Gimv and Alsace acquire Wolf in SBO

Ellie Pullen
08 January 2014

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Gimv and Alsace Capital have acquired French designer and manufacturer of women’s underwear Wolf Group from Cathay Capital and EPF Partners.

The two firms acquired a majority stake in Wolf, while Cathay and EPF fully exited the business through the transaction.

Under its new ownership, Wolf plans on expanding both domestically and internationally. Gimv and Alsace also plan on supporting the company through targeted acquisitions.

Alsace has backed the company via its €50m regional investment fund Alsace Croissance. The fund typically invests €1-3m in companies based in the Alsace, Lorraine and Franche-Comté regions of France.

Cathay and EPF acquired Wolf in January 2008, picking up a minority stake in the business, according to unquote" data.

Debt
A debt facility was arranged for the deal by Crédit Lyonnais and Banque CIC. The whole syndicate comprised Crédit Lyonnais, Banque CIC, Crédit Mutuel and Caisse d'Epargne d'Alsace.

Company
Founded in 1947, Wolf is based in Strasbourg and employs 180 staff. The group recorded revenues of €56m in 2013, €46m of which was generated in France. According to Gimv, Wolf has doubled its sales in the last 10 years.

Wolf designs, manufactures and distributes women's underwear, with 85% of revenues coming from the group's own brands. Wolf also designs and manufactures collections for retailers and other brands.

Brands under the Wolf portfolio include Rosy, Sans Complexe, Billet Doux, Oups and Jardin Secret.

People
Rémy Wolf is the CEO of Wolf. Anne Caron is a partner at Gimv and Valérie Geiger is the CEO of Alsace. Anne-Sophie Roquette is an investment director at Cathay.

Advisers
Equity - Orsay, Samira Friggeri, Valérie Dixneuf, Claire Guionnet, Yves Roux (Legal); Eight Advisory, Katia Wagner, Céline Ghiragossian (Financial due diligence); China Integrated, Nicolas Musy, Shirley Wang Tao (Commercial due diligence); Macassar, Stéphanie Maquennehan (Commercial due diligence).
Vendor - Ideact, Maud Partouche (Legal).