Ardian acquires NHV Group

Ardian acquired its stake in NHV from the group's founding shareholders: CEO Eric Van Hal, Jozef de Kinder and Belgian helicopter company Concordimo.

Following the investment by Ardian, the company plans on expanding internationally through bolt-ons with the aid of future investment.

In 2009, Belgian family office Fin.co Capital Partners acquired a stake in the business.

Company
Founded in 1997, NHV is headquartered in Ostend with 14 additional bases. The company employs 360 staff and is expected to generate turnover of €90m in 2013, which represents a 34% increase from 2012.

NHV provides B2B helicopter transport services such as medical transport, search-and-rescue missions, pollution control and freight transport for the oil and gas industry, wind farm operators and hospitals.

The group currently operates a 28-strong fleet of helicopters, and has recently ordered 10 Eurocopter EC175 helicopters to be delivered in 2014.

People
Eric Van Hal is the CEO of NHV. Béatrice Beitmann, a managing director for the mid-market at Ardian, worked on the deal for the firm alongside Olivier Personnaz, Nicolas Darnaud and Alexandra Goltsova.

Advisers
Equity - KBC Securities, Els Degroot, Tomas Cifra, Laurent Linkens, Wannes Vanwettere (M&A); Argo, Nico Goossens, Liesbeth Danneels, Noemi Blumberg, Philippe Rens (Legal, tax); Boston Consulting Group, Eric Oudinot, Marc Becker, Benjamin Safarti (Strategic due diligence); PwC, Lieven Adams, Didier De Smet, Nancy De Beule (Financial due diligence); Aon, Michele Collet (Insurance due diligence).
Company - Lazard, Alexandre Benais, Thierry Le Grelle, Friso Hornstra (M&A); KPMG, Yann Dekeyser (Corporate finance); Allan & Overy, Dirk Meeus, An-Sofie Van Hooteghem (Legal).

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• Topics
• Benelux
• Buyouts
• Industrials
• Belgium
• Ardian (formerly Axa PE)