Ardian secures minority stake in Serma

José Rojo
10 April 2015

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Ardian has acquired a 43% stake in French electronics consultancy Serma Group from buyout firm Chequers Capital.

Details regarding the value of the transaction remain undisclosed.

The deal saw Serma CEO Philippe Berlié, as well as Olivier Duchmann, Marc Dus, Jean Guilbaud, Bernard Ollivier, Richard Pédreau and 100 other managers invest alongside Ardian and secure a 57% stake in the business.

This is the ninth investment made by Ardian's Expansion Fund III, a vehicle understood to have closed on €500m in April 2014.

Now 60% invested, the fund seeks to dedicate 50% of overall commitments to French mid-market deals, with the remainder split between Italian and German companies. Its sweet spot is around the €150m enterprise value mark.

Serma intends to use the fresh funds to bolster its position via external acquisitions and focus on embedded electronic systems. It also has plans to expand internationally.

Previous funding
Chequers Capital acquired its stake in Serma from MBO Partenaires for an undisclosed sum in 2011. The company's management invested alongside Chequers and secured a majority stake.

MBO Partenaires had acquired its stake in 2007, when it deployed €20m in a take-private that featured a debt facility supplied by CIC Finance and ABN, according to unquote" data.

Debt
CIC, Crédit Agricole Aquitaine and Nord Midi-Pyrénées, CIC Private Debt, BNP Paribas, Neuflize OBC and Banque Populaire Aquitaine Centre Atlantique all provided debt to finance the deal.

Company
Founded in 1991, Serma Group is a technology and systems consulting firm that targets sectors such as aeronautics, space, automotive, transport, energy and healthcare. Headquartered in Pessac, France, the company employs 730 engineers and technicians across 11 industrial sites in France and Germany.

The group reported a threefold increase in turnover from €27m in 2004 to the €81m recorded in 2014.

People
Ardian was represented by managing directors Arnaud Dufer and Baudouin d'Hérouville, both of whom will be joining Serma's board. Anne-Claire Boutant is a director at Chequers Capital.

Philippe Berlié is CEO of Serma Group.

Advisers
Equity – Ernst & Young, Emmanuel Picard, Guilhem de Montmarin (Corporate finance); Jeantet et Associés, Philippe Portier, Laurent Nogaret, Guillaume Fornier, Florent Prunet (Legal); Arsène Taxand, Mirouna Verban, Olivier Janoray (Tax); Archery Strategy Consulting, Stéphane Albernhe, Bertrand Mouly-Aigrot, Aurélien Fougerard, Arthur Sejor (Commercial due diligence).
Debt – Herbert Smith, Laure Bonin, Eric Fiszelson, Paul Loisel (Legal).
Company – Lamartine Conseil, Florence Savouré, Philippe Barouch (Legal); SCP Chepeau, Lumeau & Associés, Frédérique Lumeau (Legal); Lamartine Conseil, Delphine Dillemann, Nicolas Cuchet (Tax).