EdRIP takes stake in Alouette OBO

Greg Gille
18 September 2012

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Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners (EdRIP) has taken a minority stake in the owner buyout of French radio station Alouette.

EdRIP invested via several of its small-cap retail funds. Existing shareholders CM-CIC Capital Finance and Océan Participations reinvested in the business. The private equity backers hold a joint minority stake in Alouette, with management retaining ownership of the company.

Crédit Agricole Ouest Alliance arranged a debt package to finance the OBO, with a leverage ratio described as "reasonable". Crédit Agricole Mutuel Atlantique Vendée, Cedit Mutuel Océan and LCL also took part in the financing.

Alouette's existing shareholders were advised by PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance.

Previous funding
IPO, part of the CM-CIC Capital Finance group, acquired a minority stake in Alouette in 2007. It injected €2.6m in equity and convertible bonds and secured a joint 20-22% stake with co-investors CIC Banque de Vizille and Océan Participations. Management retained majority control. A pool of lenders comprising Crédit Mutuel Océan, CIO and Crédit Atlantique de Vendée provided a two-tranche debt package to support the transaction.

Company
Established in 1981, Alouette is an independent radio station broadcasting in the Pays de la Loire, Poitou-Charentes, Centre and Bretagne regions of France. It offers listeners a mix of local news and music. It attracts an audience of around 530,000, employs 35 people and posted a €6.2m turnover in 2011.

People
Alexandre Foulon and Romain Ohayon worked on the deal for EdRIP. CM-CIC Capital Finance was represented by Thierry Pastre and Badri Ben Grine. Dominique Jacquinet led the transaction for Océan Participations.

Advisers
Equity (EdRIP) – Chammas & Marcheteau, Denis Marcheteau, Antonin Cubertafond (Legal); Exelmans, Stéphane Dahan, Franck Laumon (Financial due diligence); Arsène Taxand, Frédéric Teper, Brice Picard (Tax); SCP Bardavid Tourneur, Jean-François Tourneur (Social due diligence).
Vendors – PricewaterhouseCoopers, Tarique Shakir-Khalil, Guillaume Dary, Alexis Boudet (Corporate finance); Fidal, Mathieu Luciani, Benoît Cabanne (Legal).
Debt – Cornet Vincent Ségurel, Bertrand Coste, Anne-Hélène Chemin (Legal).