Equistone takes majority stake in Adista

Alice Tchernookova
04 July 2016

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Equistone Partners Europe has taken a majority stake in French telecommunications and cloud computing company Adista.

Equistone invested alongside founding managers Gilles and Pascal Caumont, as well as French regional investment fund GEI and BPI France's fund Institut Lorrain de Participation (ILP), both of which invested in the company in 2012.

Several of the company's managers also participated in the transaction, becoming minority shareholders in the group. Financing was provided by Idinvest.

Equistone's investment is expected to help the group continue growing its presence in the computing sector, guiding it through its digital transition and targeting mostly companies and local governments.

Having raised its revenues from €30m in 2012 to €75m in 2016, the group now aims to double its sales over the next five years.

Previous investment
In September 2012, regional fund GEI took a 34% share in French telecommunications company RMI-Adista. BPI France's fund ILP also re-invested in the group at the time. The transaction marked CM-CIC Capital Finance's exit from the group.

In March 2008, CIC Finance together with CM-CIC's FIP fund and the ILP fund, provided RMI-Adista with €2.75m of development capital along with the company's founders.

Company
Founded in 1981 in Maxéville, France, Adista is a telecommunications network and cloud computing service to corporates and local governments. It is the telecoms and remote services arm of the larger software business RMI (Réalisations Microélectroniques & Informatiques).

Adista supplies connections to high-speed networks, predominantly using fibre optics, as well as satellite, radio-relay, mobile and copper networks. Services include IP telephony, unified communications, video-conferencing, internet filtering and security services.

The group currently counts 330 employees spread across 24 local branches in France, and reported €75m revenue for the 2016 financial year.

People
Equistone - Guillaume Jacqueau (managing partner), Thierry Lardinois (partner), Julie Lorin (partner), Florent Rostaing (investment manager).
GEI - Frédéric Dubuisson (managing director), Olivier Hamm (associate director), Pierrick Jeannot (analyst).
Idinvest - François Lacoste (partner), Olivier Sesboüe (associate). Adviser

Advisers
Vendor – Edmond de Rothschild, Christian Ménard, Robert Peterson, Sébastien Mitton, Aurélien Bouvier (corporate finance); Grégory Fradelizi (debt advisory); CVML, Serge Levine, Pierre Plettener, Sofia El Biyed (legal); Cazals Manzo Pichot, Bertrand de Saint Quentin (tax); 8 advisory, Christian Berling, Nicolas Bayle (financial due diligence).
Equity – Lazard, François Guichot Pérère, Aurelien Gore-Coty, Charles Andrez (corporate finance); Goodwin Procter, Thomas Maitrejean, Simon Servan-Schreiber (environmental due diligence, legal); Oliver Wyman, Emmanuel Amiot, Gunesh Dwarika (commercial due diligence); Deloitte, Cyril Stivala, Frédérique Chenevoy (financial due diligence); Arsene Taxand, Denis Andres, Yoann Chemama (tax).
Debt – Nabarro & Hinge, Jonathan Nabarro (legal).