La Maison Bleue sale on ice following lacklustre first round

Several sponsors who had been circling the asset pulled out of the sale process prior to the bid deadline, the sources said. Non-binding offers were due on 7 December, two further sources noted.

Sell-side adviser Rothschild has decided to pause the sale process, two of the sources said. The process is likely to be resumed later in 2022, one of them added.

"The auction is off for now," one of the sources said. "The market is aware that the deal is postponed."

A spokesperson for La Maison Bleue said: "The sale process is still on the way, as the vendors' enterprise value expectations were not yet met. We are confident that the strong financial performance of the business in H1 2022 will drive further interest in the company."

Sponsor drop-outs
Bidders circling the asset ahead of the deadline included Antin Infrastructure Partners, Ardian, Blackstone, Carlyle, DWS, EQT and IK Partners, as previously reported.

Antin, which owns La Maison Bleue's competitor Babilou, did not table an offer, two sources said.

IK Partners also dropped from the race, another of the sources said. Blackstone likewise pulled out, one source said, as did Carlyle, according to another source.

Ardian was seen as a particularly keen suitor, given that the sponsor was the underbidder on the sale of La Maison Bleue's peer, Grandir (Le Petits Chaperons Rouges). But the sponsor was another one not putting in an offer, one of the sources said. The bidder valued the business at around EUR 550m, which did not meet vendor expectations. This was below the EUR 600m cut-off price set by the vendor, two of the sources said.

La Maison Bleue, which is majority-owned by its founder and backed by minority sponsors BPI France and Towerbrook, was being marketed based on an annual EBITDA in the EUR 40m-43m range, as previously reported.

Concerns over who would lead La Maison Bleue once founder and CEO Slyvain Forestier – who holds a 60% stake – exits the business gave some suitors cold feet, two sources said.

Another worry was around La Maison Bleue's exposure to French local-authority-funded contracts, one of the sources said. "When the contracts come up for re-tender, La Maison Bleue is going to have to reduce the fee it charges the local councils, which in turn will lower the margins," this source said.

"La Maison Bleue would like to stress that Sylvain Forestier intends to retain his position as CEO if a new investor provides fresh capital," the company's spokesperson said. "The fees charged in La Maison Bleue's contracts with French local authorities have not been reduced historically; we don't expect this to happen going forward."

La Maison Bleue entered the UK via its 2019 acquisition of Old Station Nursery Group, followed by two further UK acquisitions this year. Meanwhile in France, it recently acquired Kids'Up, as reported.

Founded in 2004, La Maison Bleue is one of the three largest nursery operators in France, along with Grandir and Babilou, as reported. It operates more than 300 settings worldwide.

Ardian, Blackstone, Carlyle, DWS and EQT declined to comment. IK Partners, Rothschild and Towerbrook did not respond to requests for comment. BPI France could not be reached for comment.

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• France
• Consumer
• Mergermarket
• Ardian (formerly Axa PE)
• Blackstone Group
• Carlyle Group
• EQT
• Towerbrook Capital Partners
• IK Investment Partners
• BPI France