AXA PE reacquires Photonis from Astorg

Anneken Tappe
07 September 2011

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

AXA Private Equity has reacquired French electronics company Photonis, three years after selling it to Astorg Partners.

The investor secured a majority stake, while management will hold 25% of Photonis' shares. Equity was provided from the AXA LBO IV fund, which closed on €1.6bn in 2008.

AXA Private Equity previously owned the business from 2001 to 2008. It intends to assist Photonis' management in driving product development and strengthening the company's international position through expansion.

Bucéphale Finance and Merill Lynch were mandated earlier this year to work on the deal. Between four and five Private Equity firms and around four corporate buyers showed interest in acquiring Photonis. However, AXA PE made a pre-emptive offer, which was subsequently accepted. The deal was motivated by the growth potential and positioning of Photonis and AXA PE's previous relationship with the management team.

Debt
Senior debt was provided by ING, Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking (SG CIB) and IKB. Mezzanine funding was provided by Indigo Capital and Partners Group. The finance package is worth around €250m and reported to be equivalent to 4.9x EBITDA.

Previous Funding
Astorg Partners acquired a majority stake in Photonis from AXA Private Equity in 2008, a deal thought to be worth approximately €250m. ING Bank was appointed as global mandated lead arranger, sole bookrunner and agent for the transaction.

Under the ownership of Astorg, Photonis increased its turnover from approximately €100m to €160m and a large amount of the original acquisition debt was repaid. In addition, Photonis doubled its R&D investments, its manufacturing capacity was enlarged and several new products were launched. In 2009, Photonis introduced an initiative for staff to invest in the company, which 40% of the employees made use of.

Company
Photonis is an electronic equipment company, specialised in photo sensor technology. It operates in the night vision, industrial, scientific and power tube markets. The company is headquartered in Mérignac, France. It employs around 1,000 people and posted a turnover of approximately €160m in 2010.

People
AXA Private Equity was represented by Mathieu Antonini, Thibault Basquin and Daniel Setton. Christian Couturier and Anh Pham Vu worked on the deal for Astorg Partners. Goossen Boers is CEO of Photonis

Advisers
Equity – Rothschild, Laurent Baril, Jeanne Falquero, Emmanuel Guillemet (M&A); Latham & Watkins, Thomas Forschbach, Gaëtan Gianasso, Natacha Guelibolian, Xavier Farde, Lionel Dechmann, Xavier Renard, Jérôme Commercon, Frédéric Pradelles (Legal); Arthur D Little, Frank Herbaux, Raphaël Didier (Commercial due diligence); Ernst & Young, Gratien de Pontville, Jawad Benchekroun (Financial due diligence), Lionel Benant (Tax).
Vendor – Bucéphale Finance, Jean-Marc Forneri, Olivier Dardel (Corporate finance); Merrill Lynch, Luc Rémont, Charles Matar, Chris Squire, Jean Rivière (Corporate finance); SJ Berwin, Christophe Digoy, William Robert (Legal); AT Kearney, Laurent Viviez, Emanuele Borroni (Commercial due diligence); KPMG, Axel Rebaudières, Stéphane Kuster (Financial due diligence).