Equistone acquires GSCM Group

Greg Gille
19 July 2021

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Equistone Partners Europe has agreed to acquire a majority stake in GSCM Group, a modular construction specialist in France, from Orfite.

Equistone will hold a majority stake alongside the management team and BNP Paribas Développement, which also reinvested in the transaction.

Tikehau provided financing for the transaction.

Equistone is currently investing its sixth buyout fund, which held a final close on its EUR 2.8bn hard-cap in March 2018. The fund is seeking to invest EUR 25m-200m in western European lower-mid-market companies with typical enterprise values in the EUR 50m-500m range. According to Unquote Data, the fund was 51% deployed as of June this year.

The GP has previous experience in the modular construction sector with Oikos Group, a German prefabricated housing business. Equistone acquired a majority stake in Oikos (then known as Fertighaus Gruppe) from Adcuram in January 2018. The deal – funded from Equistone Partners Europe Fund V – valued the company at around EUR 250m. The GP sold its stake in an SBO to Goldman Sachs earlier this year.

Equistone has had a busy 2021 so far, particularly on the exit side. Beyond the aforementioned sale of Oikos, the GP also sold its controlling stake in fruit desserts specialist Charles & Alice to the company's management team backed by Crédit Mutuel Equity; it also exited B2B hosted services provider Adista and is reportedly set to sell French online office supplies retailer Bruneau to Towerbrook.

On the buy-side, Equistone has acquired Netherlands-based precision components manufacturer Kusters Beheer in a deal valued at EUR 100m-200m; bought kitchen and bathroom fittings business Franke Water Systems in a carve-out; and acquired a majority stake in Germany-based IT consultancy TimeToAct.

Company
GSCM prefabricates construction modules in production sites in Nantes, Les Sables-d'Olonne, Metz and Lyon. It then transports them to on-site locations where they are assembled, where required, and installed. The group reported revenues of EUR 67.7m in 2020 and currently employs 300 people.

People
Equistone Partners Europe – Stanislas Gaillard, Thierry Lardinois (partners); Jérémy Mathis (investment director); Caroline Pinton (investment manager).

Advisers
Equity – Alvarez & Marsal (financial due diligence); Paul Hastings (legal); Roland Berger (commercial due diligence); Joffe & Associés (legal).
Vendors – Bryan Garnier (M&A); Deloitte (financial due diligence); Taj (legal).