Gores acquires FTO subsidiary Etrali

The investment will allow Etrali to finance future acquisitions, although the company is also expected to grow organically.

Gores invested in the company via its Gores Small Capitalization Partners fund, which has approximately $300m under management. Etrali's management has invested in the company alongside Gores, although the deal makes the US-based GP the majority shareholder.

The company will now be rebranded as Etrali Trading Solutions. While under the ownership of FTO, which employs 104,000 staff in France and saw revenues of €43.5bn for 2012, Etrali traded under the name Orange Business Services – Trading Solutions.

Company
Etrali was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Paris, with 450 staff. The company provides consulting services as well as voice and trading electronic infrastructure for the financial market trading sector.

Etrali also offers a multi-protocol label switching voice and data network, which allows data to be managed more easily when travelling between the connection points of networks and speeds up the flow of network traffic.

The company recorded turnover of €100m for 2012.

People
Lionel Grosclaude is the CEO of Etrali. Alec Gores is the founder, chairman and CEO of Gores Group. Jon Gimbel is a principal at the firm.

Gores has yet to confirm who will be joining Etrali's board of directors, however a member of the firm's team will be appointed to an advisory role on the board in due course.

Advisers
Equity - Linklaters (Legal); Delsol Avocats (Legal).
Vendor - Leonardo & Co (Corporate finance); White & Case (Legal); Mazars (Financial due diligence).

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