Argos Soditic-backed I'Car Systems merges with Datafirst

The GP will be the majority shareholder in the group and the management of both companies will take a minority stake.

Together, the companies will cover automotive manufacturers and brands in 12 countries. They generated combined revenues of €30.9m in 2017.

Datafirst founder and chairman Jules Arié Tolédano has stepped down and will be replaced by Patrick Prajs.

Argos carved I'Car Systems out of Sage Group in May 2013 for an enterprise value of €33.2m, drawing equity from Euroknights VI, a €400m buyout fund that held a final close in December 2010. The company was founded as an independent entity in 1979 and was integrated into Sage Group in 2005.

Company
Datafirst is headquartered in Lyon and was founded in 1985. It develops and distributes modular management software for marketing and sales in the automotive market. The company generated revenues of €16.6m in 2017 (11% from France) and employs 150 people.

People
Argos Soditic – Karl Kroupa (partner); Nicolas Trani (investment manager) Antoine Forgeard (analyst).
I'Car Systems – Phillipe Almouzni (president).
Datafirst – Patrick Parjs (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – PwC, Geoffroy Pacault, Salim Berkaïne, Charles Recape (corporate finance); Grant Thornton, Frédéric Zeitoun, Jonathan Delangle (financial due diligence); Bryan Cave, Rémy Blain, Mathieu Taupin, Stanislas Boyer, François Alambret (legal); Arsène Taxand, Franck Chaminade, Vincent Briand, Blandine Trabut-Cussac (tax); Feral-Schuhl / Sainte-Marie, Bruno Grégoire Sainte Marie, Richard Willemant (IP due diligence).
Company – EY, Jean-Christophe Sabourin, Patrice Mottier (legal).

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• Topics
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