Gimv and Siparex in partial EasyVoyage exit

According to French publication Capital Finance, the sale saw Gimv and Siparex jointly divest a 40% stake in EasyVoyage and retain a combined 12%. Meanwhile, the same source reports, founder Jean-Pierre Nadir sold 10% of his stake and will keep a 30% shareholding.

The selling parties are understood to be aiming to sell their remaining stakes to Webedia within the next 36 months.

Buyer Webedia is also backed by private equity, after being the recipient of two successive €3.5m expansion deals in May 2008 and October 2011. Among its shareholders are XAnge Private Equity, the only institutional investor in its 2008 round, and Idinvest and Natixis, which joined XAnge for the 2011 capital increase.

Previous funding
EasyVoyage first received funding from Seventure Partners and Actem Partners in January 2007, when €9m was injected in equity and debt in exchange for a 36% minority stake. Investing alongside two entrepreneurs, founder Jean-Pierre Nadir increased his stake from 34% to 50.1%.

In October 2009, EasyVoyage changed hands again as it was purchased by Gimv and Siparex (then UFG Private Equity) in a €31.6m SBO, the former deploying €16.2m and the latter €5m. The deal was further supported by a €10.4m senior debt facility from CIC, Banque Populaire Rives de Paris, Caisse D'Epargne and BCMNE.

At the time, the buyers stated the capital would be invested in EasyVoyage's expansion across Germany and UK, with plans for a number of bolt-on acquisitions.

Company
Founded in 2006, EasyVoyage is a travel website featuring travel guides, maps and snapshots, discussion forums and editorial content.

Headquartered in Paris, the business is understood to have reported €22m in turnover in 2014, with plans for a two-fold increase within the next three years.

People
Jean-Pierre Nadir is founder and CEO of EasyVoyage.

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• Topics
• France
• Exits
• Consumer
• France
• Partial sale
• Gimv
• Siparex