LBO France buys Infodis majority stake in SBO

Francesca Veronesi
29 March 2019

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LBO France has become the majority shareholder of France-based IT services firm Infodis alongside the management team, led by Vighen Papazian.

The deal is part of the GP's small cap strategy. LBO France held a final close on €104m in November 2018 for its Small Caps Opportunities fund, which backs French and Italian companies with potential for international expansion and an enterprise value of less than €100m.

Infodis chairman and founder Vighen Papazian, deputy CEOs Jacques Gourseaud and Florent Burlet, and Walid Abi Chahla, head of its Visualdis unit, as well as other managers, have retained equity stakes in the company.

This business has been controlled by the private equity firm Ciclad since June 2016. Ciclad held a majority stake in the company, whereas the management led by Vighen Papazian and Jacques Gourseaud retained a minority stake. Neuflize OBC, CIC and LCL provided debt financing to support the transaction.

Company
Founded in 1985 and based in Roissy, Infodis is a specialist in facilities management and systems & network engineering. The company employs 500 and generates revenues of €40m in 2017.

Groupe Infodis generated a turnover of 26m in 2015, Unquote reported previously.

People
LBO France – Nicolas Manardo (managing director).

Advisers
Company – Lamartine (legal); TMA (corporate finance).
Equity – Exelmans (financial due diligence); LEK (commercial due diligence); AP Management (corporate finance).
Vendor – Archers (legal); Lamartine (legal); EY (financial due diligence); Grant Thornton (financial due diligence).