Ardian invests in JeChange.fr

The transaction, in which Ardian is the sole investor, opens the way for a restructuring of the company's capital, with previous minority shareholders disposing of their shares.

Go Capital Ventures, as well as some business angels, have fully exited, while I-Source realised a partial, minor exit.

The investment was made via the Ardian Croissance Fund, closed on €70m in 2014. It also marks the fourth investment made by the Ardian Growth team since the beginning of the year, the previous ones being the TimeOne merger, and the expansion deals for Bricoprivé and HR Path.

In 2009, the acquisition of DSL Valley by JeChange.fr signalled a change of focus for the company's business model, enabling it to become an intermediary through which users could change all their utility contracts in one place.

With Ardian's backing, the group will aim to expand abroad, in Spain, Belgium and Italy in particular. The company will look to strengthen relationships with local partners and suppliers.

Already present in the energy and telecoms sector, JeChange.fr is hoping to also establish itself in the field of insurance broking.

Debt
No debt was provided in the deal.

Previous funding
In 2008, I-Source and Go Capital (via Ouest Venture) co-invested €3m in JeChange.fr, according to unquote" data. I-Source led the investment by providing around €1.8m of the capital via its fund I-Source 3 while Go Capital provided the remaining €1.2m.

Company
Founded in 2006 by Gaël Duval, JeChange.fr is an independent comparison service aiming to help private individuals and businesses reduce their bills. The company covers the energy (gas and electricity), telecoms (internet and mobile) and insurance markets. In addition, the website offers online banking and lending services.

Based in Agen, the company achieved a turnover close to €10m in 2015 and has 110 employees.

People
Ardian – Laurent Foata (managing director); Frédéric Quéru (senior investment manager).

Advisers
Equity – Olswang, Christophe Gaschin, Patrick Gerard-Boucher, Laura Hominal (legal); Advance Capital, Olivier Poncin, Thibault Fleury (corporate finance).
Company – Mansartis, Jean-Pascal Clédat, Thierry Rohr, Bastien Rey (corporate finance); Orrick, Saam Golshani, Barbara Jouffa (legal).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• France
• Consumer
• Exits
• France
• Ardian (formerly Axa PE)