Ardian backs SFAM in €1.7bn deal

Francesca Veronesi
07 February 2018

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Ardian has invested €200m in French smartphone and multimedia insurance broker SFAM, while previous shareholder Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners (EdRip) has partially exited the asset.

The transaction saw the company's CEO, Sadri Fegaier, remain the majority shareholder, while Ardian became a minority owner.

Ardian LBO Fund VI was the vehicle used for the transaction. The fund closed in 2016 on €4.5bn, according to Unquote Data.

EdRip, a shareholder of SFAM since January 2016, sold a portion of its minority stake, acquired through its Winch Capital 3 vehicle at the time. The fund closed on €300m in September 2014 after a year on the road, according to Unquote Data.

SFAM's rapid enterprise value growth over these two years enabled EdRip to benefit from multiple arbitrage, according to a source familiar with the situation. This was partly driven by the company's partnership with retail group Darty-Fnac, its international expansion, and growth through acquisitions.

The backing of Ardian will help the company expand to new geographies, including Portugal, the Netherlands and Italy. SFAM also intends to continue diversifying its insurance services for portable and multimedia products, as well as its cash-back programmes.

Debt
ICG provided a unitranche package for the transaction; however, the deal remains "lightly leveraged", another source close to the situation told Unquote.

The debt package will help refinance the working capital facilities already in place. It also helped Sadri Fegaier invest €350m in listed company Darty-Fnac, in which he became the second main shareholder with a 11% stake.

Previous funding
EdRip supported SFAM with a €10-20m investment via its Winch Capital 3 fund in 2016. The investment was the first that SFAM had secured from an institutional backer. EdRip acquired a minority stake while Sadri Fegaier, the company's CEO and previous full owner, remained a majority shareholder.

Aside from EdRip's equity, the deal featured a senior medium-term facility provided by BNP Paribas, Neuflize OBC, BECM and CELDA.

Company
Founded in 1999, SFAM designs, sells and manages insurance products for mobile phones and multimedia devices with extended warranties. The company forecasts to generate €500m in gross sales in 2018. SFAM employs 1,300 staff.

Headquartered in Romans-sur-Isère, SFAM also has operations in Belgium, Spain and Switzerland.

People
SFAM – Sadri Fegaier (founding chairman).
Ardian – Yann Bak (managing director).
Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners – Sylvain Charignon, François-Xavier Mauron (partners).
ICG – Mathieu Vigier (managing director, private lending); Yann Prevost (associate director).

Advisers
Equity – Weil Gotshal & Manges, David Aknin, Gautier Elies, Cassandre Porgès, Romain Ferla (legal); KPMG, Benjamin Tarac, Damien Birbes (financial due diligence); Alexandre Gaudin, Emmanuel Delaby, Pierre-Laurent Seguin (legal, tax); Eleven, Ambroise Huret, Maxime Caro (commercial due diligence).
Company – Natixis Partners, Jean-Baptiste Marchand, Valérie Pellereau, Sébastien Caillé, Antoine Poupard, Louise Bernard (corporate finance); Akléa, Christophe Cochet, Hortense d'Avout, Yann Rouleux, Bénédicte de Carlan, Sidonie Lacroix-Girard, Maïquel Garcia, Ludovic Baujard, Eve Maubert (legal); EY, Cyril de Beco, Paul-Eric Lacourte, Alexandre Gebelin (financial due diligence); PwC Avocats, Jérôme Cochet, Thomas Auffret, Florent Fassier (legal, tax); Oliver Wyman, Mohssen Toumi, Tarik Ouahmed, Jean Hermelin (commercial due diligence); Villechenon, Tristan Segonds, Gilles Roux, Martin Kyuchukov-Roglev (legal); Ayache Salama, Alain Levy, David Puzenat (legal); Natixis Partners, Philippe Charbonnier, Patrice Raulin (financial due diligence).
Debt – Ayache Salama, Alain Levy, David Puzenat (legal).