Eurazeo et al sell more Rexel shares for €525m

Eurazeo received €100m from the sale and saw its stake in Rexel reduce from 11.1% to 9.1%. The 28.8 million shares were sold at a price of €18.25 per unit.

The consortium of shareholders, comprising Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations du Québec, previously divested a 10% stake in the company at the beginning of June for approximately €500m. Prior to this, the group sold 40 million shares for a total of €640m, a deal in which Eurazeo reaped €225m.

Rexel was acquired by its private equity backers in a €1.9bn buyout in March 2005. The deal was led by US firm CD&R, which took a 36.5% stake. Eurazeo acquired an interest of 35.6% in Rexel, alongside the 25.7% shareholding taken by Bank of America Merrill Lynch (then MLGPE).

At the time, the company had an enterprise value of €3.8bn, with total equity worth €2.6bn, and was partially listed on the Paris stock exchange. The CD&R-led group of investors took on Pinault Group's 73.45% interest in Rexel and made a compulsory offer to acquire the remaining shares to take Rexel private.

Rexel then floated on the Paris Stock Exchange in 2007. Its IPO valued the business at €4.2bn and saw backers Axa Private Equity and North Cove Partners (formerly BAML Capital Partners) fully exit the company, according to unquote" data.

Company
Founded in 1967 and originally named Compagnie de Distribution de Matériel Electrique (CDME), Rexel distributes electrical equipment to professional customers in the commercial, residential and industrial sectors.

Based in Paris, the company operates in 37 countries, with 2,300 branches and 31,000 staff. Its revenue for 2012 was €13.4bn with an EBITA margin of 5.7%.

People
Rudy Provoost is Rexel's CEO as well as chairman of the management board.

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• Topics
• France
• Industrials
• Exits
• Partial sale
• France
• Eurazeo
• Clayton Dubilier & Rice