Bain in exclusive talks for TowerBrook's Autodis

The takeover is scheduled to complete in the coming months, once approval has been secured from competition regulators and works councils.

The transaction will be supported via equity from Bain's funds, third-party financing and the redemption of part of Autodis's existing senior secured notes, the majority of which will remain outstanding post-deal, according to the company.

This is Bain's latest foray into the B2B distribution segment. For the past decade, the GP has backed names from the field such as German and Dutch speciality chemicals distributors Brenntag and IMCD, respectively acquired in 2004 and 2010, and UK food distributor Brake Brothers in 2007.

Previous funding
According to unquote" data, this is the fourth private-equity-backed buyout seen by Autodis since inception. In 1999, it was scooped up by Ardian, Butler Capital, Qualium Investissement, Gilde Investment Management and Goldman Sachs for FRF 3.3bn.

One year later, the business was backed by Ardian, Butler and new investor BC Partners as it absorbed UK car component distributor Finelist. The bolt-on, carried out via the newco Europe Auto Distribution Limited (EADL), led to the two assets merging into a €1.7bn group.

Seven months after the add-on, an accounting fraud concerning Finelist led to the company's collapse and to Ardian, Butler, BC and Qualium losing the equity they had initially provided to Autodis. Goldman Sachs, which had backed the company's buyout in 1999 with a mezzanine loan, took over a 50% stake in the business via its private equity arm Goldman Sachs Private Equity (GSPE), while interest held by the other firms was diluted to a combined 10%.

In February 2006, GSPE set up a Lazard- and Goldman Sachs-run auction process for Autodis. Emerging as the winning bidder was Investcorp, which acquired a majority stake in an SBO valuing the company at a reported €600-800m.

After Autodis breached its covenants in 2008, the company was forced to appoint a court mediator in 2009 and undergo a pre-packaged administration deal. The transaction, the first of its kind in France, placed TowerBrook as the new majority owner with a 62.5% stake, while Investcorp retained a 16% shareholding.

Company
Autodis is a distributor of automotive and heavy-goods-vehicle parts. With headquarters in Arcueil, near Paris, the company employs 6,500 professionals, 5,500 of whom are based in France, with the remaining 1,000 working out of the Poland offices. In 2014, the business posted €1.17bn in revenues, €1.057bn of which came from its French operations, and followed that with €618m in sales reported for H1 2015.

People
Bain was represented by managing director Michel Plantevin. Stéphane Antiglio is CEO at Autodis.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Send to  

• Topics
• France
• Buyouts
• Exits
• Consumer
• France
• Bain Capital
• Investcorp
• Towerbrook Capital Partners