Bain to buy Maisons du Monde from Apax, LBO France

Vendors Apax France, its former listed fund Altamir Amboise, LBO France and Nixen will all exit the business following the transaction, which should close at the beginning of August. Management and employees will hold the remainder of the shares – overall, 300 staff members will take a stake in the buyout.

The auction process for Maisons du Monde, handled by Lazard and Messier Maris and launched in March, has been one of the most closely followed in the French buyout space in the first half of 2013. Although the French retail sector, and notably the furniture and decoration sub-segment, suffered in the second half of 2012, LBO France stated it had been confident about the sale prospects given the quality of the business.

The process initially involved around 10 private equity players and a few corporates – although the company's management team was in favour of a tertiary buyout. PAI partners, Bain and Axa Private Equity emerged as forerunners in later rounds. Axa PE was believed to be the sole player left alongside Bain in final bids at the end of May.

Bain took the crown based on its attractive offer, but also its experience in the retail space and its shared vision with Maisons du Monde's management regarding the future development of the business, according to LBO France.

Debt
Bain will turn to the high-yield market to finance the acquisition, according to a source close to the transaction. The GP will reportedly look to raise around €330m, although Bain declined to comment on the financing aspects of the deal.

The vendors had arranged a potential staple financing solution as part of the sale process, which notably included senior debt from Natixis, Unicredit and Société Générale.

Previous funding
Apax and LBO France acquired a majority stake in Maisons du Monde in an SBO from Barclays Private Equity in 2008 – the deal was at the time believed to be worth around €400m. The two investors secured a joint 70% stake, with management retaining around 20% and original investor Nixen reducing its interest to less than 10%.

Senior debt financing was provided by Calyon, CIC and Natixis, while mezzanine debt was provided by Euromezzanine.

Since then, the company developed across Europe and opened 51 new retail outlets, including 20 new stores each in Italy and France.

Company
Maisons du Monde was founded in 1996 by Xavier Marie and is based in Nantes. The company specialises in home decorations and furniture retail. The group posted revenues of €495m in 2012, up 17% on 2011 figures and more than double the turnover at the time of the 2008 buyout. Maisons du Monde generated an EBITDA of around €80m in 2012.

People
Bain Capital was represented by Michel Plantevin and Ted Berk. Sylvain Rivoire and Robert Daussun worked on the deal for LBO France.

Advisers
Equity – Leonardo & Co, Olivier Dousset, Eric Toulemonde, Laurence Danon (M&A); Crédit Agricole CIB, Pietro Sibille, Stéphane Barret (M&A); Deloitte, Sami Rahal (Financial due diligence); Latham & Watkins, Thomas Forschbach (Legal).
Vendors - Messier Maris & Associés, Erik Maris (M&A); Lazard, Nicolas Constant, Jean-Philippe Bescond, Geoffroi de Saint Chamas (M&A); Eight Advisory, Stéphane Vanbergue, Gennat Mouline (Financial due diligence); OC&C, Jean-Daniel Pick (Commercial due diligence); Arsene Taxand, Frédéric Teper (Tax); Exfi (ESG due diligence); SJ Berwin, Jérôme Jouhanneaud, Isabelle Meyrier, Olivier Vermeulen, Marc Zerah, Fanny Combourieu, Gwenaël Kropfinger (Legal).
Management - Oloryn Partners, Frédéric Jannin, Roland de Farcy (Corporate finance).

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• Topics
• France
• Buyouts
• Consumer
• Exits
• Apax France SA
• France
• LBO France
• Bain Capital
• NiXEN
• Secondary buyout