Ardian buys Revima in SBO

Francesca Veronesi
16 January 2019

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Ardian has acquired a majority stake in Revima Group, a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service for aircraft equipment, from Argos Wityu.

Following the transaction, Revima's president, Olivier Legrand, and Argos Wityu will reinvest in the business.

Unquote understads that Ardian used its Ardian LBO VI fund for the transaction; the vehicle closed on €4.5bn in 2016.

In November last year, Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported the auction process managed by Canaccord Genuity was seeing Revima marketed based on EBITDA of €30m.

The transaction saw a a debt-to-EBITDA ratio of around 4x, Unquote has learned.

Ardian intends to support Revima in its pursuit of a bolt-on acquisition strategy. The company is currently in exclusive negotiations for two acquisitions aimed at strengthening its skill-sets in repairing engine parts and in the field of advanced predictive maintenance.

Previous funding
French corporate finance publication CF News previously reported that CM-CIC invested €2m in Revima, then known as Brotonne Capital, in 2011. The company rebranded as Revima immediately following the deal.

A majority stake in Revima was then acquired by Argos Wityu in 2017. Argos invested alongside managers Olivier Legrand and Christian Grzanka. The transaction was the first acquisition of Euroknights VII, a €520m vehicle closed in 2017.

The acquisition was partially financed by unitranche debt from Tikehau Investment Management.

When acquiring the business at the time, Argos intended to invest significantly in the company's international expansion.

Company
Founded in 1952 and based in Caudebec-en-Caux, Revima is a specialist in MRO of civilian and military aircraft. The maintenance of auxiliary power units and landing gears for regional, medium- and long-haul aircraft is one of the group's main activities.

Employing around 750 people, Revima realised revenues of around €280m in 2018. Revima is currently building a new industrial site in Thailand, which will be operational in 2020.

People
Ardian Buyout – Yann Bak (managing director).
Revima – Olivier Legrand (president, CEO).
Argos Wityu – Gilles Mougenot (partner).