LBO France buys Passman group in SBO

Francesca Veronesi
15 March 2019

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LBO France has acquired a majority stake in France-based Passman Group, a provider of digital services for the accommodation sector and care facilities, investing alongside two co-founding managers.

Prior to the transaction, Siparex owned 17% of the business and Andera owned 13%, while the remainder was held by founders and directors, according to the French daily Capital Finance.

The SBO sees Siparex fully exit the investment, Unquote understands.

LBO France ha drawn equity from its €104m Small Caps Opportunities fund clsoed in December last year. The transaction is the fund's fifth investment and the value of the business exceeds €50m, Unquote understands.

The transaction's equity-debt ratio is around 50:50, though with marginally more equity, Unquote has learned. Andera Partners, which has supported the businesses since 2014, is reinvesting via its ActoMezz team. The firm used its ActoMezz III vehicle – which closed in 2017 on €315m – investing €15m in the business, Unquote understands.

Senior debt in the form of tranches A and B was provided for the transaction by CIC Lyonnaise de Banque, alongside Arkéa Capital, LCL and Crédit Agricole Mutuel Centre Est. Moreover, a tranche C was arranged by BPI France and SCOR Investment Partners.

LBO France will support the company's organic growth objectives and help boost international sales, develop new services and identify strategic build-up opportunities.

Previous funding
Siparex invested in Passman via an OBO deal in 2010, providing €2.1m in equity via its funds Siparex Entrepreneurs I and Rhône-Alpes PME.

Subsequently, ActoMezz acquired a majority stake in Passman in 2014, providing funding of €10m. The transaction saw Siparex sell its stake in the company and reinvest €1.3m via its fund Siparex I Entrepreneurs and €800,000 via its vehicle Rhône-Alpes PME.

Passman acquired a Belgian company, Screen Services, in 2018 thereby enabling it to develop its own IPTV product range and its healthcare client base.

Company
The Passman group, founded in 1995, provides digital services used by the customers of hotels, campsites, retail outlets, shopping centres and care facilities, such as clinics and nursing homes for example. In particular, the business helps with bandwidth management, network sizing and security.

Based in Villeurbanne, the group is present in 42 countries and generates more than 50% of its revenues internationally. Employing around 70 people, the group generated revenues of €27m in 2018.

According to French daily Capital Finance, the business was marketed based on an €11m EBITDA.

People
Passman Group – Frédéric Levy, Patrick Layani, Sylvain Layani (founders).
LBO France – Jean-Marie Leroy (partner).
ActoMezz – Stéphane Bergez (partner, head of ActoMezz).
Siparex – Florent Lauzet (associate director); Cyril Fromager (investment director); Henri Dumas (senior investment manager).

Advisers
Vendor – Natixis Partners, Jean-Baptiste Marchand, Benjamin Giner, Thomas D'Espois, Adrien David, Chloé Nonat, Patrice Raulin (corporate finance); Archers, Marc Baffreau, Emily Pabot du Chatelard, Anna Verri (legal); Eight Advisory, Christophe Delas, Benoit Madelaine (financial due diligence); Neovian Partners, Patrick Richer, Martin Fougerolle (commercial due diligence).
Equity – Jeantet, Philippe Matignon, Pascal Georges, Blandine Lebreton, Camille Perodeau (legal, tax); KPMG, Philippe Blanadet, Andreea Ganea (financial due diligence); AMR, Florent Jarry, Aziz Naitraiss (strategic due diligence).