Eurazeo-backed Elis launches €325m share capital increase

Kenny Wastell
24 January 2017

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Eurazeo portfolio business Elis, Euronext Paris-listed rental provider of professional clothing, linen and sanitary equipment, has launched a €325m share capital increase.

The subscription price for the new shares is set at €12.55 apiece, a discount of 26.7% compared to the €17.13 closing price on 17 January 2017. At the time of Elis's flotation in 2015, the company's shares were sold for €13 each.

Eurazeo and Crédit Agricole Assurances, which own stakes of 16.9% and 10% respectively, have taken up their preferential subscription rights for a combined total of €87m as part of the share capital increase.

The fresh funds will enable the company to refinance part of its €550m bridge loan obtained to support the acquisitions of Spanish and Brazilian competitors Indusal and Lavebras in December 2016. The acquisitions will increase Elis's international operations, which will account for around 40% of the enlarged group's revenues.

Elis has also refinanced €1.15bn's worth of its existing senior syndicated loan and the bridge-to-debt tranche of its bridge loan, extending their maturity by two years to January 2022.

The development comes eight months after Crédit Agricole Assurances acquired 10% of the company's share capital from Eurazeo for a total of €192m. The previous month, Eurazeo sold a third of its stake in Elis for €281m.

Elis floated on the Euronext Paris with a market cap of €1.48bn in early 2015. Eurazeo and the company's management sold €50m of shares prior to the exercise of the overallotment option.

Previous funding
In April 2007, Eurazeo wholly acquired Elis for an enterprise value of €2.276bn. Eurazeo invested €393m of equity to finance the deal, with its co-investment fund Eurazeo Co-Investment Partners providing €75m.

Company
Founded in 1968, Paris-based Elis is a rental provider of linen and professional clothing, as well as hygiene appliances. According to a statement issued via Euronext, the business anticipates revenues of €1.51bn in 2016, up from €1.23bn at the time of its IPO, with EBITDA of €465m.

People
Eurazeo – Wilfried Piskula (managing director).
Elis – Xavier Martiré (CEO).