Rive buys Parquest's 5aSèc

Ellie Pullen
28 November 2014

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Rive Private Investment has acquired 5aSèc, the Swiss dry cleaning service provider owned by Parquest and Quilvest.

As part of the transaction, Rive has injected €10m of fresh capital into 5aSèc alongside Parquest and Quilvest, who have reinvested to retain an interest in the business.

Other existing backers Capzanine and IFE Mezzanine, both of which provided mezzanine financing in the 2007 buyout by Parquest, have also reinvested to strengthen their shareholdings in 5aSèc.

Management have also reinvested as part of the deal. CEO David Sztabholz has joined the company's newly formed supervisory board as chairman and ceded his position to new CEO Nicolas Boucault.

Previous investment
Parquest (then ING Parcom Private Equity) acquired 5aSèc in a tertiary buyout in July 2007. The deal is believed to have valued the company at around €60m, according to unquote" data, and saw Parquest buy a majority stake from Milestone Capital (formerly European Acquisition Capital).

5aSèc's management invested to retain a minority shareholding as part of the deal. Societe Generale CIB, Barclays, Capzanine and IFE provided a debt package comprising senior and mezzanine facilities.

At the time of the buyout, 5aSèc employed 6,000 staff and generated €250m in turnover.

Quilvest invested in the company in January of the following year, according to its website.

Milestone had acquired an 86% stake in the business in May 2001, buying the company from Spef and BNP Développement, according to unquote" data. SPEF and BNP had bought the business in 1998.

Company
Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Geneva, 5aSèc is a provider of dry cleaning services. The company operates 300 chain stores as well as a franchise.

There are a total of 1,900 stores operating under the 5aSèc brand in 30 countries across Europe, south-east Asia, South America and India.

The company generates €300m in revenues.

People
Nicolas Boucault is the new CEO of 5aSèc. Eric Philippon is a partner at Rive, while Maxence Radix is an investment director at Capzanine and Jean-Pascal Ley is a partner at IFE.