Equistone to back SBO of Sateco from Naxicap

Equistone has acquired a majority stake in Sateco, investing alongside the company's management, and using Equistone Partners Europe Fund VI, Unquote understands. The fund closed on €2.8bn in Q1 2018. 

The fund looks to invest €25-150m in western European lower-mid-market companies with enterprise values typically between €50-500m.

Previous minority owners Siparex, Arkéa, Ouest Croissance, BNP Paribas Developpement and BPI France, have also sold their stakes, Unquote has learned. The SBO was sourced via an auction. 

Previous funding
Equistone's investment is a senary buyout, Sateco having changed hands between private equity firms for the sixth time. Siparex and Spef LBO first invested in the business, at the time known as Outinord, in 2002, when it was valued at €23m.

Two years later, Ardian (known as Axa Private Equity at the time) backed the secondary management buyout of Sateco in association with Ciclad and the company's management team.

In 2005, CIC LBO Partners backed the tertiary buyout of Sateco from Ardian and Ciclad to gain a 51% shareholding. The sellers retained a 30% equity stake, while the management team has increased its interest from 14% to 19%.

Omnes led the quarternary buyout of the concrete moulding and safety platforms business in 2007. It invested €18m in equity and took a majority stake in the company, while Pechel and FGP-LFPI took a combined 45% stake. Uni Expansion Ouest and management also invested. Vendor CIC LP generated an IRR in excess of 96% from the sale.

Omnes's intervention in the group enabled it to keep afloat at a time when the French public buildings and works sector was in troubled waters. After a major turnover drop from €50-55m in 2007 to €31m in 2009, the investment firm managed to turn the situation around, bringing revenues up to around €40m that year.

Omnes invested in Sateco using its CACI 2 fund, which invested in 15 companies between 2005-2007.

Naxicap invested in the business in 2016 in its quinary buyout, alongside the group's management team – which had been led by François Guilloteau since 2007 – and a consortium of investors including Siparex, Arkéa, Ouest Croissance, BNP Paribas Developpement and BPI France. Debt for the transaction was provided by Banque CIC Ouest, Arkéa, Banque Populaire, Societe Generale and Crédit Agricole Touraine Poitou.

Although a precise deal value had not been disclosed, a source at Omnes confirmed it was "largely in excess of €50m and underneath €100m", generating a 2x return for the nine-year investor, Unquote reported at the time.

Company
Founded in 1953, Sateco specialises in the sale of formworks for concrete forming and safety platforms on construction sites. Its offering also includes the sale of second-hand equipment, equipment rental and maintenance, and user training. With 235 employees, the company generated a turnover of €68m in 2018.

Sateco is headquartered in Mirebeau.

People
Equistone Partners – Arnaud Thomas, Thierry Lardinois (partners). 
Sateco – François Guilloteau (CEO); Benoît Sabourin, Patrick Micheneau (deputy CEOs).

Advisers
Company – Scotto & Associés (legal).
Vendor – Natixis Partners (corporate finance); PwC (financial due diligence); Hogan Lovells (legal); PwC (legal); Indefi (ESG due diligence).
Equity - DC Advisory (M&A); E&Y (financial due diligence); Goodwin (legal); Goodwin (tax); LEK (commercial due diligence); Ramboll (ESG due diligence). 

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