Activa-backed Armatis completes refinancing

The restructuring involved previous lenders Crédit du Nord, Palatine, OBC, Idinvest and BNP Paribas, along with new lenders Neuflize and Artemid. BNP Paribas acted as coordinator of the consortium.

The banking pool jointly provided a senior debt tranche to replace the senior and mezzanine facilities arranged in 2012, when Activa Capital secured a majority stake from CM-CIC LBO France.

At the time, the business secured senior loans from BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Banque Palatine, Crédit du Nord and BESV, as well as mezzanine financing from Idinvest and factor financing from GE Capital.

Together, the three facilities represented around €75m in debt; a figure close to the amount of senior debt being refinanced, unquote" understands.

According to Activa Capital, the refinancing involved a dividend recapitalisation for Armatis's shareholders via the partial repayment of bonds that had been issued in the 2012 buyout. 

In May, Buffalo Grill, a steakhouse chain owned by Abénex Capital and Nixen Partners, completed its second refinancing since its 2008 buyout. Although financial details were not disclosed at the time, market sources placed the amount of senior debt being refinanced at less than €100m.

Previous funding
According to unquote" data, the refinancing comes three years after Activa Capital became a shareholder in Armatis via a tertiary buyout in May 2012. Investing alongside Omnes Capital, CDC Entreprises, Ouest Croissance and Multicroissance, the GP deployed equity via its €315m second FCPR fund to pick up a majority stake in the business from CM-CIC LBO Partners.

CM-CIC, which remained Armatis's second-largest shareholder following the transaction, had bought the business in September 2007. The SBO, understood to value Armatis at more than €70m, saw CM-CIC heading a pool of investors acquiring the company from Industries & Finances Partenaires (IFP).

Company
With roots dating back to 1989, Armatis-LC is an operator of telesales and telemarketing call centres. The group was created in 2012 via the Activa Capital-backed merger between Armatis and Laser Contact.

Armatis-LC manages a network of 12 offices in France and owns additional facilities in Portugal, Poland and Tunisia. With headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt, the business currently employs 7,000 people and posted €191m in turnover in 2013.

People
The refinancing was coordinated by partner Charles Diehl, investment manager Grégory Fradelizi and analyst Frédéric Singer on behalf of Activa. Denis Akriche is Armatis-LC's founder and current CEO, while Cécile Rousset is the company's CFO.

BNP Paribas was represented by its vice-president for leveraged & acquisition finance Thibaut Lecoeur and project manager Guillaume Redaud.

Advisers
Debt – DLA Piper, Maud Manon, Julien Godlewski (Legal).
Company – Mayer Brown, Patrick Teboul, Maud Bischoff, Marion Minard, Jérémy Thézée, Lou-Andréa Bouet (Legal).

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• Topics
• France
• Restructuring
• Support services
• France
• Activa Capital
• Refinancing