Glorious fizz

The rentree is off to an exceptional start with Blackstone and Lion Capital recording the largest exit (of the few) in France so far this year after they agreed on the sale of Orangina Schweppes Group to Suntory for EUR2.57bn. Both private equity houses should record about 2x returns from the sale, which is particularly impressive considering the market

The exit came as an impressive number of deals were completed at all levels of the industry this month, possibly as a lag from the summer, although the values of buyout deals were still somewhat at the low end.

Additionally this month, in an attempt to banish memories of the Monier deal setting a precedent, it seems Pragma Capital managed to hold onto a stake of about 15% in retail company Retif following extensive negotiations with creditors. It purchased the firm from ABN AMRO in late 2007 for EUR340m. The bank, HBOS, will still take a majority shareholding in the company in exchange for a debt write off.

The positive mood was highlighted at the recent Capital Creation event where the chatter was generally hope-filled rather than the doom and gloom we had all gotten used to hearing. Central themes included the expected take off of secondaries, private equity remuneration and the debate on maintaining the high levels of salary and bonus paid to executives in the space.

Meanwhile, the deal pipeline looks good with Astorg set to take a minority stake in insurance broker Gras Savoye, which would value the business at EUR500m, and H.I.G. Capital to buy US automotive company Molex's Villemur-sur-Tarn factory for a symbolic EUR1, given certain performance guarantees and support of the French government.

Yours sincerely,

Francois Rowell

Editor, France unquote"

Tel: +44 20 7004 7524

francois.rowell@incisivemedia.com.