Sagard invests in Santiane

The founding Courtin family and key managers will retain a majority stake in the business following the transaction. The deal was arranged on an all-equity basis and structured as a growth capital investment – although Sagard usually backs buyouts, the GP stated it had been sufficiently impressed with the business and its financials to come in as a minority backer.

BNP Paribas PE had acquired a minority stake in Santiane in 2011 in exchange for a €5m investment. The GP will fully exit the business post-transaction.

The deal was intermediated by corporate finance house Financière Cambon, which also considered US funds such as Summit Partners, TA Associates and Carlyle as potential investors for the business. Sagard was able to preempt a formal process, a success the GP attributed to its capacity to react quicker and interact more closely with management compared to its US counterparts.

The deal is understood to have been valued in excess of €40m. This was the first transaction for Sagard's third vehicle and the GP is due to announce another investment for the fund in the coming weeks. Sagard's previous €808m fund, Sagard II, is now fully invested. The firm sold RLD, a French business specialising in the rental and laundering of workwear, to fellow private equity house Vermeer Capital in June this year.

Sagard was particularly impressed with Santiane's growth trajectory, with the company having seen its turnover nearly double year-on-year for the past three years. But the GP was also attracted to the potential of the online health insurance market in France, which is still underdeveloped compared to other insurance products.

The fresh capital will allow Santiane to invest in its wholesale subsidiary Néoliane Santé and in R&D, according to Sagard. The group will also aim to diversify by entering the personal insurance market. Strategic acquisitions might be considered in foreign markets, where the company could potentially develop a presence by purchasing small, local players.

Company
Established in 2006, Santiane operates the insurance broker and comparison platform Santiane.fr, in addition to wholesale broker Néoliane. Santiane.fr brokers insurance directly while Néoliane's solutions are sold through a network of 1,500 distributors across France.

Santiane employs 200 people and posted a €24m turnover in 2012, nearly double the previous year's figure. The company is expecting to generate revenues of around €40m in 2013.

People
Frédéric Stolar, Maxime Baudry and Agnès Huyghues Despointes worked on the deal for Sagard. Pierre-Alain de Malleray is CEO of Santiane.

Advisers
Equity - UBS, Fabrice Scheer, Arnaud Fauqueur (Corporate finance); Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Frédéric Cazals (Legal); Chappuis Halder & Cie, Pierre Bustamante, Zoher Jan Mamod (Commercial due diligence); PwC, Guillaume Lorain, Arnaud Thibesart (Financial due diligence); Landwell, Catherine Olive, Bernard Borrely, Jean-Philippe Brillet (Legal, tax); Webpopulation, Brice Ohayon (IT due diligence).
Company - Financière Cambon, David Salabi, Morgann Lesné (Corporate finance); Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle, Grégoire Andrieux (Legal).

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• Topics
• France
• Exits
• Financials
• Expansion
• France
• Sagard Private Equity
• BNP Paribas