HIG acquires remainder of Groupe Looping

HIG Capital acquired the shares hitherto held by Compagnie des Alpes, as the ski resorts operator aims to refocus its activities. HIG and management now wholly own the business.

In conjunction with the deal, BPI France and BNY Mellon's credit arm Alcentra  arranged a unitranche financing package to refinance Looping's existing debt structure. The fresh debt will finance both the capital restructure as well as future development plans for the business.

In January 2011, HIG acquired a majority stake in Looping via a €20m investment. Looping was formed by the acquisition of seven parks from Compagnie des Alpes, including the Bagatelle amusement park, Avonturenpark Hellendoorn and the Saint-Malo Aquarium.

Company
Founded following the 2011 transaction, Looping today operates nine amusement parks. Five of these are located in France; Looping also runs parks in the UK, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

People
Olivier Boyadjian and Cédric Lépée worked on the deal for HIG. Alcentra was represented by Igor Suica, while Nicolas Offroy, Minorie Nollet and Edwige Kharoubi led the deal for BPI France.

Advisers
Equity – Lincoln International, Serge Palleau, Nicolas Ceria, Pierre-Arnaud Pinczon du Sel (M&A); LCH, Erwan Héricotte (Legal); SBKG & Associés, Julien Mayeras, Lucie Marleix, Anne-Sophie Merle (Legal).
Vendor – 8 Advisory, Justin Welstead, Boris Bignon (Financial due diligence); Neovian Partners, Patrick Richer (Commercial due diligence); Arsène Taxand, Denis Andrès, Jacques Mestoudjian (Tax).
Debt – Nabarro & Hinge, Jonathan Nabarro, Jennifer Hinge, Stéphanie Dubreuil (Legal); Cabinet Orsay, Samira Friggeri, Valérie Dixneuf (Legal).

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• Topics
• France
• Restructuring
• Consumer
• France
• HIG Capital
• Refinancing