Ergon buys HIG's Looping

José Rojo
28 January 2016

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HIG Capital, the majority owner of French amusement park operator Looping Group since inception in 2011, has sold its stake to mid-market GP Ergon Capital Partners.

The deal will see Ergon replace HIG as majority owner of Looping, while the company's CEO Laurent Bruloy will re-invest alongside the management team.

Looping's enterprise value was not revealed but reports in the French press placed it around the €120m mark. According to these reports, Ergon's takeover was supported with a €60m unitranche provided by Alcentra.

Ergon did not disclose its investment either, but the mid-market GP typically deploys €20-70m per deal. Looping represents the firm's second French foray to date, after acquiring in-vitro equipment manufacturer Elitech in a €100m buyout in November 2010.

The Looping deal saw Ergon draw equity from its third fund, which closed on €775m in March 2010. Prior to the current investment, the buyout vehicle was most recently used to acquire Italian fashion brand Golden Goose from DGPA, Riello Investimenti and the founders for more than €100m.

Previous funding
In January 2011, HIG acquired seven amusement parks from parent Compagnie des Alpes and merged them into the Looping group. At the time, the GP was thought to have invested €20m in return for a majority stake in the new business.

In April 2014, the GP committed further capital to buy Compagnie des Alpes' remaining shares. As part of the deal, Looping's existing debt facilities were refinanced with a unitranche supplied by BPI France and BNY Mellon's credit arm Alcentra. Under HIG's five-year tenure, Looping bolted on four additional theme parks in France and Spain.

Company
Founded in 2011, Looping operates seven amusement parks in France (including Bagatelle, Grand Aquarium, Cobac Parc and Parc Mini-Châteaux) and an additional four in Switzerland (Aquaparc), the Netherlands (Avonturenpark Hellendoorn), Spain (Isla Magica) and the UK (Pleasurewood Hills). With headquarters in Merlimont, the group most recently posted €60m in turnover.

People
Ergon Capital Partners – Wolfgang de Limburg, Nicolas Teboul (managing partners).
Looping Group – Laurent Bruloy (CEO).