Anaveo sale pulled despite late-stage talks with 3i

Francesca Veronesi
29 October 2021

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The competitive process for Anaveo, a French provider of electronic security technology products, has fallen through as vendor Bridgepoint's price expectations were not met by frontrunner 3i, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

It initially seemed that Bridgepoint's asking price of around EUR 215m-225m could be met by 3i, using the forecast EBITDA for 2021 of EUR 18m as a reference point to calculate enterprise value. The prospective buyer, however, finally decided to work off a lower EBITDA than the 2021 forecast. The new offer on the table was not accepted by Bridgepoint, according to the two sources.

PAI and A&M Capital Europe took part in the second round, as previously reported. This was the case for Stirling Square as well, the first source added. Other sponsors involved in the sale dropped out of the auction given 3i's bid was considered stronger, the two sources said.

A couple of trade bidders were circling the company, as previously reported by Mergermarket. But Anaveo's management team pushed for the ownership to remain in the hands of a financial sponsor and eventually talks with trade players came to a halt, the two sources added. The corporates were Sweden-headquartered Securitas and US-based Stanley Security Solutions, according to the first source. The companies already have a presence in France.

Anaveo generated EBITDA of EUR 14m in 2020 and the forecast EBITDA for 2021 is EUR 18m. Turnover totalled EUR 72m in 2020, with EUR 83m expected this year. Considering the asking price of EUR 215m-EUR 225m, this implied a 12-16x EBITDA multiple, depending on the EBITDA metric used.

Transaction R was advising on the sale process.

Bridgepoint acquired Anaveo in 2016 for EUR 70m. The company is a provider of video systems and security products for retail and commercial buildings in France. Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Lyon, it has 270 employees, as per Bridgepoint's website.

Anaveo, Bridgepoint, 3i, PAI, A&M and Stirling declined to comment. Transaction R, Stanley and Securitas did not respond to a request for comment.