I&F supports Irium MBO

The transaction was confirmed to be worth less than €15m. Management and several employees will hold the remainder of the shares. Private bank Bryan Garnier & Co – which acquired Occam Capital in 2009 and has been managing its portfolio since – fully exited the business.

This is the fourth investment for I&F's first fund since it spun off from Natixis – the FCPR vehicle closed on €140m last month. I&F initially offered to back Irium's MBO in 2008, but eventually lost out to Occam. It nevertheless stayed in contact with the management and followed the company's progress. It was among the first potential buyers to be contacted when Bryan Garnier planned its exit.

Although Irium has suffered from a difficult trading environment in the past couple of years – turnover declined from €15m to €11m – I&F was attracted by the company's technical expertise, international dimension, market position and the resilient nature of revenues generated through its support services activity.

Irium will now look to pursue a two-fold growth strategy: it will look to increase international sales – 30% of revenues are already generated outside of France – and will also aim to strengthen its offering's presence in the French market.

Debt
Crédit Mutuel Océan arranged a senior debt package to finance the transaction, which was further syndicated to LCL.

Previous funding
Occam acquired a 50% stake in Irium in 2007. The company's existing banks Crédit Mutuel, BNP Paribas and BRED underwrote an amortising five-year loan to support the transaction, while Occam itself provided the mezzanine.

Company
La Rochelle-based Irium publishes ERP software solutions aimed at industrial equipment rental businesses. In addition to the products, the company provides a suite of services including installation, remote support and professional services such as custom development and consulting.

Established in 1982, the group posted an €11m turnover for 2010 and currently employs around 100 people.

People
Jean-Bernard Meurisse and Quentin Ducouret handled the transaction for Initiative & Finance. Marc Goldberg represented Bryan Garnier & Co. Pierrick Guivarc'h is CEO of Irium.

Advisers
Equity – Technologie et Finance Conseil, Jean-Paul Brianchon (Corporate finance); HPML, Vincent Libaud, Marie-Laure Pichard (Legal and tax); Deloitte Bordeaux, Emmanuel Gadret, Mathieu Perromat (Financial due diligence); Solucom, Armand Karnikian, Raymond Sclison (IT and Commercial due diligence).
Vendor – Bryan Garnier & Co, Bruno Tourme, Alexandre Boukhari (Corporate finance); Dechert, Francois Hellot (Legal and tax).

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