PE-backed Afflelou mulls over IPO

The company's owners are still considering other exit routes, although chairman Didier Pascual stated that no offers had yet been received. Afflelou would be valued at a minimum of €700m.

In April 2000, Apax backed a secondary management buyout of the company for FFr 900m (around €560m). The transaction allowed a group of investors led by Alpha, which held a 70% stake in Afflelou since backing its buyout in 1997, to exit the business.

Afflelou was then floated on Euronext's Second Marché in 2002, providing a partial exit route for its institutional backers. Bridgepoint took the company private in 2006, in a deal that valued Afflelou at around €500m. Apax still retains a minority stake in the business alongside Bridgepoint and management.

Aubervilliers-based Alain Afflelou is a franchisor of over 800 optical retail stores in France and Spain, operating under two brands - Alain Afflelou and Plurielles d'Afflelou. The group posted a €158m turnover for 2010.

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• Topics
• France
• Exits
• Consumer
• France
• Bridgepoint
• Apax France SA
• Flotation