 5 on its independent expan- (Vimec and TecMo), and of 2006 (already 100 mil- DR complete exits (Laho Equipement, Fives sion capital activity and Madrid (Neumaticos An- lions in promised subscrip- Dominique Nouvelet, chairman Lille, Labeyrie, Consolis-Bonna-Sabla, transmission based on the dres).