Equistone sells Bruneau to Towerbrook

Both parties signed a binding memorandum, with the transaction remaining subject to regulatory approval and consultation with employee representative bodies.

The auction for Bruneau was won by Towerbrook with a bid valuing the business at EUR 475m, French daily L'Agefi reported earlier this month. The report also said that Capza Expansion was planning to invest in Bruneau for a minority stake.

Towerbrook reportedly beat competition from private equity firms Lone Star and Platinum. Bruneau was put up for sale by PE owner Equistone in early March with advisers Rothschild and Macquarie Capital, with the latter also providing a EUR 305m staple financing.

Equistone and Towerbrook declined to comment when contacted by Unquote.

Equistone has had a busy 2021 so far. On the exit side, it sold Oikos Group, a German prefabricated housing business, in an SBO to Goldman Sachs. 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.

On the buy-side, Equistone 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; acquired a majority stake in Germany-based IT consultancy TimeToAct; bought GSCM Group, a French modular construction specialist; and most recently acquired children's clothing and accessories retailer Vertbaudet from Alpha Private Equity.

Towerbrook's latest flagship fund, Towerbrook Investors V, was launched in January 2018 with a target of USD 4bn and held a final close on USD 4.25bn in June 2018. The fund continues Towerbrook's core investment strategy of investing in large and mid-market companies facing complex structural issues.

Previous funding
Equistone entered exclusive negotiations with Weinberg Capital Partners for the acquisition of Bruneau in 2017. The GP invested through Equistone Partners Europe V (EPEF V), which closed on its hard-cap of EUR 2bn in 2015. Weinberg had acquired Bruneau in 2015 alongside investment companies Halisol Groupe and SGPA, in a deal thought to be valued at EUR 150m.

The 2017 transaction valued Bruneau at around EUR 250m, representing a 6x EBITDA multiple, Unquote reported at the time. EBITDA stood at around EUR 37m at the time of the transaction.

The transaction was supported by a senior debt package provided by Crédit Agricole CIB, BNP Paribas and La Banque Postale, while CM-CIC Private Debt provided mezzanine debt. The total leverage represented around 4x EBITDA, Unquote reported.

Equistone said it supported the group in developing its core business through organic growth initiatives and facilitated targeted acquisitions over the holding period. In 2018, Bruneau acquired Muller & Wegener in Luxembourg. In 2020 and 2021, Bruneau expanded its presence in Spain and Italy by acquiring Viking / Office Depot divisions in both countries.

The GP noted that Bruneau remained resilient amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in the expansion of the group's work-from-home, hygiene and sanitary product lines.

Company
Founded in 1955, Bruneau is an online B2B distributor of office furniture and supplies. According to the L'Agefi report, Bruneau reported sales of EUR 375m last year with an EBITDA of EUR 65m. The company has 930 employees.

People
Equistone Partners Europe – Grégoire Chatillon (senior partner); Grégoire Schlumberger (partner).

Advisers
Vendor – Rothschild (M&A); Macquarie Capital (M&A).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• Exits
• France
• Consumer
• Towerbrook Capital Partners
• Equistone Partners Europe