Ardian, Tikehau sell stakes in Spie Batignolles

Alessia Argentieri
24 January 2019

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Ardian and Tikehau Capital have sold their minority stakes in French construction business Spie Batignolles.

In addition to the sale of Ardian's 18% stake and Tikehau's 6.7% stake in the company, Spie Batignolles raised €190m in funding, including €67m from Tikehau IM, Tikehau's asset management subsidiary. EMZ Partners, Societe Generale Capital Partenaires, Idia Capital Investissement and Socadif (Crédit Agricole) also backed the management in this reorganisation of ownership.

The funding will enable the management team to retain an interest in the business, while providing 200 managers access to the company's share capital. The majority of the company's equity will now be owned by 360 employees.

Ardian acquired a minority stake in Spie Batignolles from Equistone Partners in July 2014, while investment firm Salvepar retained its 6.7% stake in the company. Salvepar was taken over by Tikehau in 2013.

Under Ardian's and Tikehau's ownership, Spie Batignolles achieved strong organic growth in its French business, and was involved in a range of flagship projects, including Grand Paris (which focuses on metro lines, stations and control centres) and the Lyon-Turin rail link.

Previous funding
Equistone acquired a stake in the company in 2003 when it span out from former parent Spie, which has been partly owned by Ardian since 2011. A private equity consortium led by Clayton Dubilier & Rice acquired Spie from PAI Partners that year for a total consideration of €2.1bn. Ardian and Caisse de Dépot et Placement du Québec (CDCQ) co-invested in the transaction.

Salvepar invested €9m in the company in exchange for a 6.7% stake in June 2010.

Company
Established in 2003 and headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Spie Batignolles is a construction business that operates through five divisions: real estate and concessions, construction, civil engineering, energy, and public works. The company has 170 sites across France and nine abroad, employing 7,000 people. Spie Batignolles generated revenues of €2bn in 2018.

People
Ardian Expansion – Alexis Lavaillote (managing director).
EMZ Partners – Thierry Raiff (president).
Spie Batignolles – François-Xavier Clédat (chair); Jean-Charles Robin (president).

Advisers
Vendors – Latham & Watkins (legal); King & Spalding (legal); SGCIB (corporate finance); CACIB (corporate finance); Deloitte (financial due diligence); Arsene Taxand (tax).
Acquirers – EY (financial due diligence); Cabinet Depardieu (legal); KPMG (corporate finance).