MBO Partenaires acquires Cellier, Orthofiga

Alice Tchernookova
27 July 2017

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MBO Partenaires has acquired orthopedic equipment manufacturers Cellier and Orthofiga, merged under the new group Orthoway.

MBO Partneraires will hold a minority stake in Orthoway, while management will hold the balance and retain control of the company.

Bruno Cellier, formerly CEO of Cellier, will head Orthoway, while Orthofiga's former CEO Dominique Fillonneau will become managing director of the new company. Cellier and Fillonneau were long-standing acquaintances, according to the GP.

MBO Partenaires had already been a minority shareholder in Cellier since 2011, when it backed the company's owner buyout. Specialised in the manufacture of tailor-made prostheses, Cellier generated €6.5m in revenues at the time and employed 40 people.

Last year, MBO closed its fourth buyout fund, MBO Partenaires 4, on its €250m hard-cap after nine months on the road. Tickets typically vary between €5-25m.

Discussions are already under way regarding future acquisitions, the GP said, with ambitions to double Orthoway's size over the next five years.

Debt
A senior debt package provided by BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Crédit Agricole Nord de France and Crédit Agricole Ille et Vilaine supported the transaction.

Previous funding
In June 2011, MBO Partenaires backed the owner buyout of Cellier Orthopédie. MBO Partenaires acquired a 45% stake in the company, with 55% secured by Bruno Cellier.

Company
Orthoway is a provider of orthopedic equipment, with a specialisation in external fixation devices such as prostheses and ortheses.

Heaquartered in Paris, Orthoway has a network of 19 subsidiaries mostly based in north-western France, and generated €23m in revenues with 160 employees in 2016.

People
MBO Partenaires - Cécile Nguyen-Cluzel (partner); Hugues De Gastines (director); Clément Gayot (associate).

Advisers
Equity – Potomac, Sébastien Drout (corporate finance); KPMG, Philippe Guillet, Nicolas Pellet (corporate finance/tax); EY, Luc Derrien, Maxime Girard (financial due diligence); Lamartine, Olivier Renault, Bintou Niang, Vanessa Placerdat, Aude Marcheux (legal, tax, environmental due diligence); LEXT, Mickael Goupil, Hélène Magineau (legal).