Advent's Oberthur postpones IPO

Greg Gille and José Rojo
04 November 2015

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Oberthur Technologies, a French smartcard technology business owned by Advent International since 2011, has shelved plans to list on Euronext Paris before year-end.

The company officially announced plans to list back in mid-October. The statement followed reports in French media that potential suitors Carlyle and Eurazeo had had their bids turned down by Advent as they fell short of the expected €1.7bn price.

Oberthur justified the decision to cancel the IPO given the current market conditions. "The decision taken with our majority shareholder Advent International is a natural one given the current state of the capital markets," CEO Didier Lamouche said in a statement.

Last week highlighted the fact that the window of opportunity for private-equity-backed IPOs in France is most likely closed for now. Music streaming service Deezer shelved its IPO on the day the listing was expected to take place, in the face of low demand and tough market conditions. E-commerce site Showroomprivé did go ahead, but raised less than anticipated after pricing at the bottom of the initial range, and with shares falling by more than 10% on the first day of trading.

Founded in 1984, Oberthur Technologies develops smartcard-based security and identification technologies used by the mobile payments, transport and digital TV industries. With headquarters in Colombes, near Paris, the company works out of offices in more than 10 European countries, the US, South America and Asia.

The company currently employs 6,000 professionals and operates 11 R&D facilities. The business most recently generated $1.3bn in revenues, up from €979m when Advent bought it four years ago.

The GP became a majority shareholder in August 2011, when it invested via its €6.6bn sixth buyout fund to carve out the card systems and identity business units from parent Oberthur for €1.15bn. Meanwhile, the founding family Savare kept a 10% interest in the spinout after the takeover, according to unquote" data.

The divestment allowed the parent to concentrate on its money-printing operations, its main line of business when it was founded.