Ardian to acquire stake in Santé Cie Group

The deal's valuation amounts to €950m, according to French publication Capital Finance. Santé Cie is Ardian's first deal in the home medical assistance market.

Ardian, the company's shareholders since 2015, HLD and UI Gestion and the management team plan to continue strengthening Santé Cie Group's position in the French market and develop internationally.

The GP used Ardian LBO Fund VII for the transaction, Unquote understands. The vehicle is currently raising funds and has a €6bn target. It was used to back France-based logistics service Staci, bought in Q3 2019, and Portugal-based Frulact, a producer of natural fruit-based speciality ingredients for the food industry, earlier this month, Unquote previously reported.  

Ardian has declined to comment on the transaction. 

Previous funding
Luxempart and Ekkio Capital provided expansion capital to France-based healthcare service IP Santé in 2012. The transaction amounted to €9.4m, with investment made equally via equities and convertible notes.

HLD then led a secondary buyout of IP Santé in 2015, taking a majority stake in the transaction (55%) and investing alongside UI Gestion and DV France. The deal was reported to value the business at €200m.

In December that same year, the business bolted on a French therapy service, Assistances Médicales Spécialisées (AMS), using equity provided by HLD, UI Gestion and SRS. A unitranche debt facility was arranged by Capzanine and Ares. As a result of the merger, the business was rebranded to Elivie. 

LBO Partners, Fondations Capital and Capzanine, which had previously backed AMS, exited their holdings in the company.

Company
Created in 2016, Santé Cie is the third largest home healthcare provider in France, through its two operating networks Elivie and Asdia, according to a statement by Ardian. It addresses the needs of patients in respiratory assistance, insulin therapy, perfusion, nutrition, postoperative care, and wound treatment and healing.

The company accompanies around 150,000 patients annually and reported revenues of €240m in 2019. It has nearly 1,700 employees and its 80 agencies offer services throughout France.

People
Santé Cie Group – Larbi Hamidi (chairman).
HLD Europe – Jean-Bernard Lafonta (chairman).
UI Gestion – Olivier Jarrousse (managing partner).
Ardian – Yann Bak, Nicolas Darnaud (managing directors).

Advisers
Equity – BNP Paribas, Sylvina Mayer, Marc Walbaum, Sammy Lamali, Clara Blandeau (M&A); LEK, Arnaud Sergent, Serge Hovsepian, Leonore Bosch, Servane Perrot (commercial due diligence); 8Advisory, Christophe Delas, Christian Berling, Nicolas Bassi (corporate finance); Latham & Watkins, Gaëtan Gianasso, Thimothée Brunello, Mayssa Sader, Xavier Renard, Yann Auregan (legal); Indefi, Emmanuel Parmentier, Charlotte Salmon (ESG due diligence).
Vendor – Rothschild, Laurent Baril, Robert Rozemulder (M&A); Accuracy, Arnaud Lambert, Marie Madelpuech (corporate finance); Weil Gotshal & Manges, Alexandre Duguay, Pierre-Alexandre Khan, Come Wirz, Romain Ferla, Anne-Laila Abback, Cassandre Porgès, Timothée Buchet (legal).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
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• France