Ardian sells Ionisos

The infrastructure investment company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, invested €220m to wholly acquire Ionisos. 

3i Infrastructure approached Ardian in a proprietary fashion to source the deal, Unquote understands. 

The secondary buyout sees Ionisos valued in the €325-375m range, according to French publication Capital Finance. The publication also reported the business is currently posting revenues of €40m and €19m in EBITDA. 

Ardian acquired a stake in the business in July 2016. Under Ardian's ownership, the company's turnover almost doubled, according to a statement by the GP. Ionisos has experienced organic growth and implemented an external growth strategy through five acquisitions in Germany, Spain, Estonia, France and Italy.

The investment was the first deal for Ardian's Expansion Fund IV, which closed on €1bn in 2016.

Previous funding
The latest transaction is the company's fifth buyout transaction since 2004, with previous owners including Agilitas, Acto Capital, Atria Capital Partenaires and Ekkio Capital.

Finama Private Equity's direct investment vehicle, Acto, acquired a 49% stake in Ionisos in 2004. Three years later, Atria acquired a majority stake, accompanied by Ekkio as minority investor and mezzanine provider. Atria faced difficult times following the financial crisis and merged with Naxicap Partners at the end of 2011.

Agilitas then bought Ionisos from Naxicap in 2014. ICG provided debt to finance the transaction.

Two years later, Ardian acquired the majority stake owned by Agilitas. The investment saw the business valued in the €100-150m range and the sale generated an IRR in the region of 100% for Agilitas, Unquote reported at the time.

Company
Founded in 1993 and based in Civrieux, Ionisos is a cold sterilisation provider globally and operates a network of 11 plants in Europe, with a strong presence in French and Spanish markets. The group employs 200 people. Ionisos serves the medical and pharmaceutical companies and has around 1,000 clients.

People
Ardian – François Jerphagnon (head of Ardian Expansion); Marie Arnaud-Battandier (managing director).
Ionisos – Christoph Herkens (chairman).

Advisers
Equity – Lazard, Charles Andrez, Raoul Mansour (corporate finance); PwC, Colin Smith, Philippe Chavane, Maxence Pleynet (financial due diligence); Roland Berger, Julien Gautier, Elias Belkadi (commercial due diligence); Marsh, Peter Dillon (insurance due diligence); PwC, Elisabeth Hunt, Xavier Etienne (tax); Orrick, Patrick Tardivy, Jean-Luc Champy (legal); PwC, Stanislas de Kertanguy (ESG due diligence).  
Vendor – Natixis Partners, François Rivalland, Joseph El Khoury (M&A); Weil Gotshal & Manges, Frédéric Cazals, Alexandra Stoicescu (legal).

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