Parquest invests in Adit SBO – reports

Francesca Veronesi
20 June 2019

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Weinberg Capital has initiated exclusive talks with Parquest Capital to sell its 66% stake in France-based Agence pour la Diffusion de l'Information Technologique (Adit), a business intelligence and security consultancy, according to reports.

The transaction would value Adit at €130-140m, according to French publication Capital Finance.

The report cited an unnamed banker who said the LBO transaction will be funded with unitranche debt from Idinvest Partners and CM-CIC Private Debt.

BPI France, which owned a 34% stake, will reinvest in the business and retain around 20%, the report said.

Weinberg Capital declined to comment, and Unquote was awaiting a response to a request for comment from Parquest and Idinvest at the time of publication.

Eight years after Adit was launched by the French state, a decree was passed turning the business into a public limited company and paving the way for privatisation in 2001. Adit's move to private hands was delayed until 2010, when the French Ministry of Economy announced it intended to divest a 66% stake. In 2011, Parisian GP Butler Capital Partners was chosen as the acquirer and a sale was agreed, leaving the remaining 34% in the hands of the French state.

Although the size of Butler's investment was undisclosed at the time, the GP typically writes €10-50m cheques for companies with revenues in the €50-500m range. Under the firm's four-year tenure Adit undertook an acquisitive growth strategy that included French export and international representation firm Salveo, which was bolted on in 2013.

Two years later, Weinberg bought a 66% stake in the company, allowing Butler to make an exit.

Founded in 1993 and privatised in 2011, Adit is an agency specialising in economic and strategic intelligence policy. Adit's clients include European and non-European multinational firms, investment banks and investment funds, as well as small and medium-sized companies looking to expand internationally.

Headquartered in Paris, the company employs 1,200 people, 200 of whom are analysts. The business generates €75m in turnover and €10m in EBITDA, according to Capital Finance.