Amundi PEF, SGCP back Vivalto Vie in capital reshuffle

Amundi PEF declined to comment on financials. The deal valued Vivalto Vie at between €200-300m, according to a source close to the situation.

The process was launched in July last year by Natixis and was initially geared towards a majority buyout, Amundi PEF partner Romain Bled told Unquote. The firm came in later in the process and was initially ready to compete for a majority deal, but it eventually offered to structure a minority buyout where it would be the largest financial sponsor, while also bringing in new investor SGCP and working alongside most of the group's historical backers.

“We came in a little bit later in the process and didn’t put in the highest offer, but we had other strengths to convince Daniel and his team: we have known the other backers for a number of years, we favour a collegial approach based on continuity with the existing governance model, and we had SGCP ready to come in with us and further strengthen the capital structure,” Bled said.

Vivalto SAS, the holding of Vivalto CEO Daniel Caille, will hold slightly more than 50% of the business, while previous backers Arkéa Capital Managers, MACSF, BNP Paribas Développement and Socadif all reinvested.

Azulis Capital is the only sponsor that fully realised its investment. The GP backed Vivalto in 2015, in what was the first deal for its Middle Market Fund V.

One of the main drivers of 2019's process was for Vivalto to expand its footprint into Spain with the acquisition of Solimar, which manages seven care homes near Valencia. This did not necessarily align with Azulis's focus on France and required an expanded investment capacity beyond the GP's criteria, leading to its exit, according to the aforementioned source close to the situation.

Amundi is investing via both its Megatendances I and Megatendances II funds, which are dedicated to SMEs that benefit from the impact of five global trends: technology, demographic change, environment, globalisation, and social changes. The first vehicle was closed on €320m in 2018 and will be 85% deployed by the end of Q1; the second vintage is targeting €500m and is nearing a first close on around half that amount, Unquote recently reported.

Beyond future organic and acquisitive growth projects in both France and Spain, Vivalto Vie is likely to explore the possibility of merging in around 2022 with another Vivalto business named Vivalto Home, the source close said. Daniel Caille is a minority shareholder in the business, which manages care homes in Belgium.

“The Spanish market is interesting, and very reminiscent of the French market in the 1980s: it still consists mostly of a lot of independent players, but it isn’t easy to seize on these opportunities and consolidate if you haven’t got the right connections and approach," Bled said. "We have a pipeline of around 1,000 beds there, between acquisitive growth and greenfield development. Meanwhile, in France, growth is likely to be more organic given the competition in the M&A market for care homes; but we will still consider opportunistic build-up projects, mainly for establishments with fewer than 100 beds in the west of France.”

In addition to its equity and debt resources, Vivalto also owns a real estate portfolio that could be partly realised to finance future growth projects.

Debt
Ardian Private Debt provided a €75m unitranche facility as part of the latest reshuffle, while CIC Private Debt and BNP Paribas Principal Investments provided a PIK package worth around €15m.

As part of the arrangement, Vivalto Vie will have the option to call on fresh facilities worth around the same amount to finance future build-up projects.

In addition to the unitranche and PIK facilities, Vivalto Vie also has traditional debt facilities secured against real estate assets, the source said.

Previous funding
Vivalto Vie was formed in 2015 when Daniel Caille bought care homes group Fides and renamed it in line with his other business, Vivalto Santé (which is separate from Vivalto Vie but backed by a number of the same shareholders, alongside CDC International Capital and Mubadala).

Azulis, Arkéa, BNP Paribas, Socadif and MASCF backed the 2015 deal. In addition to a refinancing a year later, that support allowed Vivalto Vie to make several acquisitions, including PA Holding and Pro Ehpad.

Company
Established in 2015, Vivalto Vie operates 19 care homes for a total of 1,272 beds in the Nouvelle Aquitaine, Pays de Loire, Ile de France and Normandie regions of France.

It generates revenues of €75m, with two thirds coming from the French operations. The group's objective is to double that turnover by 2023, Bled said.

The company posted EBITDA of around €18m in 2019 (including that of Solimar), according to French publication Capital Finance.

People
Amundi PEF – Romain Bled, Alexandre Denby-Wilkes (partners); Jean Karbouyan (analyst).
SGCP – Marc Diamant (deputy director); Julien Pelissier (investment director).
Vivalto Vie – Daniel Caille (CEO); Guillaume Raoux (manager).
Arkéa Capital – Thomas Trideau (regional director); François Even (investment director).
BNP Paribas Développement – Yannick Carre (investment director); Anne de Souza (analyst).
Socadif – Thierry Antonini (investment director).
MACSF – Roger Caniard (director).
Azulis Capital – Christine Mariette (managing partner); Caroline Chemel (partner).

Advisers
Equity – Alantra, Franck Noat, Lahlou Khelifi, Pierre-Louis Nahon, Florian Touchard, Antoine Telle, Thomas Lenoble (corporate finance); Archers, Marc Baffreau, Emily Pabot du Chatelard, Anna Verri (legal); 8Advisory, Christophe Delas, Justin Welstead, Maxime Goerens, Benoit Madelaine (financial due diligence); McDermott Will & Emery, Grégoire Andrieux, Pierre-Arnoux Mayoly, Côme de Saint Vincent (legal); CBRE, Yolande Fournier-Montgieux, Antoine Charmet, Nicolas Denis (property due diligence).
Vendors – Natixis Partners, Ludovic Tron, Philippe Charbonnier, Julien Plantive, Patrice Raulin, Antoine Poupard, Thibault Duriez, Chloé Nonat (M&A); Desfilis, Philippe Rosenpick, Frédéric Bosc, Sidney Lichtenstein (legal); Hogan Lovells, Stéphane Huten, Paul Leroy (legal); KPMG, Olivier Boumendil, Véronique Harnois (financial due diligence); Cushman & Wakefield, Marc Guillaume, François Devron (legal).

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Buyouts
• Exits
• Healthcare
• France
• Secondary buyout
• Ardian (formerly Axa PE)
• Amundi Private Equity