Weinberg-backed Climater acquires Aurion & Cie

The transaction comprised a debt facility and equity that Weinberg provided via its first fund. The vehicle reached its €420m target in July 2005, four months after launch. Also used to finance the acquisition of Climater, the fund typically deploys €40-80m for majority stakes in companies in France and abroad with enterprise value of between €40-400m.

According to Weinberg, the bolt-on is the ninth undertaken by Climater since the company was founded in 2007 and the second carried out since it was picked up by the GP in October 2011 – following the acquisition of Bordeaux-headquartered industrial heating and ventilation specialist CMFT Heating in June 2013.

Under Weinberg's ownership, Climater intends to pursue further bolt-on acquisitions. A particular focus is to be placed on businesses providing installation and maintenance services for clients within the industrial, healthcare and distribution sectors across the Ile-de-France, Rhône-Alpes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and Atlantic regions.

Debt
The transaction was further supported by a debt facility.

Previous funding
Climater was first acquired by Industries & Finances Partenaires (I&F) in June 2007. The buy-and-build firm secured a majority stake in the climate engineering group, formed via the merger of four family-owned companies.

After four years of ownership, I&F scored a 3.5x return as it sold its stake in the business to Weinberg Capital Partners and reinvested to retain approximately a 5% interest, according to unquote" data.

The SBO, finalised in October 2011, featured capital from fellow investors Grand Sud-Ouest Capital and Nord-Midi Pyrénées Développement, as well as 70 members of Climater's management team. At the time, Climater stated it aimed to double its size within four to five years via a buy-and-build strategy.

Company
Established in 2007, Climater is an engineering group specialising in climate-related services. It carries out plumbing, insulation and ventilation works for clients such as healthcare and industrial companies, distributors and public authorities. Headquartered in Toulouse, the business employs 600 people across 17 offices in several French regions.

With headquarters in Champigny-sur-Marne, Aurion & Cie provides climate-related installation and maintenance services to businesses and clients in the public sector including hospitals and schools. Employing around 50 staff, the company most recently reported €10m in sales.

People
Weinberg Capital Partners was represented by partner Jérôme Louvet and director Benjamin Rousseau-Calisti. Stéphane Gilet is CEO of Climater, while Marc Trouchaud is the business's managing director.

Advisers
Equity – Gide Loyrette Nouel, Anne Tolila, Matthias Grolier (Legal); Advolis, Damien Bourg, Claire Bottemer (Financial due diligence).
Vendor – Cabex Transmission, Claude Vacher (Corporate finance).

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