Motion Equity Partners acquires CDL

Greg Gille
20 November 2014

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Motion Equity Partners has bought CDL, a French packaging products business, from Cerea Capital.

Motion stated it had been able to clinch the deal by submitting a preemptive offer ahead of a formal sale process being launched. The GP had identified the investment opportunity several months ago and spent some time working with CDL's management ahead of the deal to identify development opportunities.

The GP and the company will focus on increasing CDL's production capacity in the coming months in order to meet the level of demand that currently cannot be addressed, according to both parties.

The deal is the second announced in the space of a few days by Motion – the investor also backed the buyout of Italian smartphone accessories business Cellular Line earlier this month.

Both transactions see the GP back on the investment path, with Motion's previous incoming deal dating back to 2012. The GP, previously known as Cognetas, rebranded in April 2012 – the move saw it close down its London and Frankfurt offices and focus on the French and Italian markets. The firm had suffered setbacks in recent years and was forced to relinquish control of several investments.

Motion was thrown a lifeline by HarbourVest at the start of 2014, with the latter extending the life of Motion's fund to enable it to exit portfolio companies. The new deal awarded Motion with four additional years to realise its current portfolio, which comprises investments dating back to 2005.

Back in July 2014, Motion realised its stake in ingredients maker Diana when the business was sold to trade buyer Symrise for €1.3bn.

Previous funding
CDL span out of Onduline in 2007, shortly after the acquisition of the latter by ABN Amro Capital France and Astorg Partners in 2006. The spinout was backed by Cerea Capital and Unigrains.

Company
Founded in 1977 and based in Allaire, Brittany, CDL manufactures molded fiber packaging products produced from recycled paper and cardboard. CDL specialises in egg trays used for the transport of eggs.

The company employs 100 people and expects to post sales amounting to €37m in 2014. Two thirds of CDL's revenues are generated abroad.

People
Cédric Rays led the deal for Motion. Cerea was represented by Gilles Sicard and Xavier Renaud.

Advisers
Equity – Latham & Watkins, Gaetan Gianasso, Michel Houdayer, Xavier Renard (Legal); PwC, Martin Naquet-Radiguet, Fabien Radisic, Bertille Crichton-Nioche (Financial due diligence); Enthalpy Consulting, Jorge Moros (Commercial due diligence); Temeris, Emmanuel Coutelle (Insurance due diligence).
Vendor - Bucéphale Finance, Romain Petit, Gary Kurtz (Corporate finance); Kepler Corporate Finance, Olivier Dardel (Corporate finance); LLBERG, Olivier Abergel, Gaëlle Quillivic, Julien Carrascosa, Marc Huynh (Legal); Grant Thornton, Frédéric Zeitoun, Julien-Pierre Renier (Financial due diligence); Indefi, Julien Berger, Emmanuel Parmentier (Commercial due diligence); ERM, Teddy Deroy (Environmental due diligence).