Bridgepoint, Eurazeo sell Foncia to Partners Group for €1.8bn

Alice Tchernookova
09 June 2016

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Bridgepoint and Eurazeo have sold all their shares in French real estate group Foncia to Partners Group in a deal valued at €1.8bn.

The deal, which was reported by unquote" last month and is expected to be completed by September 2016, should bring exiting shareholders a 2.4x return on their original investment.

Net proceeds after tax, transaction costs and acquisition debt repayment will amount to around €1.1bn, the GPs stated.

Since their investment in 2011, Foncia's annual revenues have grown by 4.4% and its average annual EBITDA by 11.3%. Overall, the group's EBITDA increased by 50%, moving from €86m in 2011 to €132m in 2015.

During the holding period, Bridgepoint and Eurazeo followed a strategy based on external growth. The group completed around 60 bolt-on acquisitions in France and abroad, strengthening its position in Switzerland and Germany mostly.

The transaction was initiated by Bridgepoint, who had invested in the company via Bridgepoint Europe IV. The exit brings the fund's distribution to paid-in ratio to almost 100%, according to the GP.

Previous funding
In May 2011, Bridgepoint and Eurazeo acquired property management business Foncia from banking group BPCE for €1.02bn. Each firm provided €240m of equity for a joint controlling stake in the company.

Bridgepoint invested via its €4.8bn Bridgepoint Europe IV fund and Eurazeo via both its banking arm and its private equity fund, Eurazeo Partners. BPCE had also reinvested €200m as part of the deal.

In November 2014, Eurazeo and Bridgepoint bought out the remaining 18% shares held by BPCE for €185m, becoming the sole shareholders.

Company
Paris-based real estate group Foncia has three main activities: property management; lease management and rental services; and property sales, including ancillary services such as credit and insurance brokerage.

In 2015, the company recorded a €696m turnover, according to Bridgepoint and Eurazeo.

Based in Paris, the group claims to be France's largest home leasing company with a network of 577 branches spanning France, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium.

People
Bridgepoint – Benoit Bassi (partner).
Eurazeo – Patrick Sayer (chair executive board); Philippe Audoin (CFO).

Advisers
Vendor – Rothschild (corporate finance); Bredin Prat (tax); PwC (financial, management & environmental due diligence, tax, legal); Louvre Alliance (IT due diligence).