EdRip backs SFAM with €10-20m injection

According to EdRip partner Sylvain Charignon, the investment is the first SFAM has ever secured from an institutional backer. EdRip will hold a minority stake after the deal, while Sadri Fegaier, the company's CEO and previous full owner, will stay as a majority shareholder.

EdRip's interest in SFAM dates back to Q3 2015, when Charignon and Fegaier were introduced by a common acquaintance at EdRip.

Having reportedly performed strongly during recent years, the business began attracting interest in the investor community and the CEO mandated PwC's corporate finance arm to set up a limited auction.

Having secured exclusivity in December, EdRip finally inked the deal in late January 2016, Charignon told unquote".

The GP's €10-20m equity ticket will be used by SFAM to continue funding the growth it has experienced in recent years. Since inception, the business claims to have signed up a million clients for its mobile phone insurance packages and to have grown operations by 69% annually over the past five years.

With EdRip as a shareholder, SFAM plans to reach revenues of €135m in 2016 and €200m the following year. To that end, the business will make 150 new hires over the next 12 months and sign new partnerships with distributors in France.

In addition, the company will contemplate bolt-on acquisitions and will look to expand abroad, with a focus on Switzerland, Belgium and especially Spain, Charignon added.

According to the EdRip partner, the deal is the ninth to be financed via its Winch Capital 3 fund; the eighth, the buyout of semi-trailer designer Chereau alongside majority buyer Miura Private Equity, is expected to be finalised in the next few weeks. Having closed on its €300m hard-cap in September 2014, the vehicle will have deployed 45% of its capital once the Chereau buyout goes through.

Debt
Aside from EdRip's equity, the deal featured a senior medium-term facility provided by BNP Paribas, Neuflize OBC, BECM and CELDA.

Company
Founded in 1999, SFAM specialises in the brokerage of insurance packages for mobile phone owners.

With headquarters in Romans-sur-Isère, the business expanded across France in 2010 and has since reached out to Switzerland, Spain and Belgium. It posted a €52m turnover in 2015.

People
EdRip – Sylvain Charignon (partner); François-Xavier Mauron (associate director); Thomas Duteil (senior project manager).
Groupe SFAM – Sadri Fegaier (founder, CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Reed Smith, Lucas d'Orgeval, Stéphane Letranchant, Alexandre Tron, Aliénor Harel, Indranee Dursun (Legal, tax); Viguié Schmidt, Iñaki Saint-Esteben, Julia Degon (Legal, tax); Exelmans, Stéphane Dahan, Manuel Manas, Thomas Charmeau (Financial due diligence); LEK, David Danon-Boileau, Stéphane Claquin (Commercial due diligence); Cavaro Conseil, Christian Mergier (Insurance due diligence).
Company – PwC, Antoine Grenier, Adrien d'Alincourt, Camille Marhoffer (Corporate finance); Aklea, Christophe Cochet, Bénédicte de Carlan, Yann Rouleux, Hortense d'Avout, Marion Vibert, Isabel Borgès (Legal).

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• Expansion
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• France
• France
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