Dentressangle partially exits Acteon

Francesca Veronesi
26 June 2019

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Dentressangle has sold a minority stake in France-based Acteon, a medical equipment company, to Euronext-Paris listed investment company FFP.

FFP bought the minority stake in Acteon for €15m, according to a statement. Dentressangle has remained the majority owner of the business, Unquote understands.

Dentressangle's mid- and large-cap team acquired the company in Q4 2018 and has since brought in co-investors. The identity of the co-investors has not been publicly disclosed but an FFP statement said they are all long-term investors.

FFP will be represented on the company's supervisory board. The firm is looking to increase its exposure to the healthcare sector; it also acted as an LP of ArchiMed's Med Platform I vehicle in 2018.

Previous funding
Edmond de Rothschild Capital Partners (EdRCP) led the secondary buyout of Acteon from its previous shareholders in 2005. The private equity house acquired a 51% shareholding in newco Financière Noé, alongside previous investors IDI and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, which committed to the company in 1991 and 1994 respectively.

Bridgepoint acquired Acteon in 2016. The deal saw EdRCP sell its majority stake to BDC. Private debt investors Capzanine and European Capital provided financing to support the transaction.

Under the ownership of Bridgepoint, Acteon established a presence in the US. The business also entered the Latin American market in December 2017 via the acquisition of Brazilian dental equipment distributor Micro-Imagem.

Bridgepoint's development capital team sold its majority stake in the business to Dentressangle last year. The exit represented a 3.3x money multiple for Bridgepoint, Unquote reported at the time.

Company
Established in 1991 when it spun out from Sanofi, and headquartered in Mérignac, Acteon designs, manufactures and distributes equipment for the dental and medical equipment sectors. The company reported a turnover of €173m in 2018, according to its website.

People
FFP – Robert Peugeot (chairman).
Dentressangle – Thierry Coloigner (managing partner).