BPI France in €16m investment for Voyageurs du Monde

Alessia Argentieri
17 July 2020

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BPI France has taken part in a €16m round for French travel company Voyageurs du Monde.

Existing shareholders Crédit Mutuel Equity, Kairos Alpha, Montefiore Investment and BNP Paribas Développement also invested in the round.

Following the deal, BPI France acquired a stake in Avantage, the holding company that controls Voyageurs du Monde, while the group's management retained control of the business. Avantage also granted BPI France an observer position on the board of directors of both Avantage and Voyageurs du Monde.

The transaction price was based on Voyageurs du Monde's share price of €85 per share.

Voyageurs du Monde has been affected by the negative repercussion on the travel and tourism industry triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The company cancelled or postponed most of the departures of trips that were to take place between mid-March and the end of August 2020.

Voyageurs du Monde announced that it has been resuming sales and departures since mid-June to various destinations in the Schengen area, and that it plans to resume sales to the non-Schengen countries from August for some of them and from next autumn for the remaining.

Previous funding
BNP Paribas initially invested in the company in 2001. Subsequently, in 2010 alongside Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners (EdRip), BNP Paribas acquired a 25% stake in Avantage, which held 68.7% of the listed shares in Voyageurs du Monde, in 2010.

EdRip purchased an 18.3% stake in the firm via its Winch Capital 2 fund, while BNP Paribas Dévelopment took a 6.7% stake. The deal was completed at a valuation of €20 per share.

Montefiore Investment, via FPCI Montefiore Investment III, invested in the company in 2015. It acquired a 22% stake from Edmond de Rothschild. The transaction was reportedly valued at €29m.

Crédit Mutuel Equity (formerly CM-CIC Investissement) and FPCI Kairos Alpha backed the company in 2018. CM-CIC invested €65m for a 16% stake, according to press reports.

Company
Established in 1979 and headquartered in Paris, Voyageurs du Monde is a travel company specialising in tailor-made travel (with the Voyageurs du Monde and Comptoir des Voyages brands) and adventure travel (with the Terres d'Aventures and Allibert brands).

The company employs 1,300 staff and serves nearly 200,000 customers per year. It generated EBITDA of €33.6m from turnover of €488m in 2019.

Voyageurs du Monde was listed on the Euronext Paris in July 2006.